1-800-Mattress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1-800-Mattress is an American bedding retailer famous, especially in the New York area, for ads that use the slogan "leave off the last S for savings".
With 325 employees and annual sales topping $100 million, 1-800-Mattress also has 47 showrooms around the country, and 250 distributors around the US.
[edit] Napoleon Barragan, founder
1-800-Mattress was founded by Napoleon "Nap" Barragan. He was born in Bilovan, Ecuador on March 8, 1941. He went to Colombia at the age of 17 seeking work and finds a job delivering beer and soda on donkeys.
He emigrated to Queens, New York from Bogotá, Colombia, with his wife Kay. He founded his mattress firm in 1976 after hearing an ad for the (now defunct) Dial-a-Steak ([1], [2], [3]).
Crain's New York Business named him one of the 100 most powerful minority business leaders. That same report noted he pled guilty to sales tax fraud in 1994. Luis, Napoleon's son, was president until Luis' accidental death at age 34 in 2006.
[edit] References
- Levin, Robert S. (March 11, 2005). [4] How 1-800-Mattress Turned zzzz's into $$$$!, New York Enterprise Report
- Risa Goldblum (October 1993). Springing to the top - Napoleon Barragan of Dial-A-Mattress Franchise Corp., Direct
- [5] 100 most powerful minority business leaders, Crain's New York Business
- [6]
- [7] Mattress.com website
