While you’ve been counting sheep, Sleep Country has been counting dollars.
What happened: Sleep Country is paying US$20.6 million for the Canadian assets of US mattress company Casper, which pioneered the now-popular mattress-in-a-box biz model.
- The two companies have been partners since 2021, with Sleep Country selling Casper products in its stores and helping develop the brand in Canada.
Canada’s leader in all things Zzzs is truly cornering the ‘mattresses you heard about through podcast ads’ market. In 2018, it bought Canadian mattress startup Endy for CA$88.7 million.
- The company has also invested in snoozy startup Sleepout (which makes curtains) and bought two other Canadian D2C sleep brands, Silk & Snow and Hush Blankets.
Why it’s happening: With Casper and Endy, Sleep Country can target younger shoppers at competing price points. The price of an Endy mattress tops out at around ~$1,450, and Casper offers options upwards of $5,000.
- And if money is no object in exchange for sweet dreams, you can still drop $10,000 for a horsetail hair and Belgian Jacquard damask (no idea what that is) king bed.
Sleep Country enjoyed robust sales throughout the pandemic until last quarter, when net income dropped by ~21% as consumers saved money and stuck with their lumpy old bunks.
Bottom line: Sleep Country’s famous jingle asks, “Why buy a mattress anywhere else?” These days, maybe they could change it to, “Can you even buy a mattress anywhere else?”—QH