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Formerly | United States Bedding Company |
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Company type | Privately held company |
Founded | 1898Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA | in
Founder | Samuel Bronstein |
Headquarters | , United States [1] |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | David Binke (CEO) |
Products | Bedding |
Parent | Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor (since 2016) Kaiserkorp Corp (since 2015) |
Website | Official website |
King Koil is an American manufacturer of mattresses and related bedding products, headquartered in Avondale, Arizona. [2] The company was founded in 1898 and is among the oldest in its industry in the United States. [3] [4] It operates in over 90 countries and has more than 30 licensees. [5]
In 2015 and 2016 the firm came under the ownership and operation of Malaysia-based Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor (60%) [6] and Kaiserkorp Corp (40%) [1] as a result of acquisitions made then. [6]
Real Innerspring Technologies Pvt Ltd King Koil signed a sole licensee agreement with Real Innerspring Technologies Limited (RITL): King Koil entered the Indian market in early 2007, starting in Mumbai and later expanding to Bangalore. The company had established eight showrooms in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Nasik, and Delhi.[21] In September 2013, King Koil signed a sole licensee agreement with Real Innerspring Technologies Limited (RITL), involving an investment of ₹400 crore (US$48 million).[22] King Koil India is the authorized licensee for India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh and operates four factories in Sonipat, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Bhiwandi near Mumbai, with a combined manufacturing capacity of around 10,000 mattresses per month as of December 2022.[23] King Koil India operates in both the retail and hospitality sectors, with notable clients that include Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Radisson, and Ramada.[23]
The company was founded in 1898 as the United States Bedding Company by Samuel Bronstein in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. [7] It commenced its operations with six employees in a small factory and gradually expanded its manufacturing. [5] The company was officially incorporated as United States Bedding Co. in 1905. [4]
By 1912, the company had developed a complete product line that included mattresses, frames, pillows, and couches. [4] In the early 1900s, U.S. Bedding expanded its workforce and gained recognition for innovation in the industry. [5] In 1923, the company obtained its first patent for a non-stretchable mattress. By 1926, it had 150 employees. [4]
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the U.S. Bedding Company held a naming contest for their redesigned mattress. The winning entry, 'King Koil', proposed by a 13-year-old African-American girl named Erla Bell Thompson, became the brand's name. [8]
King Koil had supplied the U.S. Government with cots, beds, and mattresses during World War I and World War II. During the war years, the company manufactured various military equipment and furniture, including wooden gun racks, chopping blocks, billy clubs, submarine bunks, stretchers, and beds for military bases worldwide, while also focusing on the sales and marketing of King Koil mattresses. [9]
In the late 1970s, King Koil completed the acquisition of the Englander Mattress Company, followed by a merger with King Koil. [10] This strategic move resulted in a substantial expansion of the company's scale and presence. [11]
In 1982, the company commenced its franchising operations, and by April 1990, it had established 175 franchisees operating in 22 states across the United States. [12]
In 2015, King Koil Licensing Company was acquired by Kaiserkorp Corp, its licensee from Malaysia. [1] In May 2016, Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor (KPS) acquired a 60% stake in King Koil for US$28.8 million, while Kaiserkorp Corp retained the remaining 40% of the stake. [6] [13]
In December 2019, the company shifted its U.S. headquarters from Willowbrook, Illinois, to Avondale, Arizona, where its manufacturing plant had been in operation since May 2018. [2]
The company shifted to a licensing model. As of 2019, it has over 30 licensees and is operating in more than 90 countries. [5]
King Koil ventured into the United Arab Emirates in 1993, collaborating with its licensee, Dubai Furniture Manufacturing Company (DFMC), which became the first licensee in the Middle East, and now it operates 15 King Koil showrooms in the UAE. [14]
In September 2006, King Koil signed a licensing agreement with Askona to manufacture and market mattresses in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. [15]
King Koil began its foray into the Chinese market in 2000 through a licensing agreement with King Koil Shanghai Sleep System Co., Ltd. [16] In August 2014, Citic Capital Partners, a private equity firm, secured a controlling stake in the company. [17] Subsequently, in November 2016, Advent International acquired a majority stake in King Koil China. [18]
After being acquired by Kaiserkorp Corp in 2015, King Koil returned to its role as a direct manufacturer in the United States. [19] The Avondale facility of King Koil serves 17 states, such as Arizona, Arkansas, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. The company manages manufacturing and distribution in the eastern United States through a strategic partnership with Blue Bell Mattress. [1]
King Koil also has licensees in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam within the Southeast Asian region. [20]
King Koil entered the Indian market in early 2007, starting in Mumbai and later expanding to Bangalore. The company had established eight showrooms in Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Nasik, and Delhi. [21]
In September 2013, King Koil signed a sole licensee agreement with Real Innerspring Technologies Limited (RITL), involving an investment of ₹400 crore (US$48 million). [22] King Koil India is the authorized licensee for India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh and operates four factories in Sonipat, Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Bhiwandi near Mumbai, with a combined manufacturing capacity of around 10,000 mattresses per month as of December 2022. [23]
King Koil India operates in both the retail and hospitality sectors, with notable clients that include Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Radisson, and Ramada. [23]
The New York Times , in a review, published in October 2023, recognized King Koil's Air Mattress as the runner-up, citing its comfort and its ability to retain air throughout the night without requiring reinflation. [24] In March 2023, USA Today conducted a review that included testing King Koil's air mattress, with the publication describing it as comfortable. [25] In September 2023, CNN's editor tested King Koil's air mattress and called it a clear winner in their review. [26]
Many of King Koil's products are endorsed by the International Chiropractors Association [27] and were awarded the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval by Good Housekeeping magazine. [28] [29]
A waterbed, water mattress, or flotation mattress is a bed or mattress filled with water. Waterbeds intended for medical therapies appear in various reports through the 19th century. The modern version, invented in San Francisco and patented in 1971, became a popular consumer item in the United States through the 1980s with up to 20% of the market in 1986 and 22% in 1987. By 2013, they accounted for less than 5% of new bed sales.
An air mattress is an inflatable mattress or sleeping pad.
A bedroom or bedchamber is a room situated within a residential or accommodation unit characterised by its usage for sleeping. A typical western bedroom contains as bedroom furniture one or two beds, a clothes closet, and bedside table and dressing table, both of which usually contain drawers. Except in bungalows, ranch style homes, ground floor apartments, or one-storey motels, bedrooms are usually on one of the floors of a dwelling that is above ground level. Beds range from a crib for an infant; a single or twin bed for a toddler, child, teenager or single adult; to bigger sizes like a full, double, queen, king or California king). Beds and bedrooms are often devised to create barriers to insects and vermin, especially mosquitoes, and to dampen or contain light or noise to aid sleep and privacy.
A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, containing materials such as hair, straw, cotton, foam rubber, or a framework of metal springs. Mattresses may also be filled with air or water.
Standard bed sizes are based on standard mattress sizes, which vary from country to country. Bed sizes also vary according to the size and degree of ornamentation of the bed frame. Dimensions and names vary considerably around the world, with most countries having their own standards and terminology. In addition, two mattresses with the same nominal size may have slightly different dimensions, due to manufacturing tolerances, amount of padding, and support type. Mattress sizes may differ from bedding sizes.
Memory foam consists mainly of polyurethane with additional chemicals that increase its viscosity and density. It is often referred to as "viscoelastic" polyurethane foam, or low-resilience polyurethane foam (LRPu). The foam bubbles or ‘cells’ are open, effectively creating a matrix through which air can move. Higher-density memory foam softens in reaction to body heat, allowing it to mold to a warm body in a few minutes. Newer foams may recover their original shape more quickly.
Serta is an American company based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, that manufactures mattresses.
The Simmons Bedding Company is an American major manufacturer of mattresses and related bedding products, based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company was founded in 1870. Simmons' flagship brand is Beautyrest. In addition to operating 18 manufacturing facilities in the United States and Puerto Rico, the company licenses its products internationally. According to a Simmons press release, net sales for 2005 were $855 million, and its revenue was $1.13 billion in 2007 and $1.228 billion in 2013. In 2011, Simmons ranked in third place among U.S. mattress manufacturers, with a 15.7 percent market share. In 2012, Simmons and its sister company Serta International were acquired by American private equity company Advent International. As of 2022, Simmons is a subsidiary of the American company Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC of Doraville, Georgia. On January 23, 2023, Serta Simmons Bedding filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Sealy is an American brand of mattresses marketed and sold by Tempur Sealy International. It draws its name from the city where the Sealy Corporation originally started, Sealy, Texas, United States.
Spring Air Company is a mattress company based in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1926 when Francis Karr patented a mattress design with free-end coils. Because of the heavy weight, high transportation costs, and low value per unit weight of mattresses, they are often manufactured locally. The company is thus a licensing organization, with local licensees manufacturing the mattresses under a common name for national marketing. Like a cooperative, the licensees own the Spring Air name. Spring Air has factories across the world.
Brand licensing means renting or leasing of an intangible asset. It is a process of creating and managing contracts between the owner of a brand and a company or individual who wants to use the brand in association with a product, for an agreed period of time, within an agreed territory. Licensing is used by brand owners to extend a trademark or character onto products of a completely different nature.
General Talking Pictures Corp. v. Western Electric Co., 304 U.S. 175 (1938), was a case that the Supreme Court of the United States decided in 1938. The decision upheld so-called field-of-use limitations in patent licenses: it held that the limitations were enforceable in a patent infringement suit in federal court against the licensee and those acting in concert with it—for example, a customer that knowingly buys a patented product from the licensee that is outside the scope of the license.
Sleepy's was a retail mattress chain with over 1,000 stores, primarily situated in the northeastern United States. The company was founded in New York City in 1931. Sleepy's was acquired by Mattress Firm in December 2015 and all stores were rebranded under the Mattress Firm name on January 1, 2017, but the website continued as an online retailer until 2018. Mattress Firm now uses the Sleepy's name for their private label mattresses.
Protect-A-Bed® is a manufacturer and distributor of bedding products(including mattress protectors, encasements, and pillows) that help protect against bed bugs, dust and allergens. Protect-A-Bed products are available in 45 countries. Protect-A-Bed supplies mattress and pillow protectors to 7 of the 11 top bedding specialists in the United States, several of the top 100 U.S. furniture chains, and all the major distributors in the pest control industry and hospitality industry. Protect-A-Bed products are also sold by national retailers including J.C. Penney, Target, Kohl’s, Costco, and Sears. The company currently has in excess of 7,000 furniture and bedding store clients in the United States as well as serving pest control and hospitality markets with bedding protection products. Protect-A-Bed is the developer of Miracle Membrane®, a proprietary membrane, which is waterproof and protects against liquids, as well as the patented BugLock® with SecureSeal® and three-sided zipper system for encasements. Protect-A-Bed products are listed as Class 1 Medical Devices with the Food and Drug Administration (Malaysia), and have received the Good Housekeeping Seal.
Mattress Firm Inc. is an American mattress store chain founded on July 4, 1986. The headquarters of the company is located in Houston, Texas.
Chittenden & Eastman Company is an American handcrafting mattress manufacturer originally based in Burlington, Iowa. The company has thirty factories around the world and is currently headquartered in North Brunswick, New Jersey. Chittenden & Eastman's intellectual property has since been purchased by Mattress Development Company of Delaware which reintroduced the Eastman House brand into the marketplace. The company is active with over 30 factories and licensees worldwide.
Boll & Branch is a privately held, U.S. based, e-commerce company that sells luxury bedding online. Headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, the company manufactures and sells organic cotton bed linens, blankets and bath towels and are the first maker of such goods to be certified by Fair Trade USA.
Trump Home is a brand of furniture and home items initially marketed by American businessman and former President of the United States Donald Trump and owned by Trump's company, The Trump Organization.
Coway Co., Ltd. is an international manufacturer of household appliances, water purifiers, air purifiers, bidets, water softeners, and mattresses from South Korea. Founded and headquartered in Seoul, Coway is the largest water purifier company in the country and owns subsidiaries in Malaysia, the United States, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Europe, Japan, and China. The company is listed on the Korea Exchange and is a subsidiary of Netmarble since 2019. Recently, Coway is also focusing on the bedding products, such as mattresses.
Amerisleep is an American memory foam mattress and bedding company based in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company was founded in 2010 and it has retail locations in Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, Houston and three stores in South Korea.
King Koil spring mattresses
Its products have earned the endorsement of the International Chiropractors Associa- tion and the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.