Tuft & Needle

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Tuft & Needle
TypeBrand
Industry
FoundedJuly 19, 2012; 9 years ago (2012-07-19)
Founders
  • Daehee Park
  • John-Thomas Marino
Headquarters
Phoenix, Arizona
,
U.S.
Number of locations
7 stores (2018)
Area served
United States
ProductsMattresses
RevenueIncrease $170M (2017)
OwnerSerta Simmons Bedding
Websitewww.tuftandneedle.com

Tuft & Needle (stylized as TUFT&NEEDLE, often simply T&N) is an American direct-to-consumer mattress and bedding brand owned by Serta Simmons Bedding. The company was founded on July 19, 2012 by Daehee Park and John-Thomas Marino in Phoenix, Arizona.[1] On September 28, 2018, Serta Simmons Bedding merged with Tuft & Needle, which continues to operate as a separate brand.[2]

History[]

Tuft & Needle started as an e-commerce and manufacturing company founded on July 19, 2012 by Daehee Park and John-Thomas Marino.[3] Both met via the entrepreneur program at Pennsylvania State University.[4] After Marino and his wife overpaid for a substandard mattress, the two friends had the idea of creating a vertically-integrated e-commerce mattress company that optimized the cost of a mattress and simplified the buying experience.[5] The company was co-founded on July 19, 2012 by Park and Marino with $3,000 each of their personal savings.

Park and Marino grew the company to over $100 million in annual revenue with no venture funding. Within its first full year in business, the company generated $1 million in sales at the end of 2013.[6] In April 2014, Park spoke about founding a start-up and achieving success at IST Start-Up Week, which was hosted by Pennsylvania State University.[7] The company later opened its first brick-and-mortar showroom in the company's Phoenix headquarters in December 2014,[8] which was made as "an experiment" and was available by appointment only.[9]

Tuft & Needle acquired the premium 2-letter domain name TN.com in September 2015 for an undisclosed sum. The company established its headquarters at the historical Hardware buildings on Grand Avenue in Phoenix in December 2015, after a city grant of $300,000 was used to improve and repair the buildings by a real estate developer.[10] In 2015, Tuft & Needle grew to over 100 employees and earned over $100 million in revenue.

After turning down investment offers from venture capital investors, Park and Marino took out a $500,000 loan from Bond Street in 2016.[11][12] In 2016, the company launched a national billboard campaign entitled "Mattress Stores Are Greedy".[13]

In 2017, the company had $170 million in sales.[1] Tuft & Needle spent over $14 million in media during the same year.[14]

On September 28, 2018, Tuft and Needle closed a merger with mattresses manufacturer Serta Simmons Bedding.[15][1] In November 2018, they also announced a partnership with Amazon to release an Amazon-exclusive mattress called "The Nod."[16][17]

Products[]

The company's products include mattresses, bedding and bed furniture.[1]

On their website, the company currently offers 2 models of foam mattress: the T&N Mattress and the Mint Mattress.[18] Ranging in size from twin to California King, both mattress models are shipped direct-to-consumer in small box (a maximum box size of 18 in x 18 in x 44 in or 46 cm x 46 cm x 112 cm). The foam used for mattress construction is a custom-made, in-house polyurethane foam called T&N Adaptive Foam.[19] It is density proprietary, as it has 7" of 1.8 lbs/ft of the foam support.[20] The mattresses come with a 100-night sleep trial and are donated to a local charity or nonprofit if customers decide to return the product within that timeframe. The mattresses are all covered by a 10-year warranty.[21] In 2017, the company released a contour-cut foam pillow and percale cotton sheets. In 2018, Airstream announced a collaboration with the company in the Globetrotter RV model to feature a co-branded mattress manufactured by Tuft & Needle.[22]

Retail presence[]

As of January 2019, Tuft & Needle operates seven retail stores in Scottsdale, Gilbert, Seattle, Kansas City, Raleigh, Portland, and Dallas.[23] Their products are also stocked at select Lowe's, Crate & Barrel[1] and Walmart locations across the United States.[23][24]

Reception[]

The company has received press from Business Insider,[25] Marketing Land,[26] The Arizona Republic,[27] Consumer Reports,[28] Forbes,[12] Phoenix Business Journal,[29] Bloomberg,[30] and Wired.[31]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Hirsch, Lauren (21 August 2018). "Serta Simmons to merge with Tuft & Needle". CNBC. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  2. ^ LLC, Serta Simmons Bedding. "Serta Simmons Bedding And Tuft & Needle Close Merger". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  3. ^ "Our Story". Tuft & Needle. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  4. ^ Rop, Aaron (16 May 2014). "Tempe online mattress company thrives". Arizona Central. Retrieved 10 November 2016 – via USA Today.
  5. ^ Rop, Aaron (16 May 2014). "Tempe online mattress company thrives". Arizona Central. Retrieved 10 November 2016 – via USA Today.
  6. ^ Del Ray, Jason (5 March 2014). "How a Startup Created the No. 1 Rated Mattress on Amazon". Recode. Retrieved 10 November 2016 – via Vox Media.
  7. ^ "Heard on Campus: Daehee Park, co-founder of Tuft & Needle". Penn State News. Pennsylvania State University. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  8. ^ Doerfler, Sue (26 December 2014). "Online mattress store opens Phoenix showroom". Arizona Central. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  9. ^ Brown, Brandon (19 December 2014). "Online mattress retailer opens showroom in downtown Phoenix". Phoenix Business Journal. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  10. ^ Goth, Brenna (8 December 2015). "Phoenix startup to fill historic Grand Avenue building". Arizona Central. Retrieved 10 November 2016 – via USA Today.
  11. ^ "Tuft & Needle Recent Activity". AngelList. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  12. ^ a b Feldman, Amy (15 January 2016). "How Mattress Startup Tuft & Needle Said No To VC Money, Borrowed $500K And Opened Its First Store". Forbes. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  13. ^ "Ways Brands Develop Connections". Breakthroughbrand. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  14. ^ Monllos, Kristina (2019-07-18). "One year after merger, Tuft & Needle is bringing a DTC approach to Serta Simmons". Digiday. Retrieved 2019-09-25.
  15. ^ LLC, Serta Simmons Bedding. "Serta Simmons Bedding And Tuft & Needle Close Merger". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  16. ^ "Nest Bedding's newest mattress will only be sold on Amazon". Digiday. 2019-01-10. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  17. ^ Gasparro, Annie; Stevens, Laura (2019-01-25). "Brands Invent New Lines for Only Amazon to Sell". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  18. ^ "An Exceptional Mattress at a Fair Price + Free Delivery | Tuft & Needle". www.tuftandneedle.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  19. ^ "Tuft and Needle Review". The Mattress Nerd. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  20. ^ "Unbiased Tuft & Needle Mattress Review & Ratings". Sleep Like The Dead. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  21. ^ "FAQ, Shipping, Returns & Warranty | Tuft & Needle". Tuft & Needle. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  22. ^ "There's no place like home away from home". Aistream. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  23. ^ a b "Store Locations | Tuft & Needle". www.tuftandneedle.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
  24. ^ Mandel, Eric (21 August 2018). "Atlanta mattress giant Serta to buy upstart e-commerce brand". Atlanta Business Chronicle. . Retrieved 23 August 2018.
  25. ^ "We're obsessed with this online mattress company — it's more affordable and more ethical than the rest of the competition". Business Insider. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  26. ^ "Brick-and-mortar revitalizing omnichannel success". Marketing Land. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  27. ^ "Tuft and Needle sees explosive growth in mattress sales". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  28. ^ "If You're Looking for a Bed in a Box, You've Got More Options". Consumer Reports. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  29. ^ "Scottsdale group buys historic Phoenix hardware store for new Tuft & Needle HQ". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  30. ^ Stock, Kyle (12 March 2015). "New Startups Aren't Keeping Big Mattress Up at Night". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  31. ^ "Inside WeLive, WeWork's Dorm-Style Take on Urban Housing". Wired. Retrieved 9 April 2016.

External links[]

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