Mattress Firm, a Houston, Texas-based mattress discount firm that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday, will keep its 10 Maine stores open as it looks to close up to 700 underperforming stores nationwide.
It also plans to add two new stores in the state.
“The bankruptcy will not affect any stores in Maine,” a store manager at the one of the company’s Portland area locations told the Bangor Daily News, requesting anonymity. He said the information was shared by the company in an internal email.
He said underperforming stores in Chicago, New York, Florida, the Carolinas and California are under consideration for closure.
“We just opened a location in Auburn, and will open two more stores in the next six months in Ellsworth and in Scarborough,” he added.
The company has three stores in South Portland, two in Biddeford, and one each in Auburn, Topsham, Thomaston, Augusta and Bangor.
Maine locations of Mattress Firm stores were not among the 209 listed for immediate closure in documents sent to the BDN by Mattress Firm representative Erica Martinez of marketing firm Jackson Spaulding.
The company struggled with overexpansion, notably after it bought Sleepy’s in 2016 and Mattress Giant in 2012, according to CNN. Also figuring into its financial troubles is increasing online competition from Casper and Amazon.
Separately, Maine Sears, KMart and Sears Auto Centers appear to have been spared from the most recent round of store closures. The Bangor Mall Sears store closed in April, but the Sears Auto Center location at the mall remains open.
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