Simmons retains adviser to sell 104 Western stores
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, August 18, 2003
Atlanta — Simmons has retained a financial adviser to help expedite the sale of the 104 mattress stores it owns in California, Oregon and Washington.
Bill Creekmuir, chief financial officer, said the company has hired the Los Angeles office of Duff & Phelps to assist with the sale. During a conference call with securities analysts, he said Simmons hopes to have all the stores sold by the end of the year.
"We've been very pleased with the interest that has been shown in our stores," Creekmuir said.
He said some parties have expressed interest in buying all 104 stores, while others are interested in either the 56-store Mattress Gallery chain in Southern California or the 48-store Sleep Country USA chain in Oregon and Washington.
Both chains had impressive sales gains in the second quarter, with comparable-store sales jumping 13.3%. Still, Simmons retail business did record a pretax loss of $622,000 for the quarter.
