McAndrews moves to Mattress Firm
Retail consultant and mattress industry veteran Craig McAndrews has been named regional sales manager for Mattress Firm, a Houston–based national retail chain. He is responsible for a newly created fifth sales region.
Most recently, McAndrew was co–founder and director of the training firm Innovate Retail and founder of The Retail Institute, a research group. Previously, McAndrews was vice president of sales at Simmons. Prior to that, he owned and operated a Mattress Firm franchise in Arizona that grew to 18 stores. He later sold it to corporate Mattress Firm.
McAndrews began his mattress industry career as a sales representative for Sealy.
“Craig has seen all sides of the business, from owning a franchise to retail consulting. He is very familiar with Mattress Firm’s culture, which will aid in his transition and ability to make an immediate impact on the business,” said Steve Stagner, Mattress Firm president and chief operating officer.
McAndrews reports to Brian Bandarra, Mattress Firm executive vice president of sales.
Comfort Solutions adds new exec post
Mattress maker and licensing group Comfort Solutions has hired Kevin Damewood to fill a newly created position, senior vice president of sales and business development.
“Based on Kevin’s more than 25 years of experience in mattress sales working in key corporate and field posts for several of the industry’s top producers, we’re confident that his contributions to increasing the company’s distribution and market share will be significant,” said Dave Roberts, president and chief executive officer of Comfort Solutions, which is based in Willowbrook, Ill.
Damewood has held executive and sales positions at several major mattress manufacturers. He was executive vice president of sales at Spring Air before joining Comfort Solutions. Previously, he was divisional vice president and vice president of sales at Simmons. He began his bedding career at Sealy, where he held a number of posts.
Damewood reports to David Binke, Comfort Solutions executive vice president of sales.
Specialty association adds board members
The Specialty Sleep Association, a mattress industry group, has added two new members to its board of directors, Jeff Scorziell and Todd Youngblood. Scorziell is president of Anatomic Global, a mattress manufacturer based in Corona, Calif. Youngblood is president of Chili Technology, ProSource Services International and T2International, all in Mooresville, N.C. The association is led by Dale Read, editor in chief and publisher of Bedroom magazine. Other board members are Michael Nermon, Ergo Customized Comfort; Mark Miller, Innomax; Dennis Boyd, Boyd Specialty Sleep; and Bart Dehaerne, Deslee Textiles.
