Continuing the legacy at Custom Comfort

Winn Butterworth’s widow, son-in-law, step in after the founder’s sudden death last November

Custom Comfort

Carrying on Cynthia Butterworth’s daughter, Carman Faison; son-in-law and Vice President Justin Faison; and Vice President Dickie Roberts stand with an image of Winn Butterworth.

When Winn Butterworth, the founder of Custom Comfort by Winn, died suddenly last November, his family and coworkers faced decisions they had never anticipated having to make. Butterworth had been the heart and soul of the Hopewell, Va.-based company for 25 years, and his loss raised questions that were both profoundly personal and immediately practical.

One question, however—should the business be sold—never entered the discussion.

“The company was founded by three guys who wanted to do a better job of building beds,” explains Vice President Dickie Roberts. “There was never a thought of selling the business. We had worked too long and too hard to sell it off to someone who wouldn’t run it right. We wouldn’t do that to Winn.”

Cynthia Butterworth, Winn Butterworth’s widow and now president of the company, adds: “Winn wasn’t done yet. I thought I owed it to him to continue his dream.”

Carman Faison of Custom Comfort

In good hands Carman Faison, Winn Butterworth’s stepdaughter, is a shareholder and CPA whose firm works for Custom Comfort.

It was a dream that began decades ago when Winn Butterworth was a sales rep at Mebane, N.C.-based mattress manufacturer Kingsdown. Dickie Roberts worked there too, running the warehouse. Chuck Lynch, the Custom Comfort vice president who oversees manufacturing, worked in the Kingsdown warehouse and drove a truck for the company.

When these “three guys” decided to leave Kingsdown in 1988, they did it together and with clear goals in mind.

“We wanted to build a better product without the constraints of a big organization and we wanted to build a respected company that would be around for a long time,” Roberts says.

From the beginning, Cynthia Butterworth was impressed by the way the mattress industry supported the efforts of the growing company.

“Winn’s contacts were very helpful when he started the business,” she says. “They offered advice and led him to (suppliers) who would sell raw materials in the smaller quantities he needed.”

And the industry, she says, was there for her when her husband died.

Custom Comfort mattress

Namesake The Winndom collection includes three latex, one gel, 10 innerspring and six foam models.

“Since his death, so many people have called and asked how they could help,” she says. “I didn’t play a role in all the research and development that Winn did, (but) I’ve been able to pick up the phone and call people to discuss new materials and types of beds. It’s amazing to me that they’re all such close friends and yet competitors.”

Prior to assuming the job of running the company, Butterworth’s role at Custom Comfort had been limited to launching a social media platform and participating in advertising decisions.

She had also made it a point to know all of the company’s retail customers. Before her retirement 10 years ago, Butterworth had worked in interior design and managed a number of small, family-owned furniture stores. She understood the pressures facing retailers and knew that they would be concerned about the company’s prospects.

Within a month of Winn Butterworth’s death, she sent out a letter to all of the company’s accounts explaining what had happened and that nothing about the company’s product or operations would change. The letter also introduced Justin Faison, her son-in-law, who had joined the company to help move things forward.

Faison, who now serves as vice president, will eventually assume the presidency, Butterworth says. In the near term, however, he is well aware of the fact that he has a lot to learn about the mattress industry.

Prior to joining Custom Comfort, Faison spent seven years working for Iluka, a mining and ore processing company headquartered in Australia. Faison was attached to the company’s Virginia mines, where he worked to keep its operations in compliance with federal and state regulations.

He readily acknowledges that building beds is “totally different than anything I have ever done.” That being said, he has every intention of filling the gaps in his knowledge and doing it quickly.

“Some days I work on the factory floor with the guys to learn how the beds are built and some days I sit with Dickie Roberts to learn about all the computer systems,” he says. “I make deliveries, and I go on the road so that I can meet all of our customers.”

Meeting customers is a priority for Faison.

“My father-in-law had a personal relationship with all of our customers, and I plan to keep it that way,” he adds.

Butterworth says she understood how focused her son-in-law was on learning everything he could about the bedding industry when she found three issues of BedTimes on his nightstand.

“Justin is the one who is going to take this company forward,” she insists.

Faison knows that for a while he faces an uphill battle.

“My biggest challenge is getting people to trust me,” he says. “Everyone knows that I don’t have any mattress industry background (or) any experience running a business. I’m just going to have to prove myself, and once that’s accomplished, things will get easier.”

Faison believes that he comes to Custom Comfort with some significant advantages, however.

“I’m open-minded about the way small companies can be run to the best advantage, and I believe in technology,” he explains.

He also knows that he has a team in place that he can trust. Winn Butterworth worked hard at Custom Comfort to create a culture that combined mutual respect and family values.

“Winn’s employees were like his children,” Cynthia Butterworth explains. “He was big-hearted and was involved in their families. Last year, we bought all of their kids Christmas presents because we knew it had been a hard year.”

As a result, the men who build the beds are extremely loyal and have been with the company for an average of nine years. This small group of eight works together in a repurposed 8,000-square-foot school, building each mattress by hand.

Winn Butterworth of Custom Comfort

Honoring a legacy
A pencil drawing of a smiling, kind-eyed Winn Butterworth, combined with the story of his vision, make for an impressive poster that highlights what sets Custom Comfort apart.

Custom Comfort builds 15 to 25 beds each day, down significantly from its pre-recession high of 40. What hasn’t slipped is the company’s commitment to quality.

“We build as we go,” says Roberts. “There is no assembly-line process, and each mattress is hand-built step-by-step.”

Chuck Lynch oversees production at Custom Comfort and, like Roberts and Faison, owns a minority interest in the company. Cynthia Butterworth is the majority shareholder.

As a co-founder, Lynch has been closely involved in the company’s evolution.

“Winn always wanted to be different and better,” he explains, “and in the early days that meant that we were too high-end for the success of the business.”

The company’s current product mix spans a broad enough price point range to meet the needs of the small, family-owned furniture stores in Virginia and North Carolina that form the core of its customer base. Custom Comfort also sells to hotels, bed and breakfasts, and the marine industry.

The company currently offers four collections, which open with Images Xtra, a moderately priced mattress, and tops off with the 3-model Winnsations collection.

The Winnsations collection includes models which the company describes as “firm, cushy firm, and cushy overly plush.” Each model includes a base, an innerspring or foam core, and a 6- to 8-inch mattress. The beds are covered with silk or grey suede and retail from $3,000 to $4,000.

The Winndom collection includes three latex, one gel, 10 innerspring, and six foam models. The company inner-tufts the foam and pads under the covers of these beds to eliminate shifting. Retail price points range from $1,800 to $2,250.

Renaissance is a three-model collection of innerspring beds built to various heights in categories that Lynch describes as “good, better, best.” Retail prices range from $1,500 to $2,000.

Custom Comfort’s two-model Images innerspring collection is designed to address retailers’ need for more moderate price points.

Custom Comfort also sells adjustable beds and builds private label and specialty mattresses. Currently, sales of private-label brands account for about 30 percent of the company’s annual sales. Roberts says that he would like to see that grow to 50 percent.

“It’s a big benefit for retailers,” he says. “They can design their own beds and it eliminates cross-shopping.”

Company officials are refocusing their attention on the specialty segment of the business. Specialty clients have included the U.S. Navy and manufacturers of boats, recreational vehicles and tractor-trailer trucks. Custom Comfort also has built mattresses in special sizes for antique beds and for athletes.

Faison says that he would like to see marine mattress sales grow to equal 10 percent of the company’s total annual sales. He also hopes that amping up sales to the hospitality industry and to RV manufacturers will help bring the company’s revenues closer to pre-recession levels.

They realize that the company’s size will always make sourcing materials at competitive prices a challenge, but consider it more a cost of doing business than an obstacle. As they plan for the future, they focus on their strengths and upon Winn Butterworth’s legacy.

“No one tells us how to build a bed,” Roberts says. “We can use our own ideas to create the best product with the best components.”

The team believes that the level of service Custom Comfort provides to the retailers who sell their beds and to the consumers who buy them also sets the company apart. Retailers see big benefits from the company’s flexibility and quick response time.

“We’re big on service,” Roberts says. “We’ll deliver one set or 10, and if a customer calls at 5 p.m., they can have their order the next day.”

That same commitment extends to the end consumer, Cynthia Butterworth says.

“If a customer had a complaint, Winn took care of it personally,” she says. “Now every customer who has one of our mattresses has my cell phone number. If we get a customer, we have them for life.”

Winn Butterworth’s friends and family say that he never intended to build a national or international company; what he strove for was excellence, and that’s the legacy they say they intend to carry forward.

“We don’t feel any need to be a national brand,” Cynthia Butterworth says. “Being a big fish in a small pond is fine with us.”

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