Kurt Ling
Handmade, organic mattress manufacturer Organic Mattresses Inc., with headquarters in Yuba City, California, has named industry veteran Kurt Ling as chief executive officer.
“For many years we have watched Kurt introduce new innovation to the category and seen him build an exciting new brand,” said OMI founder Walt Bader, who now serves as chairman. “We have always had a credible, well-respected product. What we needed was a strong marketer like Kurt to help us grow the business to the next level. Kurt will extend our brand into an even greater spectrum in the ‘all natural’ and ‘organic’ mattress space. We are committed to providing the consumer the very finest, most natural and organic product that can be crafted at various price points.”
Previously, Ling was with Pure LatexBLISS, a mattress brand now owned by Latex International that Ling co-founded in 2009. The brand is credited with helping latex mattresses regain the spotlight in the United States and beyond. He resigned from the company in March 2014. Prior to that, Ling spent seven years as vice president of Beautyrest and vice president of innovation at Simmons, where he lead the company and, subsequently, the industry’s move to one-sided mattresses. He ran his own mattress-industry consulting firm Customer Kinetics for four years. Before joining the mattress industry, Ling spent 13 years with Maytag Appliances in sales, marketing and brand management.
According to Ling, OMI is a unique brand with unlimited opportunity. “I am genuinely excited to join the OMI team and build the OrganicPedic brand. I believe the growth of natural and organic products across many categories over the last decade has been phenomenal. Companies like Whole Foods and Aveda Cosmetics have changed their industries for the good of consumers and retailers alike.
“While our industry has historically positioned organic mattresses narrowly and only to the very chemically sensitive, I see a much greater opportunity if we can partner with retailers and position our products to a much more mainstream market of consumers who already buy organic in other categories such as food, cosmetics and other home furnishings like flooring and paint,” Ling said. “It is the ultimate opportunity for us as a company and retailers in the industry.”
Handmade, organic mattress manufacturer Organic Mattresses Inc., with headquarters in Yuba City, California, has named industry veteran Kurt Ling as chief executive officer.
“For many years we have watched Kurt introduce new innovation to the category and seen him build an exciting new brand,” said OMI founder Walt Bader, who now serves as chairman. “We have always had a credible, well-respected product. What we needed was a strong marketer like Kurt to help us grow the business to the next level. Kurt will extend our brand into an even greater spectrum in the ‘all natural’ and ‘organic’ mattress space. We are committed to providing the consumer the very finest, most natural and organic product that can be crafted at various price points.”
Previously, Ling was with Pure LatexBLISS, a mattress brand now owned by Latex International that Ling co-founded in 2009. The brand is credited with helping latex mattresses regain the spotlight in the United States and beyond. He resigned from the company in March 2014. Prior to that, Ling spent seven years as vice president of Beautyrest and vice president of innovation at Simmons, where he lead the company and, subsequently, the industry’s move to one-sided mattresses. He ran his own mattress-industry consulting firm Customer Kinetics for four years. Before joining the mattress industry, Ling spent 13 years with Maytag Appliances in sales, marketing and brand management.
According to Ling, OMI is a unique brand with unlimited opportunity. “I am genuinely excited to join the OMI team and build the OrganicPedic brand. I believe the growth of natural and organic products across many categories over the last decade has been phenomenal. Companies like Whole Foods and Aveda Cosmetics have changed their industries for the good of consumers and retailers alike.
“While our industry has historically positioned organic mattresses narrowly and only to the very chemically sensitive, I see a much greater opportunity if we can partner with retailers and position our products to a much more mainstream market of consumers who already buy organic in other categories such as food, cosmetics and other home furnishings like flooring and paint,” Ling said. “It is the ultimate opportunity for us as a company and retailers in the industry.”
