Restonic licensee McKinney Bedding Co. has promoted Josh Wilson to vice president of product development and hired Todd Gerdes as sales representative. Both report to Lloyd McKinney, owner of the Springfield, Missouri-based mattress maker.
Wilson has nine years with the company, serving primarily in a sales capacity. In addition, since 2011, he has assisted in developing the manufacturer’s private-label and proprietary products. In his new post, Wilson greatly expands his product design responsibilities, while retaining some sales duties.
The addition of Gerdes could not come at a better time, Wilson said, in commenting on his new role at the company. “With all of the exciting changes coming to the entire Restonic organization, in addition to the rapid growth of some of our private-label customers, (I can) move into a smaller sales territory and focus more time and attention on product development. (Right now) our factory is rolling out 20 new, aggressively priced promotional mattresses. We are also in the final stages of development for a high-end, private-label line for one of our larger customers that will be introduced in early January. Finally, we are gearing up to make a completely new lineup that will be introduced by Restonic at the Winter Las Vegas Market.”
Gerdes has more than three decades of experience in territory sales for a number of bedding brands, including Corsicana, Malouf and Spring Air. He has won numerous sales achievement awards throughout his career, understands retail merchandising and, earlier in his career, worked in retail sales, according to Restonic.
He is based in Conway, Arkansas, and focuses on McKinney’s sales in Arkansas and southern Missouri.
“Todd brings with him a knowledge of retail merchandising and marketing that aids his stores in achieving superior retail sales and profits,” McKinney said. “We are extremely pleased by (his) addition to our sales team, and we feel confident that Todd’s knowledge and experience will help us become an even better partner for our retailers.”
