Protect-A-Bed, a Chicago-based supplier of mattresses and sleep accessories, has expanded its sales team with the addition of several new positions.
The changes started in late 2017 when the company hired Keith Mackey as senior vice president of sales. Mackey has worked in furniture and bedding for more than 30 years and has extensive retail experience, most recently with Serta Simmons Bedding LLC. “This company represents tremendous opportunity not only for retail partners but for everyone we bring aboard,” he said. “I took personal responsibility for building a team that could deliver the support and expertise our retailers and the sleep necessities business needs.”
Among the other sales team new hires that followed Mackey is Keith Burrell, who joined the company earlier this year as regional sales manager for the Northeast. He has more than 25 years of experience in furniture retail and management, including with Ashley Furniture Industries and Raymour & Flanigan.
Dana Elsbury was named regional sales team manager for the Southeast in May. She has been in the industry for more than 25 years, 14 of which were spent at Serta Mattress and SSB.
Also in May, Garrett Leach joined the company as senior manager of national retail accounts. His background includes more than 10 years of sleep and retail sales and a family-owned furniture business. Most recently, he was with SSB, where he was a strategic account and territory manager. At Protect-A-Bed, Garrett is working with buying groups and national licensed retailers. He also oversees the company’s national independent sales representatives.
Rachael Smith, who has been with Protect-A-Bed for the past four years as a sales trainer, was promoted to regional sales manager for the central region.
Tom Stiffler, who joined the company in late 2017, is regional sales manager for the West Coast. His background includes positions with HHC/MotoSleep, Ashley Furniture Industries and Tempur Sealy International Inc.
In addition, Vincent Passanisi has joined the company sales team as territory manager for its bedding brand REM-Fit. He previously was with Sealy and Ashley Sleep.
Commenting on the changes, John Rachid, president of Protect-A-Bed, said: “We’re moving to grow our team to accommodate our positive outlook. We’re focused on selling an entire program, and once our partners bring this approach aboard, it accelerates their growth.”
James Bell, chief executive officer, added: “In constructing this team, we have taken great care to select some of the industry’s top talent and really focused on selecting candidates with deep knowledge of retail. It’s this knowledge and insight that will allow them to help our retailers grow throughout the remainder of 2018 and beyond.”
