For more than 65 years, Verlo Mattress has made a name for itself, one mattress at a time.
How do you compete with the majors?” That’s a windmill that bedding manufacturers have tilted at for decades. But Milwaukee-based Verlo Mattress has chosen a different course. Since 1958, the bedding producer and retailer has built a loyal following through its own chain of successful direct-to-consumer factory stores on its own terms — one town, one store, one customer, one mattress at a time.
Verlo Mattress: The Meaning Behind a Unique Brand Name
In 1958, partners Guy Day and Dale Williams began making handcrafted mattresses for their furniture store in Wheeling, Illinois. As the company’s website says, “The mattresses were a bigger hit than the furniture,” so Day and Williams shifted the focus of their business from furniture to bedding.
Following the success of their mattress business, Day and Williams decided to move their company to Wisconsin, where it launched under a new name — Verlo — a combination of “Verna” and “Lois,” the names of their wives.
“(Verna and Lois) were the inspiration for creating the new product and the brand,” says Robert Schuster, Verlo’s vice president of purchasing and product development. “They were the inspiration for breaking off and doing the mattresses, and as a nod to their inspiration, they named the company after their wives.”
But Day and Williams didn’t sleep on the success of that first Verlo store. They began taking on franchisees to continue and share in the success of their business, adding factory stores throughout Wisconsin and then across the United States.
Eventually, Verlo Mattress attracted the attention of Marcus Investments, based in Milwaukee, which acquired the company in 2012.
“Their leadership has had a positive impact on our customer experience, both in the showroom and at home,” Schuster says. “But we are very much independent.”
Today, Verlo Mattress and its franchisees operate 42 factory stores in 13 states: Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
Despite these changes, the company says these things have remained constant throughout Verlo’s history: selling direct to the consumer, providing superior products at unbeatable prices, ensuring its customers receive a great night’s sleep, making mattresses one at a time in its own local factories and selling them exclusively in their own stores.
“Sixty-seven years later, we continue to be a brand that believes that sleep, above all else, is the most important part of our day,” Schuster says. “That’s what matters the most to us.”
In March, Bobby Cleveland, a seasoned Verlo veteran with more than 24 years at the company, became the new president of Verlo. He succeeded Dirk Stallmann, who resigned to focus on personal priorities.
BedTimes asked Robert Schuster, Verlo’s vice president of purchasing and product development since 2019, to share his thoughts regarding Cleveland stepping into the role of president.
“I was overjoyed when I found out that Bobby was going to be taking the reins,” Schuster says. “He’s a very honest, straightforward person. He cares deeply about the people that he’s around. That is a hallmark of who Bobby is.”
Schuster says he feels that Cleveland’s long tenure with the company gives him a unique understanding of the challenges Verlo’s franchisees, leadership team and the mattress industry are facing.
“He’s had a long career from sales to franchise development to commercial sleep development to GM of our corporate locations. He’s run the gamut,” Schuster adds.
“Bobby is going to be a great leader and is going to take Verlo to that next level, in both the franchising and the mattress industry,” he says
Verlo’s Custom, Direct-to-Consumer Mattress Advantage
Unlike large mattress manufacturer-retailers that offer a limited selection of standardized options, Verlo’s direct-to-consumer model allows consumers to purchase a mattress custom made to their sleep preferences — including firmness, materials and support levels — directly from their local Verlo store.
Specially trained retail sales associates, called comfort coaches, guide each consumer as they test and fine-tune their comfort preferences in the store — a unique advantage in an industry dominated by mass production. This approach also makes premium custom sleep experiences more affordable, eliminating middleman costs through factory-direct pricing, Schuster says.
A key component to Verlo’s custom-made mattresses is their made-to-order modular design. Introduced in 2019 after two years of development, Verlo’s modular mattress model creates more flexibility for custom adjustments and upgrades before and after the sale, provides additional customer touchpoints throughout the life cycle of the mattress and enhances sustainable production.
“That’s been an evolution for Verlo over the years,” Schuster says. He explains that Verlo’s mattresses were originally sewn beds that would have to be opened up, adjusted and retaped in the factory then returned to the customer. Today, Verlo mattresses have a zippered cover that allows Verlo associates to make comfort adjustments and upgrades in the customer’s home. They can change support and comfort layers, core and springs, or add sleep technology — whatever the customer desires.
“They’re not inconvenienced. They get that personalized, one-on-one attention from a service person,” Schuster says. “As their own comfort needs change, they don’t have to get a new mattress every time — which keeps Verlo front of mind with our guests. They know we care.”
Comfort That Lasts: Understanding the Verlo Guarantee
The in-home comfort adjustments made possible by Verlo’s modular design are also at the heart of Verlo’s lifetime comfort guarantee.
“That modular nature extends the life of their bed and makes the convenience of any comfort changes in the future that much easier and that much better,” Schuster says.
Even if nothing’s wrong with the mattress, Verlo’s comfort adjustment service will come out to a home to modify the mattress to the customer’s satisfaction. Schuster explains that the first comfort adjustment is free during the first 365 days or 180 days after buying a Verlo mattress, depending on the model purchased. Based on the number of changes involved, a comfort adjustment visit can take between 30 to 60 minutes.
“We bring the materials with us needed to make those adjustments. We’ll go through multiple iterations of comfort to really dial in what that guest needs before we leave. If they need it adjusted again, we’ll set up that time and we’ll come back out there. And we’ll continue to adjust it for the lifetime of the mattress,” Schuster says. “We truly do care about our guests and their having a good night’s sleep.”
“I would love for every product I buy to have somebody who’s willing to come out as many times as I need to make it exactly right,” he adds. “It’s just not a model that some of the big brands can do.”
Eco-Conscious Comfort: How Verlo Designs for a Sustainable Future
Verlo’s made-to-order modular mattresses are also a natural fit with the company’s longstanding commitment to sustainability.
“Verlo is inherently sustainable,” Schuster says. He explains that Verlo’s comfort adjustment program minimizes waste and extends the life of its beds by changing out individual components rather than disposing of the entire mattress in a landfill. When necessary, Verlo’s outcycle program partners with recyclers for responsible mattress disposal.
By purchasing precut materials from suppliers in exact sizes, the company limits production waste. Verlo also lowers its environmental impact with practices like baling cardboard to recycle packaging waste and upgrading to energy-efficient LEDs at its corporate facilities.
“Since our very inception, Verlo has led the way on mattress recycling, going all the way back to our national outcycle environmental program,” he says. “As the rest of the nation has caught up on best practices, we’ve had it integrated into our system from the very start.”
Growing Stronger: Verlo’s Plan for the Future, Rooted in Quality and Community
Franchises are the foundation of the company’s expansion plans. “Our franchisees must be good stewards of our brand in their market. It’s not enough to sell mattresses, they must be engaged in the community and hold themselves to high moral standards,” Schuster says. “We have high standards when awarding a franchise. The people we allow into our system must meet specific business expectations and, in addition, it’s important they are people we trust, like and respect.”
To maintain consistency across its franchise locations, the company implements a comprehensive sales training program developed and led by the company’s vice president of retail operations that covers every aspect of the business, including selling strategies, product knowledge, mattress construction, customer service and delivery logistics.
This structured training upholds brand consistency while allowing franchisees to incorporate their personality and community connections into the store’s identity. Franchisees are encouraged to develop community engagement strategies and values by investing in local philanthropy, such as sponsoring pet shelters or hosting school tours for students interested in business, as Schuster does. This community immersion strategy empowers franchisees to integrate their stores into the fabric of their communities and helps differentiate each franchise while reinforcing the overall Verlo brand.
Schuster adds that Verlo’s direct-to-consumer model and strategic sourcing practices have prepared it to adapt to some of the economic headwinds facing the bedding industry.
“I think being direct-to-consumer allows us to be competitive on price where others may not be,” Schuster says. “By eliminating the middleman, Verlo enhances its competitiveness on pricing, enabling franchisees to offer better prices and higher quality to customers.”
The company’s purchasing power also allows it to negotiate favorable pricing, benefiting individual franchisees and ensuring they remain cost-competitive. And while Verlo does source a small percentage of its materials internationally, the company primarily sources its components domestically.
“It’s not about gimmicky products. It’s not about chasing a trend,” Schuster says. “It is doing what Verlo does best, which is providing a quality sleep environment and top-tier customer service to our guests.”
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