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The Mattress Firm conspiracy theory has been making the rounds on various community threads for so long that it’s been difficult not to take notice. From Reddit to Medium to TikTok, people believe that Mattress Firm stores are a giant money laundering scheme. But are they really as shady as many believe them to be? Let’s find out.
What is the Mattress Firm conspiracy theory?
The Mattress Firm conspiracy theory that’s going viral on TikTok is that they are allegedly a criminal money laundering front. There is no evidence to suggest that this theory is true.
Mattress Firm stores are allegedly thought to be a money laundering front due to the staggering amount of mattress stores they have across the United States and what’s more – in certain areas, there are more than one Mattress Firm store within a one mile radius. Which then begs the question: why are there so many stores in just one area?
The average life span of a well-made mattress is around 7-10 years (lesser if it has not been well taken cared of). This means people only need to replace their mattress every 7 to 10 years. Unlike other basic needs and necessities such as food and utilities that come at a monthly cost, mattresses are usually a 5-6 times in a lifetime investment, if that.
That’s not to say that some people don’t replace their mattresses even well before its time – they do. They might want an upgrade or may just want something new. But some think that the demand – especially for a tiny town – does not warrant five Mattress Firm stores in every corner.
The advent of online mattress shopping has also lessened the need for a ton of brick and mortar stores. A lot of brands in the mattress industry have even closed up shop on their physical stores, preferring to focus on their digital storefronts. And with good reason – low to zero overheads, the social media marketing boom, the convenience of online shopping and cutting out any middle men means more savings and more profit. Some mattress companies, like Tuft & Needle, are only available online.
From a purely financial standpoint, it doesn’t seem to make sense why a mattress brand like Mattress Firm would pepper every corner of a town like Hillsborough, New Jersey with a mattress store.
So why is Mattress Firm popping out so many Mattress Firm stores like they’re one of those popular fast food restaurants with such a demand for hamburgers and cris-cut fries?
Why do some people think that Mattress Firm is a money laundering front
There are more than a few reasons why so many believe Mattress Firm stores are a giant money laundering scheme:
- The number of stores to their close proximity,
- Alleged shady business practices
- Accounting irregularities
- CEO resignation
- Ownership by Steinhoff International
- Recent legal issues
Stores in close proximity to each other
Does one town really need that many mattress stores?
Take Tampa Bay, Florida for example. There are 3 Mattress Firm stores on the South 92 alone, all within one straight line (oh, and Tampa has soo much more than just those three). And that’s not just Florida, there’s Texas, New York, California, Ohio and just about every state except a handful in the North (Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas). Why the multiple stores in just one location? It was from this one sole reason the conspiracy theories started pouring out.
As of January 2023, there are 2443 Mattress Firm stores in the United States. Let’s, for the sake of argument, compare it to Walmart who, by the way, also sells its own Mainstays mattresses. Walmart has around 5000 outlets across the United States. The main difference is, Walmart also sells just about everything else under the sun while Mattress Firm only sells, you got it, mattresses. Why so many Mattress Firms?
Conspiracy theorists allege that all those stores and their close proximity to one another are a hiding-in-plain-sight money laundering operation. Mattresses can cost anywhere from $300 to thousands more (a TempurPedic starts at $1189). Clean money in, dirty money out, quick and easy and would you like a set of sheets to go with your new mattress maybe?
But Mattress Firm has a rebuttal to these money laundering allegations – in their quest to be America’s number one mattress store, they have begun buying out competing mattress stores and some of these stores are within close proximity to a Mattress Firm store. Some are even right across the street. More mattress stores mean more sales and more sales mean more money (or so they think).
While a lot of conspiracy theorists staunchly believe that Mattress Firm is one big money laundering scheme, hard cold criminal activity has not been proven.
Steinhoff International ownership
In 2016, Mattress Firm was acquired by Steinhoff International, a multinational holding company that is dual listed in South Africa and Germany. While this acquisition kept Mattress Firm in business, many questioned its business and financial plausibility given South Africa’s corporate history.
Sure enough, not long after the acquisition, in October of 2017, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange fined Steinhoff International a whopping $830,000 for listing irregularities and publishing false and misleading information.
Steinhoff then continued on its downward spiral with reports of fraud amounting up to $7 billion and facing numerous lawsuits which to this day they are still battling to recover from. In fact, according to SA shares, South Africa’s number one online trading platform, Steinhoff has allegedly lost 95% of its market cap and is not worth investing in at the moment.
But what does this have to do with Mattress Firm, you might ask.
Everything.
According to numerous reports from sources such as Business Insider, in 2017 it was discovered that lease agreements were severely inflated, allegedly putting both undisclosed Mattress Firm higher-ups and real estate brokers in the green – rolling in it, in fact. Aside from that, projected sales were not met and Mattress Firm operated at a loss of $75.6 million and that’s just in 2017.
This even caused Mattress Firm to lose their supply agreement with major suppliers including mattress giant Tempur-Sealy, which was settled legally.
Many conspiracy theorists believe that Mattress Firm’s new owner contributed largely to Mattress Firm’s ongoing money laundering saga.
CEO resignation
After years of over expansion, Mattress Firm closed around 640 stores in 2018 and promptly filed for Chapter 11 in an effort to improve their business strategy. But was this really a strategic move?
6 months after Mattress Firm filed for bankruptcy and seemingly got back on their feet, then CEO Steve Stagner resigns abruptly for reasons that were not made known to the public. Many believe that Stagner came to heads with Steinhoff International even though his departure was seemingly amicable.
Once again, the conspiracy theories abound. Did he refuse to be a part of the scheme? Did he discover something even more sinister but had his lips sealed shut by an NDA? No one really knows.
Today, Mattress Firm is headed by John Eck.
Mattress Firm legal issues
In 2018, Mattress Firm’s former in-house real estate executives sued Mattress Firm for real estate fraud. Mattress Firm then counter sued for illegal real estate deals. But this is not the first time this has happened.
In 2009, Mattress Firm sued its former in-house vice president of real estate, along with a Texas-based developer and a flooring company. The claim: padding a dollar for every square foot for each and every Mattress Firm store remodel. The total cost: a little over $36 million. Later on that year, Mattress Firm dismissed its claims and no one knows whether they settled out of court, according to Forbes magazine. The former vice president filed for bankruptcy not long after.
Large companies such as Mattress Firm are no stranger when it comes to lawsuits. It basically comes with the territory, especially when dealing with large sums of money. But to be embroiled in legal battles time and time again, there must be something wrong with the machine.
You, the consumer, must decide for yourself.
Why the conspiracy theory is going viral on TikTok
Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory. And why not, it makes for good entertainment and it also makes you think. A great conspiracy theory also makes for good TikTok fodder and can absolutely shoot you up to viral status.
While the Mattress Firm conspiracy theory has long been discussed to death on YouTube thanks to the infamous Shane Dawson, these days people want to consume their information in short bursts hence the TikTok virality.
Just search Mattress Firm on TikTok and the highest ‘liked’ video is on 215,00 likes and counting. But does this mean it’s true? We don’t really know. But what we know for sure is: take everything you see and hear on social media with a grain of salt.
FAQs
Mattress Firm is currently owned by both Steinhoff International and Mattress Holding Corp.
As of September 2022, Mattress Firm has a reported a net loss of $165.1 million and is in debt for $3.5 billion. This means Mattress Firm is operating at a loss and is currently not profitable.
Mattress Firm’s net worth is $4.3 billion as of 2021. No reports have been updated for this year.
Conclusion
We all love a good conspiracy theory but when it comes to mattresses, we all want our money to go to good sleep and not contribute to shady business practices – real or imagined.
No one knows the real truth when it comes to Mattress Firm and why they have so many mattress stores in a single location. We may never know. But the next time you make a mattress purchase, think about where you’re putting that hard earned dollar.
Next step: Read our Sleepy’s mattress review. Sleepy’s is one of the most common brands sold in Mattress Firm stores. Our in-depth review gives you the pros and cons of this brand so you can decide for yourself if it’s worth it.
Michelline loves nothing more than a cozy bed, with a stack of books at her side. She loves getting lost when she travels, can bake an entire British afternoon tea from scratch, is obsessed with all things analogue and does calligraphy on the side. She currently suffers from mild insomnia and is more than happy to be your guinea pig, so you won’t have to go through all the trouble of finding out what works best for you.
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Psst… the sleep review industry is full of liars, sharks, and thieves. It’s a modern-day version of getting ripped off at your local mattress store. So, why should you trust us?