By Sheila Long O’Mara
Source: www.furnituretoday.com, September 2021
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – TrueSleep Mattress Store is betting big on its Michigan sports franchises with its latest promotion.
The Kalamazoo, Mich.-based retailer is promising refunds on mattress purchases during the month of September if Michigan State University wins the NCAA football championship. Taking the promotion one step further, if consumers buy a Malouf mattress protector and any major Michigan team wins the World Series, the Stanley Cup, NBA Finals, the Super Bowl or the college championship, the consumer will get a free set of Malouf’s 600 thread count sheets. In addition to the MSU Spartans, TrueSleep’s sheet offer involves the Detroit Tigers, the Red Wings, the Pistons and the Lions.
“We are placing the bets because if a local team gets in the championship, of course we want to be rooting for the hometown team,” said Dennis Gartland, president of TrueSleep, which operates seven mattress stores throughout the state.
To cover any losses, Gartland has placed wagers at Circa Sports Book in Las Vegas on Michigan State to win. His bet could pay out more than $300,000. Consumers must make their mattress purchases between Sept. 1 and Oct. 3 to qualify for the refund.
“We were at the Las Vegas Furniture Market ordering our new fall mattress lineup when we saw the opportunity to put a wager on the major Michigan teams to win it all,” said Joey Amato, CEO of TrueSleep.
Gartland said when he placed the bet ahead of the season opener, he got 10,000-to-one odds. After the Michigan State Spartans won their first two games, the odds lowered to 300 to one.
“If MSU defeats the 24th-ranked (University of) Miami Hurricanes on Sept. 18, we expect the Spartans to be ranked in the top 25 and the promotion to pick up more steam and publicity on sports talk shows” Gartland said.
I’m Sheila Long O’Mara, executive editor at Furniture Today. Throughout my 25-year career in the home furnishings industry, I have been an editor with a number of industry publications and spent a brief stint with a public relations agency where I worked with some of the industry’s leading bedding brands. I rejoined Furniture Today in December 2020 with a focus on bedding and sleep products. It’s a homecoming for me, as I was a writer and editor with Furniture Today from 1994 until 2002. I’m happy to be back and look forward to telling the important stories impacting bedding retailers and manufacturers.
