The company behind Sleep Outfitters, Mattress Warehouse, and Mattress King filed for bankruptcy protection with hopes of selling itself, the second mattress retailer since October to succumb to overexpansion, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Innovative Mattress Solutions LLC, which runs 142 retail locations with roughly 400 employees, entered chapter 11 in Lexington, Ky., on Friday to protect itself from creditors while it puts its assets up for sale and closes some stores. IMS said in court papers that its business had suffered along with the general brick-and-mortar retail market and worsened after 2016 due to a series of expansions “which were, in hindsight, poorly timed.” The mattress market, like most other retail sectors, has also come under pressure in recent years from online upstarts, such as Casper Sleep Inc. and Leesa Sleep LLC. The newcomers mostly sell bed-in-a-box mattresses they ship directly to customers, promising free returns.
