*By Carlo Versano*
Earlier this month, the major bed retailer Mattress Firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In the filing, the company acknowledged it had too many stores too close to one another and needed to abandon hundreds of leases nationwide to shrink its footprint, which had grown to an uncontrollable size since the company acquired Sleepy's and gained over 1,000 stores.
A few months earlier, Casper ーthe four-year-old online retailer that upended the staid mattress market with viral videos of customers unpacking its mattress-in-a-box ー announced it will open 200 brick-and-mortar locations around the world, adding to the 20 it already has.
These two developments almost perfectly capture the strange, topsy-turvy state of consumer retail.
"We have a rebirth of retail happening right now," Casper's CMO Jeff Brooks said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar.
Brooks explained how the digitally native direct-to-consumer company is now incorporating old-fashioned stores into its growth plan.
Casper now has nearly two dozen competitors in the bed-in-a-box space, but its main competitor is still "Big Mattress," Brooks said. Most people still buy a new mattress the same way they have for generations: by going to a store and awkwardly lying down on a few display beds, watched over by a salesperson making commission and pushing confusing features.
Casper's job is to get more people comfortable with the idea of buying a mattress ー a major purchase with which they'll spend a third of their daily hours ー on the internet. And part of that strategy involves opening stores that extend Casper's brand into the physical world and allowing potential customers to get a feel for the product, according to Brooks.
It's also an extension of partnerships the company already has with big-box retailers like Target ($TGT) and Costco ($COST) and a shop on Amazon ($AMZN) (with which it competes).
That omni-channel strategy, of course, is not new. As the retail landscape shifts, digital brands like Allbirds, Away, and Warby Parker have found success opening design-focused "experiential" stores in high-visibility shopping districts like New York's SoHo.
Asked whether he could envision a day when Casper will morph from a direct-to-consumer to store-centric model, Brooks said: "I can see a world where the two become more balanced over time" as consumer behavior changes.
"We'll be where they want to be."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/casper-cmo-jeff-brooks-explains-why-brick-and-mortar-isnt-dead).
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
Nvidia reported a 56% increase in second-quarter revenue and a 59% rise in net income compared to a year ago.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claims audiences don't want to watch Netflix movies in theaters, but that seems not to be the case recently.
Chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly report that could provide a better sense of whether the stock market has been riding an overhyped artificial intelligence bubble or is being propelled by a technological boom that’s still gathering momentum.
Cracker Barrel said late Tuesday it’s returning to its old logo after critics — including President Donald Trump — protested the company’s plan to modernize.
Low-value imports are losing their duty-free status in the U.S. this week as part of President Donald Trump's agenda for making the nation less dependent on foreign goods. A widely used customs exemption for international shipments worth $800 or less is set to end starting on Friday. Trump already ended the “de minimis” rule for inexpensive items sent from China and Hong Kong, but having to pay import taxes on small parcels from everywhere else likely will be a big change for some small businesses and online shoppers. Purchases that previously entered the U.S. without needing to clear customs will be subject to the origin country’s tariff rate, which can range from 10% to 50%.
Southwest Airlines will soon require plus-size travelers to pay for an extra seat in advance if they can't fit within the armrests of one seat. This change is part of several updates the airline is making. The new rule starts on Jan. 27, the same day Southwest begins assigning seats. Currently, plus-size passengers can pay for an extra seat in advance and later get a refund, or request a free extra seat at the airport. Under the new policy, refunds are still possible but not guaranteed. Southwest said in a statement it is updating policies to prepare for assigned seating next year.
Cracker Barrel is sticking with its new logo. For now. But the chain is also apologizing to fans who were angered when the change was announced last week.
