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A wildly popular conspiracy theory about why there are so many Mattress Firm stores

I've wondered myself. A high school classmate owns Mattress King in Huntsville and Madison. He has 4 stores. Seems like a lot of stores to me. The mark up on bedding must be huge.
 
I think they've recently moved (though as recently as Feb. 2017 on Streetview its still there) but there used to be two Mattress Firms within sight of each other here. When we bought our mattress a few years back, we went to one store do look at and decide on the mattress and for some reason had to go to the one less than 1/4 a mile away to sign paperwork/schedule delivery. It was really strange.
 
the reality here is that the margins on Mattresses are crazy high and the stores very lightly staffed by entry level employees, so 1 mattress sold a day is break even to profitable, 2 is profit and 3 is a banner day. Opening a bunch of stores keeps others from being able to compete. Kind of like what starbucks does. Comes into a new town opens 2 or 3 stores runs all the competition out and then scales back to one store with market control
 
Jon said:
the reality here is that the margins on Mattresses are crazy high and the stores very lightly staffed by entry level employees, so 1 mattress sold a day is break even to profitable, 2 is profit and 3 is a banner day. Opening a bunch of stores keeps others from being able to compete. Kind of like what starbucks does. Comes into a new town opens 2 or 3 stores runs all the competition out and then scales back to one store with market control
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Interesting.

I've never seen Starbucks scale back, though. Granted I've only lived in 2 places - my hometown and here in Southern VA. The first was a tiny po-dunk town on the Flora-Bama border smack between Mobile and Pensacola. Even for a small town with almost no competition (as far as specialty coffee shops go and not including breakfast spots that serve a few varities of coffee for the old timers) the stores that they have put in have remained.

Now, you may be talking about those areas where the store density is nearly inane - like when they literally have a Starbucks a block or so from one another? Perhaps in that scenario after a period of time they scale back? I've never lived in a place urban enough to do that. So perhaps it's been unnecessary as the level of compeition - even in a bigger city like Norfolk, has been relatively low.

I will say, much to my surprise there is a local coffee shop in the hip Norfolk neighborhood of "Ghent" called "Fairgrounds" and right across the street is a thriving Starbucks. I say "surprise" because "Fairground's" coffee, in my opinion, is vastly overpriced (compared to Starbucks!) and middling quality. They likely survive alone on ambience and the hipster appeal of not being a corporate entity...Ghent is hipster central, I lived there for 2 years and was at more risk of being run over by fixed gear bikes than vehicles.

There are probably other mitigating factors prohibiting Starbucks from "Little-Big Horn'ing" that coffee shop, such as land price and availability, not to mention thoroughfare access. But I find this discussion of strategy very interesting.
 
I remember visiting family in Texas years ago and being on one side of the street next to a Starbucks and there was another one directly across the street. Looks like they may have closed one finally since I can't find it on Google Maps.
 
MattinBama said:
I remember visiting family in Texas years ago and being on one side of the street next to a Starbucks and there was another one directly across the street. Looks like they may have closed one finally since I can't find it on Google Maps.
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I was walking from Times Square to the Javtiz Center (Manhattan) for a convention a few years ago and came across an intersection where three of the four corners were Starbucks. There was so much foot traffic they were all covered up, but it was still surprising. No idea exactly which intersection this was and no idea if it still exists. I just remember wondering what the monthly note must be for those three and was impressed they could sell enough coffee, etc. to operate three separate spaces so close together...
 
Intl.Aperture said:
Interesting.

I've never seen Starbucks scale back, though. Granted I've only lived in 2 places - my hometown and here in Southern VA. The first was a tiny po-dunk town on the Flora-Bama border smack between Mobile and Pensacola. Even for a small town with almost no competition (as far as specialty coffee shops go and not including breakfast spots that serve a few varities of coffee for the old timers) the stores that they have put in have remained.

Now, you may be talking about those areas where the store density is nearly inane - like when they literally have a Starbucks a block or so from one another? Perhaps in that scenario after a period of time they scale back? I've never lived in a place urban enough to do that. So perhaps it's been unnecessary as the level of compeition - even in a bigger city like Norfolk, has been relatively low.

I will say, much to my surprise there is a local coffee shop in the hip Norfolk neighborhood of "Ghent" called "Fairgrounds" and right across the street is a thriving Starbucks. I say "surprise" because "Fairground's" coffee, in my opinion, is vastly overpriced (compared to Starbucks!) and middling quality. They likely survive alone on ambience and the hipster appeal of not being a corporate entity...Ghent is hipster central, I lived there for 2 years and was at more risk of being run over by fixed gear bikes than vehicles.

There are probably other mitigating factors prohibiting Starbucks from "Little-Big Horn'ing" that coffee shop, such as land price and availability, not to mention thoroughfare access. But I find this discussion of strategy very interesting.
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funny that you call out that region as it is what I was thinking of when I typed it. Right in the middle of Daphne on "the 4 lane" as Highway 98 is known in those parts is a restaurant called "the wacky shrimp". If you pull it up on google street view it will look exactly like a modern starbucks franchise repainted, because it is. They opened on 98 at 10 and in daphne. Once the competitors were gone they closed the Daphne store and sold or leased the building.
 
Jon said:
funny that you call out that region as it is what I was thinking of when I typed it. Right in the middle of Daphne on "the 4 lane" as Highway 98 is known in those parts is a restaurant called "the wacky shrimp". If you pull it up on google street view it will look exactly like a modern starbucks franchise repainted, because it is. They opened on 98 at 10 and in daphne. Once the competitors were gone they closed the Daphne store and sold or leased the building.
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Ah, I was not over in Daphne growing up. Closer to Lillian, Cantonment FL, Seminole.

I'd love to move back and live in the Daphne, Fairhope, Magnolia Springs area. They just don't have much in my field.
 
Intl.Aperture said:
Ah, I was not over in Daphne growing up. Closer to Lillian, Cantonment FL, Seminole.

I'd love to move back and live in the Daphne, Fairhope, Magnolia Springs area. They just don't have much in my field.
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personally I think Magnolia Springs is one of Alabama's best hidden secrets, especially the cold hole in the summer and not the cold hole at Jessies
 
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