Projo Biz Blog

Cut-price retailer Mattress Discounters said it wants to close the nearly 50 stores it operates in New England as part of an effort to turn around its ailing operations, according to court documents and company statements.

The closings will come in the next three to six weeks, according to a statement e-mailed to The Journal this afternoon by a company representative. The company, based in Upper Marlboro, Md., attributed the decision to the nation's poor economy and competition in the region.

"Like other segments of the retail industry, the retail mattress and bedding industry is experience a downturn," the company stated in court documents filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland. "As a result of the industry downturn, combined with increasing competition and a weakened overall economy, the debtors have experience a significant decline in sales. . . . The financial performance of the debtors' stores in the New England region has been particularly weak."

The company's 48 stores in the region lost $1.5 million, combined, last year and have thus far lost approximately $2.9 million this year.

"The turnaround plan includes the prompt exit from the New England region, targeted reductions of the debtors' retail operations in the Mid-Atlantic region and a possible sale of the debtors' manufacturing business."

The company operates more than 140 stores overall, including five in Rhode Island, in Coventry, Middletown, Narragansett, Providence and Woonsocket.

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