Dive Brief:
- Inspired by its research and development arm, DTC mattress brand Casper has opened a new interactive concept store at its existing South Coast Plaza location in Costa Mesa, California, according to a company press release.
- The 2,700-square-foot store, which reopened Friday after a nine-month closure for renovations, highlights the brand’s three main points of innovation: cooling, support and comfort. It includes both digital features and touch-and-feel materials.
- Among the features of the store is a Snooze Bar, a dedicated consultation area where store associates can educate customers on products; a Pillow Lab for testing the brand’s pillows; a “Bedroom DeZzzign Center” experience that offers personalized service to design a sleep setup; and a Bunkhouse getaway which is designed for kids to visit while their parents shop.
Dive Insight:
Founded in 2014, Casper became known for its bed-in-a-box model and array of sleep products including mattresses, pillows, bedding, furniture and dog beds sold primarily online. The brand experienced significant growth during the pandemic as consumers who were stuck indoors sought comfort for the home and gravitated to Casper mattresses which they purchased online and had shipped directly to their homes in a box.
In 2018, the brand began opening stores, with a unique concept aimed at differentiating it from other mattress retailers. Casper went on to open branded shop-in-shop locations within Bed Bath & Beyond before that retailer filed for bankruptcy and closed all doors. A Casper spokesperson said via email that the company is focused on its South Coast Plaza store, but plans to open “a few more locations” in the coming months.
Today Casper has 66 brick-and-mortar stores, according to a spokesperson, and the retailer’s website shows 12 located in California. The brand sold its Canadian operations, which included six locations, to Sleep Country for $20.6 million last year. Casper has over 25 retail partners to date, including Costco, Amazon, Nordstrom, Target, Sleep Country, Raymour & Flanigan, Mattress Warehouse and Rooms To Go, among others.
"At Casper, we believe that sleep is essential for well-being and happiness,” Ben McCarthy, director of visual merchandising at Casper, said in a statement. “That's why we have created a new Casper Sleep Shop for customers to experience our products in a comfortable, engaging, and educational environment. Our product displays encourage shoppers to touch, feel, and learn about the design behind Casper’s obsessively engineered sleep offerings, such as our award-winning Cooling Collection.”
Casper has undergone a number of changes the past few years. Like a number of DTC brands, the company grew its revenue but struggled to be profitable. After going public in February of 2020, the brand grew revenue by 13% that year, but reported a net loss of $89.6 million in the same period.
Casper went private again in late 2021 when it was acquired by private equity firm Durational Capital Management. Company founder Philip Krim announced at the time he would step down as CEO, and was succeeded by then-President and Chief Commercial Officer Emilie Arel.
Under Arel’s leadership, the brand has sought to focus its attention on profitability. “We’re not in the business of not making money anymore,” Arel said at eTail’s Boston conference in August 2022.
