Mattress Start-up Casper Is Opening Its First Store with Complimentary Naps

Online mattress start-up Casper is opening its first permanent store, a 3,000-square-foot location in New York, where shoppers are invited to not onlylook at the companys mattresses, pillows and bedding, but also to use them. Dozing off is encouraged, executives say.The start-up, founded four years ago out of a one-bedroom apartment in New York, has grown into a $300-million-a-year business.

Philip Krim, one of five co-founders, says it began with a simple premise:Mattress shopping was a terrible experience.The industry had long been dominated by a handful of big companies, he said, and many people hated traditional showrooms, where dozens of mattresses were lined up side by side under bright lights. He and his co-founders set out to create a different kind of experience one where shoppers couldpick out a mattress online and have it delivered to their front doors free of charge.

Not happy with it after 100 nights? Casperpromised tohaul away the mattress at no extra cost.Before we started this company, theidea of sleeping on your mattress before you bought it just didnt exist, Krim said.

This wasa stagnant industry.The approach worked: The company racked up $1 million in revenue in its first four weeks. In 2015, its first full year, sales topped $100 million.

Casper mattresses are now also sold at Target stores.The companys success has given way to a number of other online mattressstart-ups, including Leesa, Tuft & Needle, Helix Sleep and Pangeabed. Even Walmart is jumping in: Allswell, a premium mattress and bedding brand targeted toaffluent online shoppers, is scheduled to launch next week.

The basic premise of the companies is the same: Buy a mattress online and try it for 100 nights. If you dont like it, theyll give you a full refund. (In most cases, returned mattressesare donated to charity.

)But back in 2014, it wasnt necessarily an easy sell. Shoppers werent accustomed to spending hundreds on a mattress theyd never seen or touched.Krim said he knew itd be a challenge to get people to buy mattresses sight-unseen, but what he didnt expect was asteady stream of shoppers who stopped by Caspers office,a one-bedroom New York City apartment, totest out the companys wares.

On day one, we had someone knock on our door and say, Im here to try out the mattress, Krim said. Thats when we realized, by accident, just how important the physical experience was going to be.Employees quickly turned a conference room into a makeshift bedroom and invited potential customers to stop by.

We said, Take however long you need. Fall asleep, take a nap, Krim said. It felt like a bedroom.

It was the antithesis of the traditional big mattress experience with fluorescent lights and a pushy salesman.Over the years, Casper has hosted 16 pop-ups across the country.The company also hasNapmobiles trucks fitted with four napping pods that cruise the country, offering customers a chance to snooze on one of its mattresses.

(Having trouble dozing off? The pods come equipped with privacy blinds and prerecorded bedtime stories.)Now Krim says the company is making that experience permanent, with its newest store at 627 Broadway.

The location will have six mini-bedrooms where customers can stop by to test products, including pillows, sheets and duvets. (And as for, um, inappropriate behavior under the sheets, a Casper spokeswoman says, Were not worried. Weve been testing the concept in other locations.

)The company is the latest Internet retailer to expand offline. A number of others, including eyeglass maker Warby Parker, shoe company M. Gemi and socially mindedclothier Everlane, have also opened physical locations in recent years.

Its an approach that makes sense, Krim says, as customers seek new experiences. The store will also host community events focused on sleep and wellness.Buying a mattress or sheets or pillows is one of the most intimate purchases youll make, Krim said.

You should be mentally relaxed and comfortable so you can find the right product.Read more:Target is opening two new stores in WashingtonEverlane is opening its first stores, after years of swearing it wouldntAmericans love shopping online, but they want to return things in personWalmart is launching online bedding, cosmetic brands in bid for upscale shoppers