Mattress Firm Shuffles Executive Team

September 11, 2015  by in Executive Changes, Industry   

In other executive news, Dale Carlsen has been named executive vice chairman and chief philanthropy officer. In this role, Carlsen will work closely with the senior executive team on key strategic initiatives, vendor relations, mergers and acquisitions, and community engagement.

This new executive structure is the next step in the integration of the Sleep Train organization and is intended to drive growth. The changes are effective immediately.

In his expanded role as president, Murphy is responsible for all sales functions of the company, including store operations and distribution, marketing, merchandising and e-commerce. Murphy joined Mattress Firm in 1998 and was most recently co-chief operating officer. During his tenure with the company, he has held positions of increasing responsibility including executive vice president of sales and operations, national vice president of sales, director of training and recruiting, and vice president of field and talent management.

As chief operating officer, Killgore is responsible for all support functions including strategy, information technology, real estate, legal and human resources. Killgore joined Mattress Firm as co-chief operating officer in 2014 as part of the Sleep Train acquisition where he was most recently chief operating officer. Killgore joined Sleep Train in 1986, where he held various positions prior to chief operating officer, including senior executive vice president.

"I am excited to announce the promotion of Ken Murphy to president,” said Steve Stagner, CEO. “During his over 15 years with the company, Ken has been instrumental in driving the growth of Mattress Firm into the nation's largest specialty mattress retailer. We look forward to applying Ken's leadership and passion to additional areas of the business. I am equally excited to leverage Rob Killgore's vast industry experience, strategic thinking and analytical mind by expanding his role as sole chief operating officer. Since joining Mattress Firm in 2014 as part of the Sleep Train acquisition, Rob has played a key role in the acquisition integration and our overall operations." 

Stagner said he looks forward to partnering with Carlsen.

“As the founder of Sleep Train and an industry pioneer, Dale is a trusted advisor and we will continue to benefit from his more than 30 years of industry experience in key areas of our business,” Stagner said "These management transitions represent a natural evolution as part of the plan we put in place at the time of the transformational acquisitions we completed last year, and are designed to position our organization for continued growth."