Former Sleepy's Exec Named CEO of Furniture First

September 20, 2016  by Jane Chero in Executive Changes, Industry   

Cifelli was with Sleepy's for more than 16 years, most recently as divisional vice president of sales and regional vice president of sales of the bedding specialty retailer.

“We are very excited to have Dino come to Furniture First,” said Art Scholet, chairman of the board of directors. “We took our time to find the right individual to help lead and grow our group. His experience will help put in place a strategic approach to business development.” 

Cifelli will assume his new position Oct. 3, when the Board of Directors convenes at the group’s headquarters in Harrisburg, Pa for a three-day meeting. He will be relocating to the central Pennsylvania area from Hillsdale, N.J.

Cifelli started working with Sleepy’s when it was still an independently-owned mom-and-pop regional retailer. He worked there as the company’s growth sky-rocketed, through new store openings and acquisitions. He served as a key player and helped lead the company as it grew from a local New York/ New Jersey bedding retailer to a regional powerhouse.

Eventually Sleepy’s became the largest privately-owned and operated specialty mattress retailer in America until it was acquired by Mattress Firm in December of last year.

Prior to joining Sleepy’s, Cifelli was with Levitz Furniture for 18 years. He held various staff and management positions at Levitz in his early years with the retailer, becoming a store manager in 1992. By 1995 he was promoted to a Regional Vice President for the Mid-Atlantic Region, followed by his final office with the firm as Vice President, East Coast, which he held from 1997 to 2000.

Furniture First is a national home furnishings and mattress buying group serving full line independent retailers with volumes over $2 million. Collectively, the group has annual retail sales of $1.8 billion. Furniture First occupies a High Point market showroom in the IHFC, G-770, where products from several of the group’s approved vendors are displayed. This includes the group’s high-margin private label mattress line, Mattress 1st.