Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Steve Stagner to Return as Mattress Firm CEO
January 29,
2018 by Larry Thomas in Executive Changes, Industry 
Mattress Firm said Steve Stagner will return as CEO of the nation’s largest specialty bedding retailer following the resignation of Ken Murphy, who has been president and CEO since September 2015.
The change will take place March 1. The company said the move was a joint decision by Murphy and the board of directors that “reflects the need for a singular voice of leadership for the Company as it navigates the next phase of its growth story.”
Mattress Firm has been under increased scrutiny since December, when the president and chairman of parent company Steinhoff International resigned following the discovery of what the South African company described as “accounting irregularities.”
The bedding retailer has insisted it’s doing fine despite the scandal involving Steinhoff, and the retailer recently obtained a new line of credit and is embarking on a plan to close about 200 stores and streamline its business.
Stagner, who has been with Mattress Firm for more than 20 years and served as CEO from February 2010 to March 2016 will assume direct leadership of operations of the company. Most recently, Stagner held the title of executive chairman.
“Ken has been an integral part of growing our company, and we are forever grateful for his incredible 20-year impact. His charismatic leadership style has contributed greatly to our culture at Mattress Firm and has inspired our entrepreneurial zeal for many years and he will be dearly missed," said Stagner.
"We are now in a new phase of our development as the first and only coast-to-coast mattress specialty retailer. We will look to our experienced leadership team to build on our platform of unique business assets to win at retail, leverage our scale to bring unparalleled value to the customer, and navigate the current environment,” he added.
"Being part of this company has been one of the greatest privileges of my life,” said Murphy. “I am confident in the future of Mattress Firm and bringing Steve back as CEO is the right thing to do for the next chapter of the business. It's bittersweet to step down, but I am incredibly proud of the success we have built together.”