Garrison Joins Blue Bell as VP of E-commerce Development

September 12, 2018  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Executive Changes, Industry   

As the first to bring a roll-packed mattress direct to consumers on HSN in 2001, Garrison will work closely with retailers to help them with their e-commerce initiatives.

“There is no one in the mattress industry today that has the wealth of real-world experience in the e-commerce industry as does Gary. His deep experience in direct sales will be invaluable to our retail partners as they develop direct-to-consumer platforms and become true omnichannel retailers,” said Mark Kolovson, CEO.

Garrison reports to Rebecca Gray, SVP of sales and marketing.

His involvement with roll-packed mattresses dates to his tenure as owner and president of Maine Street Living, a direct-sales specialist and distributor of machine-made rugs, home textiles, memory foam mattresses and top-of-bed products that he headed for 14 years.

The company’s mattresses were sold under the InnerSpace and Envirotech brand names and were the first roll-packed mattresses on the market when they debuted on the HSN shopping channel in September 2001 with Garrison as the on-air spokesman.

Since March 2015, Garrison has been owner and president of High Point Consulting, a worldwide marketing and business consulting firm. Before launching Maine Street Living, he was president of area rug producer Rainbow Rugs for more than five years and manager of the New England dealership for Caterpillar Machinery for nine years.

“This is an exciting opportunity for me to help Blue Bell’s retail partners compete in the fast-changing e-commerce space,” Garrison said. “This company’s commitment to the success of is retail partners is second to none, and it’s critical that we help them grow in this crucial distribution channel.”

A resident of Scarborough, Maine, Garrison holds bachelor’s degrees from Raritan Valley College and the University of Southern Maine.