Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Maven Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Mattress and Component Companies
October 29,
2020 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
Maven, a home consumer goods company, filed an antitrust complaint in the United States District Court on Wednesday, October 28 against mattress and component companies Corsicana Mattress Company; Elite Comfort Solutions, Inc.; Future Foam, Inc.; FXI Holdings, Inc.; Leggett & Platt, Inc.; Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC; Tempur Sealy International, Inc.; and Brooklyn Bedding, Inc.
The Complaint alleges the defendants have engaged in anticompetitive acts, restrained trade and conspired to monopolize the mattress market in violation of federal and state antitrust laws. Wayne Mack, Ray Wong, Sean McConnell and Sarah Kulik from the law firm of Duane Morris, LLP represent Maven in the lawsuit.
According to Mack, “The Complaint contains detailed allegations of how the Defendants have attempted to eliminate competition from Maven by making misleading and false statements to the government and in the press. Maven has brought this case to protect consumers and competition in the mattress industry.”
“We’re filing this antitrust suit to restore a healthy level of competition that benefits both businesses and consumers. For many years, some of our largest competitors have been using exploitative business practices to undermine principles of free competition in order to exert undue and unfair influence over the mattress industry. This anticompetitive behavior is self-serving and counterproductive to our industry’s interests, as we are at our best when suppliers of all sizes and types are innovating to introduce new products and business practices into the market,” said Steve Douglas, VP of operations and e-commerce at Maven.
This civil action includes both mattress-in-a-box and flat-pack mattress market segments. Maven claims the defendants’ anticompetitive acts have had serious effects on their company (citing $250 million dollars in damages) and the U.S. mattress market—and ultimately harmed consumers by maintaining artificially high prices and eliminating consumer choice.