Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Spring Air Expands Licensing Agreements into Indiana
April 6,
2022 by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry 
Bedding manufacturer Spring Air International has expanded its licensing agreements with three existing partners, effectively dividing distribution in the State of Indiana among them. Michigan’s Grand Rapids Bedding will take responsibility for the northern third of the state, Bemco Mattress Company in Illinois will service the central portion of the state and Tennessee’s Johnson City Bedding will operate in the southern third.
With the signing of the new licensing agreement, the company’s gaps in distribution narrow, with only four Spring Air territories remaining available -- Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Florida. This means Spring Air now covers 46 states with 11 licensees.
“Our licensees are doing extremely well with our brands, which is why when opportunities to expand arise, it is our own folks who want the first option to expand. It is very gratifying to see this,” said Nick Bates, president of Spring Air. “Whenever we have an available territory, Spring Air licensees have the right of first refusal and are given priority. In this case all three of them wanted to broaden their reach and agreed to split the territory. Each of these licensees already have well-established relationships with retailers in their territories, which will allow us to continue to capitalize on the strength of the Spring Air brand in these areas. Each of them also has the might of the full range of products and services we offer, which gives them an opportunity to grow their businesses even further.”
“We are thrilled to formalize our commitment to Southern Indiana,” said Mark Campbell, executive vice president of Johnson City Bedding. “We are thriving in a very competitive market with a great deal of success due to the Spring Air brand. This collaboration represents a strategic opportunity for us to grow even further. We look forward to supporting the retailers of Southern Indiana.”
Iker de la Sota, president of Grand Rapids Bedding agrees. “The Spring Air brand has had incredible growth and success over the last several years. We believe that growth is sustainable –long term--and that we’ve found the ideal solution to continue to support Spring Air and reach even more consumers through our retail partners in the northern part of the state.”
“The Spring Air brand has provided incredible growth for us in our Illinois territory, said Scott Meyers, president and CEO of Bemco Mattress. “Because of its proximity to our factory, central Indiana was a natural choice for us to expand because we have a customer base there that didn’t have access to Spring Air products including Chattam & Wells, which is one of the finest quality products we’ve ever made. We’re very excited to bring Chattam and all the Spring Air products to more markets and the incredible opportunities this will create.”