Edward Bates, longtime chair and CEO of Woburn, Massachusetts-based Spring Air International, died on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he lived. He was 75 years old.
Bates is credited for being the architect of the current success of the Spring Air brand, which he repurchased in 2009 from HIG, a private equity firm that engineered the rollup of eight licensees in 2007, but then put the company into Chapter 11 two years later, according to a news release.
After purchasing the brand’s assets and intellectual property in Chapter 11, he embarked upon a campaign to re-engage licensees who had sold their companies during the rollup, as well as offering licenses to international manufacturers that had also left the fold, the release said.
“Eddie was a great visionary with a passion for how Spring Air would be a viable national brand alternative for retailers who were frustrated with offerings of the leading S brands,” said Nick Bates, president of Spring Air International and Eddie’s nephew. He joined the company in 2010. “When Spring Air was destroyed by private equity, no one wanted to touch it. But Eddie had the vision and fortitude to see what it could be. He bought it at its low and led us to where we are today.”
“Eddie was like a second father to me,” he continued. “He brought me under his wing and mentored me from the factory floor into sales and into corporate leadership. I am grateful for his love, guidance and friendship. He will be sorely missed by me and the entire Spring Air family.”
Bates entered the mattress business in 1972 when he started Atlas Bedding in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He would find discarded mattresses in local dumps and then fully refurbish and resell them. In 1983, Bates became the New England licensee of Spring Air because he wanted a national brand he could offer his growing list of retailers in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
In 2019, he sold the New England license to C.M. Bedding, in Fall River, Massachusetts, a leading regional manufacturer that was founded in 2002 by David Nguyen. Today, that plant has grown into a 300,000-square-foot plant produces mattresses, box springs and pillows for retail, e-commerce and hospitality.
Bates is survived by his wife, Acileide Bates, and her children, Edson, Duarte and Kathrynne; grandson, Tyler McNulty; brother, Ronald Bates; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Elaine Bates; daughter, Elaine McNulty and his brother, Joseph Bates.
His funeral mass will be celebrated in St. Patrick Church, 71 Central St., Stoneham on July 19 at 10 a.m. Visitation will be held at the McDonald-Finnegan Funeral Home, 322 Main St., Stoneham, on July 18, 4-8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, charitable contributions may be made to the charity of one’s choice.
