Ryan Farris, the self-made Mattress King, has found success in Oklahoma by building his own brand.
In 2005, future retail owner Ryan Farris received a flyer in his mailbox that changed the course of his life. It promised a loan of up to 125% of the equity in his home, which he took. Next, he maxed out his credit cards for $7,000. With his risky financing secured, Farris started his business, Mattress King. Twenty years later, Farris employs 23 people and has six locations in Oklahoma, proving his big bet paid off.
From Early Days: The Genesis of Mattress King
When Farris was 16, he started working at Oklahoma City-based Mathis Brothers Furniture (now Mathis Home), where he got a crash course in the home furnishings industry. “I was just like a big sponge that absorbed everything,” he says. “Plus, I had that entrepreneurial spirit.” After a few years of working in the mattress department and learning how to be an effective salesperson, he set out on his own.
Using $34,000 to start Mattress King, he opened his first store in Yukon, Oklahoma. “I was the guy that was selling during the day, then loading mattresses in my pickup truck and delivering them later that night after I finished closing the store,” Farris says. But it wasn’t an overnight success — the Yukon store didn’t get many visitors. So, he opened another location in nearby Lawton.
“That’s where Mattress King finally started to do a lot more business,” he says. Eventually, he shuttered the Yukon location. Despite the store’s short lifespan, it was an important business lesson.
“You think that you’re just going to be able to open the door and people will come but it’s not that easy,” he says. “We didn’t get enough foot traffic in Yukon, but my Lawton store gave us the opportunity to grow.”
Now Farris has six locations: Mattress King Edmond, Mattress King Lawton – North, Mattress King Lawton – South, Mattress King Norman, Mattress King Oklahoma City and Mattress King Stillwater. The smallest store is the Norman location at 3,700 square feet and the largest is Edmond, which is 5,000 square feet.
Building the Brand: Mattress King’s Unique Approach
When starting Mattress King, Farris decided his niche would be product focused, rather than brand focused. Although the brands are recognizable to most (some include American Star, Corsicana and Golden Mattress) that isn’t the point. To avoid what Farris calls “the brand name obstacle,” he has worked to make Mattress King into the brand. That way, no matter what product he sells, the retailer is synonymous with quality and value.
“The biggest challenge is to give the customer a great experience in-store when they come in,” Farris says. “I try to avoid them asking ‘What brands do you carry?’ That leaves us retailers and sales reps having to overcome a mountain every time they want to try to sell something.”
Farris opts out of using manufacturers’ point-of-purchase materials and top-of-bed items. Foot protectors say “Mattress King” and showroom signage promotes the retailer’s offerings, like a generic promotion of adjustable bases, available financing options and its 100-night comfort guarantee. In store, price points range in queen sizes from $300 to $2,700.
Mattress King’s product-focused model is replicated on its website. Online, the company groups mattresses in gold, silver and bronze collections. Bronze, the most budget-friendly tier, starts at just $169. The slightly more upmarket silver collection, starting at $359, features upgraded support systems and foams, and gold, starting at $949, offers the most premium sleep experience. Mattress King delivers merchandise anywhere in Oklahoma within 24 hours, regardless of whether customers purchase by phone, online or at one of its retail locations.
Mastering the Sale: Mattress King’s Consultative Approach
The first thing a customer might notice when walking into a Mattress King is the pleasant scent, thanks to essential oil diffusers. The inviting atmosphere is designed to put shoppers at ease, but it also has another effect.
According to a recent report from Austin, Texas-based marketing company Mood Media, “Shoppers tend to stay longer in locations using a scent solution, by an average of at least 15 minutes.”
Then, there’s the sales experience. “Customers should have no reason to leave us if we’ve done our job right,” Farris says of his sales team. He admits there’s no script. “I try to give my sales reps the most product knowledge they could have, tell them who we are and how we do things, but every customer is unique.”
One thing he emphasizes to his team: avoid letting a customer sit on a bed before the retail sales associates have asked a series of questions to identify what shoppers are looking for.
The showrooms display mattresses in groups of two or three.
“The only thing that’s going to change is your comfort level on the top,” he says. “But without the proper interaction, customers are going to get a bad progression. We try to control the whole narrative throughout the mattress buying experience and become guides more than anything, questioning them and trying to get to know them as best as possible.”
When Farris merchandises the floor, he says he tries to make sure that every mattress has a unique set of attributes and is easily distinguishable from the next. Then, he says, it’s an easier presentation to shoppers to say, “Hey, you’re just losing this feature,” instead of trying to overcome brand preconceptions since Farris says many brands share similar features.
“When the salesperson starts to lose that process where they’re professional guides and start becoming a defense attorney, that’s when the sale starts to fall apart,” Farris says.
The approach seems to work. Farris instructs his RSAs to manually track closing rates and compare them with traffic counters on the doors. According to Farris, Mattress King has a closing rate between 64% to 71%. “If we’re getting 10 people through the door, every day we’re closing sales with six to seven of those people,” he says.
Strategic Advertising: Driving Traffic to Mattress King
How does Farris get customers in the door? “You have to advertise,” he says. Farris spends 6% to 7% of his annual revenue on the practice, with the majority of his budget going toward rotational, local television commercials. The skits star Farris in a crown and robe alongside local actor Johnny Ross. Notably, one demonstrates different ways to use an adjustable base, from “The Astronaut” (a supine position) to “The Soft Taco” (elevated knees and shoulders). Each ad closes with the memorable tagline, “The fairest prices in all the land.”
“Everywhere I go, everybody mentions the TV ads,” Farris says. “They stick out. They’re more brand awareness, just letting everybody know where we’re at.”
Have a laugh
For advertising inspiration, check out Mattress King on YouTube @MattressKingOklahoma.
Farris says that television in Oklahoma has the lowest cost per thousand (CPM), the amount an advertiser pays per 1,000 views. He buys general rotating ads. “This may not be accurate in other states, but, in Oklahoma, you can get a CPM of anywhere from the low $2.50s to under $4.” Farris says the CPM on streaming services is much higher, between $35 to $40. To reach those who watch TV on those services, Farris employs a budget-friendly retargeting tactic.
By using software Vibe.co, it generates a pixel on Mattress King’s website. Then it retargets consumers who have visited the website by showing them an ad on the streaming service.
Farris also uses Google Ads and retargeting ads on social media. “We feel we get the best result with our limited budget,” he adds.
Besides advertising, what else does Farris attribute his success to? The leap of faith he took at age 21 — and also his team. “I’m extremely grateful for all my staff,” Farris says. “We have a great culture.“
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