This mattress merger could keep Sleepy’s awake at night.
Confirming an exclusive Jan. 14 report in The Post, two big mattress chains merged Thursday to form the nation’s first coast-to-coast retailer in the category.
Houston-based Mattress Firm, which operates more than 1,500 stores in 36 states, is paying $425 million to acquire California-based Sleep Train, which operates 310 stores along the West Coast.
The resulting behemoth will boast $2 billion in sales, and will benefit from increased clout with manufacturers led by Serta and Sealy.
The combo will likewise pressure regional retail rivals, including Sleepy’s Mattress, the Hicksville, NY-based chain that dominates the Northeast with more than 900 stores stretching from North Carolina to Maine.
With their fortunes tied closely to the US housing market, mattress retailers have been consolidating what has been an unusually fragmented US retail niche.
While Mattress Firm has been on an acquisition spree of late, Sleepy’s has opted to open its own stores — a strategy that critics say may not be aggressive enough.
Sleep Train has an employee stock ownership plan whose trustee, along with Sleep Train’s board, approved the sale to Mattress Firm, which is publicly traded.
Shares of Mattress Firm soared 10.4 percent on Thursday, to $62.69.