Blue Bell Mattress has acquired Wolf Corp. to expand its manufacturing footprint.

EAST WINDSOR, Conn. – Independent mattress manufacturer Blue Bell Mattress has acquired regional bedding, futon and cotton batting producer Wolf Corp., giving the company an additional 100,000 square feet in manufacturing space.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition includes the factory, intellectual property, trademarks and book of customers.

Derek Ritzel, CEO of Blue Bell Mattress, said the acquisition will help facilitate Blue Bell’s growth.

“We are excited about the future of this combined company,” Ritzel said. “Wolf and Blue Bell have similar histories as highly regarded, customer-centric companies. Bringing together these two companies will expand our capacity, reach and breadth of product. In addition, Wolf has a strong presence with ecommerce customers and will be a great addition to Blue Bell’s channels.”

Located in Fort Wayne, Ind., vertically integrated Wolf Corp. was founded in 1873. CEO Tony Wolf is the fourth generation to run the company, and he will remain as a consultant during the transition.

“Our family built the business by understanding the value of our customers and employees,” Wolf said. “This acquisition was made possible because I am comfortable that the Wolf legacy, customers and employees are in good hands. Derek and the Blue Bell team are the right group to continue what my family and I have built.”

The Indiana factory now employs 35, and Blue Bell plans to expand that number. The company is in the process of repositioning the Wolf factory floor for better efficiency.

As Blue Bell looked to expand its manufacturing footprint into the Midwest, a mutual friend introduced the Ritzel and Wolf.

“Tony (Wolf) and I discussed the possibility of an acquisition because the fit and values of the companies so closely aligned,” Ritzel said. “We don’t share any customers, but we do share common systems and philosophies. Blue Bell has numerous Midwest customers, and Wolf has multiple Northeast customers. Each facility will be able to better serve our customers by being in closer proximity.”

The acquisition fills a void created when Blue Bell shuttered its 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Roseville, Mich. In 2017, Blue Bell acquired the Comfort Mattress facility from former top 100 and now defunct retailer Art Van Furniture. Ritzel said when Art Van began liquidating in 2020, and filed Chapter 11 shortly after,  Blue Bell closed the Michigan mattress factory.

Blue Bell is the single U.S. licensee of King Koil, which shifted in 2018 away from a licensing model to a manufacturing platform, and serves retailers East of the Mississippi River with King Koil products, the natural sleep brand Natura nationally and its OEM manufacturing out of its 200,000-square-foot facility in Connecticut.

“We are excited to expand production in Fort Wayne. The legacy Wolf team knows that they are the key to great service to our customers in the region,” Ritzel said. “We have terrific teams in Connecticut and Indiana. Bringing those groups together will compound our success.”

I’m Sheila Long O’Mara, executive editor at Furniture Today. Throughout my 25-year career in the home furnishings industry, I have been an editor with a number of industry publications and spent a brief stint with a public relations agency where I worked with some of the industry’s leading bedding brands. I rejoined Furniture Today in December 2020 with a focus on bedding and sleep products. It’s a homecoming for me, as I was a writer and editor with Furniture Today from 1994 until 2002. I’m happy to be back and look forward to telling the important stories impacting bedding retailers and manufacturers.

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