Sleep Number bankruptcy puts its Inland Empire store cluster in play

SupplyChainBrain: The mattress maker filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York on June 12 with an agreement to sell substantially all its assets to Sleep Country Canada, which opened as the stalking-horse bidder at $415 million all-cash. Sleep Number wants a fast process — competing bids due July 8, a close by July 31 — and blamed the filing partly on shifting U.S. trade rules layered onto an already strained supply chain. The deeper problem is demand: net sales fell 16% last year as store traffic dropped, and the shares have lost more than 95% in four months. The company says it will keep reviewing its footprint to retain as many stores as possible, which leaves every IE location a question until the auction resolves. Across the corridor, Sleep Number runs stores from Redlands and Riverside to Temecula and up into Hesperia in the High Desert.