After several months of training and planning to ensure the continuity of the luxury brand’s hand craftmanship, Pleasant Mattress has shipped the first McRoskey mattresses from its factory in Fresno, California since acquiring the brand late last year.
The McRoskey line, which is now built by a dedicated team of six specially trained craftsmen in a stand-alone 25,000-square-foot factory on Pleasant’s Fresno campus, has a 120-year heritage of fine craftsmanship that was essential for the new owner to maintain.
“It was critical for our team to understand every nuance involved in the making of the McRoskey line, so we intentionally took our time as we shifted production from San Francisco to our campus in Fresno,” said Rion Morgenstern, president and CEO of Pleasant Mattress. “McRoskey has a rich 120-year heritage in the luxury market that we have to build upon as we broaden the brand’s geographic reach.”
McRoskey mattresses are built differently than Pleasant’s traditional mattresses because they employ an abundance of layered materials like wool, polyester, cotton and Talalay latex that are stacked and not glued together. The meticulous process results in mattresses that are as much as 20 inches thick before being hand-tufted.
The hand-tufting, which gently compresses the cushioning layers, delivers the critical finishing touch because the number of tufts and their spacing determines the comfort level. Consumers have eight comfort choices among the three McRoskey mattress collections.
Pleasant Mattress owns the production, marketing and distribution rights to the venerable brand. McRoskey’s retail division was not part of the transaction, and its three retail stores in the San Francisco area received the initial shipments from the Fresno factory. The retail business is operated by Robin Azevedo, the granddaughter of McRoskey’s founder.
Morgenstern said the factory transition began after the acquisition when a Pleasant Mattress team went to McRoskey’s San Francisco factory to work with its production team and learn how to build beds to McRoskey’s specifications. During those visits, the Pleasant Mattress team shot videos and developed step-by-step instructions for building the McRoskey line.
Pleasant also used the acquisition as an opportunity to recognize dedicated employees by offering its more skilled and experienced workers the chance to be a part of its initial manufacturing team to produce the iconic brand.
Production equipment was moved in December from the San Francisco factory to Fresno, where Pleasant Mattress workers set up the equipment and made product samples to be certain the staff was adhering to the rigorous hand-craftmanship process. McRoskey’s management team went to Fresno to oversee quality control and inspect the samples.
“The transition couldn’t have gone more smoothly, and our team is now well-versed in the exacting details necessary to build the McRoskey line,” said Morgenstern. “We’re excited to add this unique luxury product to our portfolio.”