A wildly popular conspiracy theory about why there are so many Mattress Firm stores is starting to sound less crazy
Shutterstock/Jonathan Weiss
- Mattress Firm is the largest specialty mattress retailer in the US.
- The company has been accused of being overstored. A comment on Reddit went viral today after it suggested that Mattress Firm was running a money laundering business.
- The comment has now been removed, The Next Web reported.
If you've ever wondered why there is a Mattress Firm store on every corner of your city, you're not alone. But, one explanation for this phenomenon is more extreme than you might expect.
On Tuesday, a comment went viral on Reddit after it claimed that Mattress Firm is running a money-laundering operation. The comment has since been deleted, The Next Web reported.
"Mattress Firm is some sort of giant money laundering scheme," the Reddit user wrote. "I remember seeing 4 mattress firms all on each corner of an intersection once, and there is no way there is such a demand for mattresses."
This caused an outcry on the Reddit thread.
Mattress Firm is the largest specialty mattress retailer in the US. It now has over 3,500 stores after acquiring Sleepy's in 2015.
Reddit users argue that the company is completely overstored, especially given that it stocks a product that consumers typically buy only every seven to 10 years.
Google Maps
It's a popular conspiracy theory on Reddit.
"Multiple stores = more places to shuffle money between and more sources for fake money to appear to come from," another user wrote.
Mattress Firm was bought by South African retailer Steinhoff for $3.8 billion in 2016. At the time, analysts were skeptical as to why Steinhoff had forked out so much on a business whose model was increasingly coming under the threat of new startups such as Casper, which is taking market share.
Since then, Steinhoff has been embroiled in an accounting scandal. Towards the end of 2017, the parent company's stock price tanked by 62% in one day, wiping out $15 billion of its market value, Reuters reported.
The company postponed publishing its full-year accounts due to the "accounting irregularities," and the top two executives and the chairman resigned.
Mattress Firm did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
The Future of Retail 2018 by the BI Intelligence Research Team.
Get the Slide Deck Now »
- ISRO’s Aditya L1 and Chandrayaan-2 get front-row seats to the strongest solar storm in over 20 years
- 95% of PM Modi’s assets are in fixed deposit! From investments to education, here are key takeaways from his nomination filing
- Virat Kohli-backed Go Digit IPO subscription opens today — all you need to know
- Biopharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions surge to new highs
- Coal's share in India's power generation capacity drops below 50% for 1st time since 1960s
- Nothing Phone (2a) blue edition launched
- JNK India IPO allotment date
- JioCinema New Plans
- Realme Narzo 70 Launched
- Apple Let Loose event
- Elon Musk Apology
- RIL cash flows
- Charlie Munger
- Feedbank IPO allotment
- Tata IPO allotment
- Most generous retirement plans
- Broadcom lays off
- Cibil Score vs Cibil Report
- Birla and Bajaj in top Richest
- Nestle Sept 2023 report
- India Equity Market