Ortho Mattress Inc

It was the kind of day that many Los Angeles advertising agencies only dream about. Admarketing Inc. on Friday won an estimated $18 million in annual billings by picking up both the Ortho Mattress Inc. and RB Furniture Inc. advertising accounts. Both companies were formerly with the Los Angeles office of the New York firm D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, which had handled them for less than a year. Several investors share ownership of both privately held retailers.

Ortho Mattress Inc., the nation's largest factory-direct bedding merchant, filed for federal protection from its creditors Wednesday, the third Southern California furniture retailer to falter in the past month. Ortho, which operates more than 80 showrooms in the Western United States, said it would continue operating as usual while undergoing a restructuring that is expected to result in the closing of nearly half its outlets during the next year.

Ortho Mattress Inc., the nation's largest factory-direct bedding merchant, filed for federal protection from its creditors Wednesday, the third Southern California furniture retailer to falter in the past month. Ortho, which operates more than 80 showrooms in the Western United States, said it would continue operating as usual while undergoing a restructuring that is expected to result in the closing of nearly half its outlets during the next year.

It was the kind of day that many Los Angeles advertising agencies only dream about. Admarketing Inc. on Friday won an estimated $18 million in annual billings by picking up both the Ortho Mattress Inc. and RB Furniture Inc. advertising accounts. Both companies were formerly with the Los Angeles office of the New York firm D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, which had handled them for less than a year. Several investors share ownership of both privately held retailers.

Ortho Mattress, the mattress maker owned by three brothers since its founding in Southern California in 1961, has been sold to an investment group for an undisclosed price. The investment group completed the transaction Thursday, said Arthur Goldman, a former vice president at Robinson's Department Stores, who heads the investment group and is Ortho's new president.

Gallery Corp., owner of 52 mattress and bedding stores in Southern California, has filed for bankruptcy protection. The Los Angeles-based company listed debts of $20 million and assets of $15 million in a Chapter 11 filing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Gallery, the operator of Mattress Gallery stores, blamed the filing on a decline in the housing market and increases in wholesale prices by manufacturers. Gallery received a commitment from Ortho Mattress Inc.

Gardena-based Ortho Mattress Inc. has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The company said it has consolidated its manufacturing and warehouse operations and adopted more efficient management procedures. . . . Marriott Corp. said it may revise the terms of its proposed spinoff of its real estate business to mollify bondholders suing the company over the transaction. . . . Oregon Steel Mills Inc. said it signed a letter of intent with Nucor Corp.

In an effort to make life a little easier for the area's homeless population, a Gardena-based mattress manufacturer is donating up to 200 mattress sets to shelters and social service agencies throughout the city. Ortho Mattress Inc. teamed up with Shelter Partnership, a homeless aid organization, to allocate more than $60,000 worth of new beds to needy facilities. The first 50 mattresses went to the House of Mercy, a transitional housing center slated to open in Bell next month.

When 16 mattresses were dropped off at the Upper Central Friendship House near downtown Los Angeles late last week, it meant that the newly expanded shelter for families with children could open sooner, director Mary Thompson said, "before the bad rains."

One way to judge how well Krause's Sofa Factory is doing these days is to look at the employees' bright blue T-shirts. The shirts are emblazoned with the company's all-time weeklong sales record--$3.5 million--which surpassed the old record by $400,000. The figure itself is not as significant as when it was set: the first week of 1992. The week is usually pretty good in the furniture industry because many consumers delay making furniture purchases until after Christmas.

Ortho Mattress, the mattress maker owned by three brothers since its founding in Southern California in 1961, has been sold to an investment group for an undisclosed price. The investment group completed the transaction Thursday, said Arthur Goldman, a former vice president at Robinson's Department Stores, who heads the investment group and is Ortho's new president.

It took Frances and Joel Grossman 11 months to sell the three-bedroom Los Angeles home they owned for six years. That was after remodeling their kitchen and slashing their asking price 30%. "Some of our friends think we gave our house away by the standards of two years ago," said Frances Grossman. "But it's not two years ago. The economy isn't great, and housing values just aren't what they used to be." And it's not just homeowners who are finding that out.