From The Ethical Mattress Company:
The Ethical Mattress Company, a specialty sleep store located on Millburn Avenue and featuring mattresses, pillows and bedding made from certified organic and natural materials, opened an Ecomm Fulfillment Center in Maplewood, NJ this week. According to Bryan Umiker, the founder and owner of Ethical Mattress and a long-time Maplewood resident, the 7,200 square foot facility, located on Rutgers Street, will support all order fulfillment for the omni-channel retailer.
Members of the team in front of the new Ecomm Fulfillment Center.
From left to right – August Goldberg, Ibrahim Adisa, Mika-El Plantin, Chinoy Baker, MJ Moncrieffe, Bryan Umiker
“Our business has grown exponentially over the last three years, to the point that we were struggling to keep up with shipping our ecommerce orders,” Umiker explained. “This new warehouse immediately solves that for us, as we can now hold over 500 mattresses in stock at all times, and easily ship out over 150 mattresses per day.” According to Umiker, the company sells 2 to 3 mattresses online for every mattress they sell in their store. “We’ve now shipped and delivered over 6,000 mattresses since we opened our business, with about 4,500 of those being shipped out of state, and the rest being delivered locally.”
Inside the Ethical Mattress Company’s new Ecomm Fulfillment Center
With a mission statement of “Changing the world one mattress at a time” the Ethical Mattress offers products that are toxin-free and made in the USA from natural and organic materials, ranging from mattresses to pillows, toppers, beds and bedding. “We sell great mattresses from famous brands like Avocado, as well as our own brand of mattresses locally-produced right here in New Jersey.” According to Umiker, every mattress sold in their store is made with organic cotton, wool, natural latex and springs. “We’re the number one natural and organic mattress store in New Jersey, and Avocado selected us as their Premier Retail Partner in this state. In fact, we show more Avocado mattresses in our store than Avocado shows in their own stores.”
While area residents are the retailer’s primary focus, the Ethical Mattress has also built a thriving online business. “We’ve been nationally recognized as a top-tier online mattress brand, and people from all across the country have chosen us for their toxin-free mattress needs,” Umiker stated. “We’ve now shipped well over 4,000 mattresses to online shoppers in all 50 states, and our customers consistently give us excellent reviews for the quality and integrity of our product, as well as the outstanding ‘small-business’ service we give to all of our customers.”
Inside the Ethical Mattress Company store, located at 387 Millburn Ave in Millburn NJ
The number of employees at Ethical Mattress has grown as fast as the business. “Between the store and our new warehouse, we now have 9 employees. Finding great people is always our top priority, and I couldn’t be more proud of the team we’ve built.” A twenty-year veteran of the mattress business and former vice president for both Casper and Bloomingdale’s, Umiker has been a member of the Maplewood community since 2001. He and his wife, April Heeren, have been active parents in the school district, and in 2016 Umiker worked with Kate Schmidt at the South Orange Rec Department to found the youth SOMA Flag Football League.
Two Ethical Mattress employees prior to a local customer delivery.
From left to right – McKenzie Bowles, Andy Fleurantin
“As we started the process to open our new Ecomm Fulfillment Center, there was a part of me that hoped we could find the right space to meet our needs right here in Maplewood, but I wasn’t optimistic. So you can imagine how excited we were to find the space on Rutgers Street.” Umiker added, “Even after three years, I don’t think most MapSo residents know that one of the nation’s leading natural and organic mattress brands is their neighbor – but eventually they will! It’s like our mission statement says, we’re changing the world one mattress at a time.”
