Mattress Firm chairman Steve Stagner said this week that the Houston-based bedding retailer plans to close 200 stores within the next 18 months in a bid to improve performance as parent company Steinhoff International grapples with a deepening financial scandal.
Steinhoff, which last year acquired Mattress Firm for $3.8 billion, is quickly running out of cash amid an accounting investigation involving the validity of its past financial statements and the value of some $7 billion in assets.
The company recently released an audio recording of a Tuesday meeting with lenders during which it revealed that it did not have “detailed visibility” into the cash flows of its many subsidiaries.
During the meeting, Stagner…
