Ken Mullinax, owner of Spokane-based Mattress Outlet Inc., has bought the assets of the Comfort World Inc. chain, which has three stores here, and says he plans to begin selling an expanded line of bedding at the eight-store chain.


Mullinax says he will operate the Comfort World stores through a new corporation called Heavenly Sleep Shops Inc. He plans to convert the Comfort World stores from single-brand Simmons dealers to multiple-brand outlets and eventually to rename the stores to reflect the new corporate name.


Mullinax has hired eight additional employees for the Comfort World stores, which in addition to Spokane are located in Yakima, the Tri-Cities, and Coeur dAlene, and plans to add about eight more, bringing the total number of employees to about 30, he says.


Comfort World filed for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here in October 2006, listing assets of about $1.1 million and debts of about $3.2 million.


Mullinax says the companys sales fell more than 40 percent following that filing. He says Heavenly Sleep Shops inherits none of Comfort Worlds debt, and that the purchase price of its assets, which he declines to disclose, will help the former owner satisfy some remaining tax debt. All of the Comfort World locations and warehouses are leased, he says.


Mullinax bought a minority interest in Mattress Outlet Inc. in 2001, later buying the remaining interest in the company and expanding the chain from four stores to 15, including two Americas Mattress stores, in Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. There are three Mattress Outlet stores in Spokane and one in Coeur dAlene.


The new chain will sell a mix of Serta, Simmons, and Tempur-Pedic products, Mullinax says.


He says the company will spend the rest of 2007 and the beginning of the year restructuring the business. He says he hopes to open more stores eventually.


Contact Jeanne Gustafson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at [email protected].