*Iconic athlete and former Toronto Blue Jays star Jose Bautista joins Endy, Canada's leading online mattress brand, as investor. (CNW Group/Endy)*

By Craig Patterson

Toronto-based mattress-in-a-box brand Endy announced that it has partnered with professional baseball player José Bautista, who was with the Toronto Blue Jays from 2008 to 2017. Mr. Bautista is an investor in the company, as well as a spokesperson. Endy is one of several mattress-in-a-box brands that are fighting for market share in Canada and thus far, the company is maintaining its number one position in terms of sales.

Mr. Bautista announced his association with Endy this week as part of an ongoing promotion for the brand as it continues to seek brand awareness across the country.

"Endy is an incredible Canadian success story. This is a company that continues to make a name for itself, not only for flipping an industry on its head, but for donating thousands of mattresses to those in need," said Mr. Bautista. “As an investor, I'm proud to team up with Endy, a company whose values I share: innovation, well-being, and paying it forward.” Being a fan of the mattress as an end-user as well, he said, “Over the past two years, I’ve become close with the Company’s founders, Rajen and Mike, and their desire to give back to the city of Toronto and the country of Canada that I had made my home for the past 10 years – I knew I had to get involved.”

Despite increasing competition, the company is seeing rapid year-over-year growth of 300%, resulting both from expansive marketing efforts as well as consistently high ratings among purchasers. Growth has been so rapid that the company also recently announced that it is opening a distribution centre for Western Canada in suburban Vancouver to keep up with the demand.

*Endy factory in Montreal. Photo: Endy Facebook Profile*

Endy was founded in 2015 as an online ‘sleep brand’ and the company is in line to do in excess of $50-million in sales this year. Canada is Endy’s target market and remarkably, the company’s revenue is now about 10% of that of Sleep Country Canada, which is the largest bedding retailer in the country with more than 250 brick-and-mortar stores as well as expansive e-commerce.

Since its launch about three years ago, Endy has partnered with local charities from coast-to-coast to donate new and gently used mattresses to families and individuals in need. Endy has distributed more than 2000 mattresses through its charity partners in every Canadian province, including Furniture Bank (Toronto), Matthew House (Ottawa), Women in Need Society(Calgary), Aboriginal Mother Centre Society (Vancouver), as well as several others. The company has also supported global charitable organizations including Nothing But Nets and Mr. Bautista's own foundation, the Bautista Family Education Fund, which provides assistance to student athletes, both on and off the field.

Advertising had been initially focused on urban areas with the young urban professional being an important target market. Expansive campaigns with entities such at Toronto’s TTC has seen Endy advertising occupy entire subway cars in an effort gain brand awareness to the hundreds of thousands who ride the system daily. Endy is now expanding its advertising to suburban and other parts of Canada, not to mention the newly announced Bautista partnership.

*TCC Ad banners. Photo: Endy Facebook Profile*

The mattress-in-a-box concept is still relatively new and yet its business is exploding in Canada. Competitor Casper, which recently opened its first Canadian store at CF Sherway Gardens and will soon announce a second store in downtown Toronto, also has celebrity backers including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Adam Levine and Ashton Kutcher.

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Various other brands continue to enter the market, such as Leesa and Tuft & Needle, with more brands seemingly coming online every week. There’s even now a plant-based mattress called Haven Mattress Company, based in Kelowna. Sleep Country Canada also recently introduced UK-based brand Simba — the premium 'Hybrid®' mattress-in-a-box brand has sold more than 150,000 mattresses across Europe. Sleep Country also unveiled its in-house mattress-in-a-box brand Bloom which is also carried across the chain.

Craig Patterson, now based in Toronto, is the founder and Editor-in-Chief Retail Insider. He's also a retail and real estate consultant, retail tour guide and public speaker.

Follow him on Twitter @RetailInsider_, LinkedIn at Craig Patterson, or email him at: craig@retail-insider.com.

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