Dive Brief:

• ElectroLux alum Cesar Perez will serve as CFO for Serta Simmons Bedding, effective July 8, the bedding and mattress brand said in a press release the same day.
• Perez will replace interim CFO and Chief Accounting Officer Lisa Wyn, who has served in the role for the mattress company since October 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile. Serta Simmons brands include Serta®, Beautyrest®, Tuft & Needle® and Beauty Sleep®. 
• Perez’s appointment comes a week after Serta’s latest CEO, Black & Decker alum Jim Loree, stepped into his role, Industry Dive sister publication Retail Dive previously reported. Loree is the fourth person to have held Serta’s CEO chair in less than year.

Dive Insight:

Prior to joining the Doraville, Georgia-based mattress company, Perez served as VP of finance for industrials, for aerospace and aviation manufacturing firm Woodward Inc. Before Woodward, he logged a five-year tenure as CFO for global appliance brand Electrolux, and his past experiences also include a variety of executive roles during his 11-year stint at General Electric, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Perez’s “success as an executive leader, coupled with his extensive operational and finance experience, will be critical in strengthening our organization, driving profitable growth and increasing free cash flow,” CEO Loree said in a statement included in the press release.

Perez’s appointment is the latest in a series of executive leadership shakeups Serta has undertaken over the past year following its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2023. The company filed for bankruptcy in January 2023 after butting heads with several of its lenders regarding repayment terms related to rescue financing it received during the COVID-19 pandemic. That tug-of-war occurred as Serta was also facing heavy debt maturities that year, Bloomberg reported at the time.  

Serta received $200 million in 2020 from a group of lenders to help it remain in business, with the terms of the funding stating those lenders would be the first to be repaid should the company fail. Existing lenders objected to the terms, arguing that the terms violated their lending agreements with the mattress manufacturer, according to Bloomberg.

Its Chapter 11 filing allowed Serta to reduce its funded debt to about $315 million from $1.9 billion, Retail Dive previously reported, which also enabled it to cut its annual cash interest expense by more than $100 million. The reductions freed up more resources for the mattress manufacturer, which announced a turnaround plan focused on new products, sales growth, marketing and supply chain investments.

While Serta has taken several steps toward executing its turnaround plans — it announced two new mattress collections this May — it has also faced turmoil in its executive leadership team, naming four CEOs in a little less than a year.

Former CEO Shelley Huff left approximately a month after the restructuring, with company veteran Charlie Eitel appointed in Huff’s stead only to resign three months after he took the role. Serta appointed Mark Genender to serve as interim CEO until Loree was tapped for the seat two weeks ago, Retail Dive previously reported.

In the midst of its restructuring, Serta has made numerous other changes to its top leadership team, including reconstituting its board and appointing new operations and marketing leaders, according to company press releases.

Both Perez and newly-appointed CEO Loree will assume their respective roles at a time when Serta is not only looking to successfully manage its turnaround strategy, but is facing challenges in the broader mattress industry.

The global mattress market is expected to grow by $30.6 billion between 2024 and 2028 amid a surge in demand for high-quality products, research firm Technavio reported last month.

Regulators have been keeping an eye on competition in the growing space. Last week, the Federal Trade Commission voted to block a $4 billion merger between Serta competitor Tempur-Sealy and Mattress Firm, claiming such a deal would hamstring competition and lead to higher prices for consumers.

Serta declined to comment beyond the statements included in its Monday press release.