This East Coast Sleep Retailer Is Closing All Stores And The Reason Couldn't Be Clearer

A major mattress and bedding retailer is closing its doors for good, just over a year after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Metro Mattress has served the Northeast region since the late 1970s, with 70 stores. The sleep retailer's September 2024 bankruptcy filing cited an initial closure of many of the chain's New England stores to focus on making its New York stores profitable. However, an early October 2025 motion has requested total closure and liquidation of all stores. Company leadership cited sales losses, lack of operational finances, and an inability to find a buyer in the motion. The store lost $3.7 million in sales this year.

The September 2024 bankruptcy filing listed Metro Mattress as holding just under $9 million in assets, against a debt of $23 million. Almost $2 million is owed to Tempur-Pedic. The October 2025 motion listed that, despite reaching out to 21 options, Metro Mattress could not secure a single buyer. A buyer would also help the chain with its liquidity issues, which it simply could not make up for in sales in a single year.

Many brick-and-mortar mattress stores have been impacted by online markets. While ordering a mattress off Amazon could cost consumers more in the long run, online ordering and direct-to-consumer shipping is a tough market to beat when it comes to mattress pricing. In addition to such competition, Metro Mattress also suffers from stretching its own metaphorical bedsheets a little thin.

Metro Mattress attempted expansion in 2022, under then-CEO Bill Spudis, adding more New England stores to the chain's roster. Metro Mattress' attempts to grow its physical footprint may have ultimately hobbled its own profitability as much as competition from online marketplaces.

In March of 2024, Metro Mattress hired a new CEO, Dan Cifelli. Experienced in furniture shops like Furniture First, Sleepy's, and Raymour & Flanigan, Cifelli was excited to lead Metro Mattress with more expansion. Unfortunately, new leadership didn't stop the chain from filing for bankruptcy just a few months later, nor did it prevent the company from requesting that a federal judge grant it permission to close and liquidate all stores in the chain the following year.

Attempting to expand a chain through rapid growth does not bode well for many businesses, even large ones. Rite Aid closed its New York doors in part due to its own over-expansion. Macy's has also closed many stores after years of rapidly spreading its name through new locations. Considering Metro Mattress added new stores in Connecticut, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island in 2022 and still couldn't keep up with competition from online and big-box store markets, potential buyers may not have had much reason to believe the company's fate would turn around.

As of October 2025, Metro Mattress' primary lender, Community Bank, N.A., is granting the funds for the chain to run liquidation sales. This means inventory will be moved to five or six Metro Mattress locations, and sold off for five weeks. After the liquidation sales, bulk buy-offs will be conducted at the chain's warehouse locations. During this time, rent will likely be waived for most Metro Mattress locations while it attempts to vacate the buildings. Inventory and other assets will also be sold.

All of the chain's hundreds of employees could now lose their jobs pending the store liquidations and closures. Per anonymous employee reviews on Glassdoor.com, it does not appear entirely clear that employees knew the shutdowns were planned. While the closure timeline is being worked out, there is one silver lining for those in store areas during the closures: deeply discounted mattresses and merchandise.

Metro Mattress has listed a "going out of business sale" on its website, touting deals of up to 70% off Tempur-Pedic and other top brands' products. The only seven stores listed on the Metro Mattress website are locations in New York, including Albany, Syracuse, Irondequoit, Rochester, Tonawanda, and Glenmont.