Toronto-based mattress brand Dozy has moved into a new brick and mortar location on Queen Street West, as it continues to build on its success which started five years ago.
David Owen, Owner and President of Dozy, said that having mattresses made and sold in Toronto gives the retailer room to offer a great price to consumers.
The company combines tradition with innovation with direct shipping to the consumer that skips the middle-man and passes savings along to the customer.
“We make them in North York and we ship them direct right out of the factory. The mattress business has been in the family for four generations,” said Owen, adding the business started in Peterborough, Ontario with his grandfather, who also was behind the Kingsdown mattress brand.
“I started Dozy in 2017, after having worked for my family’s mattress shop in Mississauga. While helping run the family business, I did all manner of work. Started out on the delivery truck and eventually worked my way up to the sales floor. I learned many things about the industry and noticed that the way customers were buying mattresses was changing fast. People on the hunt for a mattress were gravitating to more straightforward online shopping, and I knew that that was the route to take. A clearer, honest and upfront approach was needed.
“While the older generations of my family were getting out of the mattress business, I thought there was an opportunity to get back in and do things better. After getting in touch with a local manufacturer, I started Dozy out of a small showroom in North York.”
The new 290A Queen Street West location is in the hub of retail in downtown Toronto.
“It was also kind of really hard to access that but because of the pandemic it really loosened things up. I found the store about six months ago. But I was always operating around the core. I was operating around the corner on Spadina, which was another big staple street.”
The Queen Street store is 1,500 square feet.
Competing successfully against some other sleep retailers, comes down to service, said Owen.
“We focus really hard on making sure that every client that ever walks through our doors gets taken care of in such a way where they would want to tell people about us, leave a five-star review on whatever platform that they prefer, and just kind of getting that name out there really through hard work and keeping them happy,” he said.
“It wasn’t too long ago where I was doing pretty much every delivery, pretty much selling every customer, so they would see me in the store and they would see me deliver it. That really contributed to people talking about us on the internet, talking about me specifically. People coming down.
“Since we make everything here in Toronto, I work with customers all the time, customizing beds. Making it firmer, making it softer. When I tell this to people who have gone through 10, 15 online companies, which happens all the time, people love it. With my rating, I don’t let people down really. That helps a lot because once I’ve captured the sale I don’t really give you up. I really work with my customers to keep them very happy. Once they go through that process, it’s always good reviews and happy news to their friends.”
US-based Competitor Casper also has a storefront nearby at 342 Queen Street West which opened in 2018.
