RANCHO DOMINGUEZ, Calif. – Industry bedding veteran Craig McAndrews is rejoining the mattress business as president of family-owned Diamond Mattress.

In the position, McAndrews succeeds Shaun Pennington who will transition to CEO. McAndrews will be the first nonfamily member to hold the executive position.

McAndrews joins the company as it begins an 10-year growth plan that includes expanding the company nationwide that will include additional manufacturing, new processes and new products, Pennington said.

“Our goal is growth for the company and improving the processes for our employees,” he said. “Over the coming months, Craig will be working with all of our internal teams to discover areas of opportunities and helping refine our strategic vision. I will be working on acquisitions and strategic partnerships as well as working with key customers to continue to grow our business. We will be further enhancing our vertical integration and joining forces with our partners to actualize our vision.”

With more than 25 years of experience in the industry, McAndrews brings both manufacturing and retail experience to his new role. Most recently, McAndrews has been a professor at the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business where he taught sales.

Prior to teaching, McAndrews held executive roles with Mattress Firm where he oversaw strategy, merchandising and training for the retailer. He was also involved in acquisitions for the retailer. He was vice president of sales for Simmons Co. and later founded a sales consulting and leadership consultancy. He is also a former franchisee for Mattress Firm.

“Craig has high integrity, a great attitude, and is really smart. As a college professor, Craig has honed his skills to communicate clearly and effectively, to teach, coach and motivate,” Pennington said. “As we got to know Craig better, it was clear that he is a team builder, a man of great character, and someone that would contribute to the team and organization on multiple levels. I personally look forward to learning from Craig and working with him to take the company to the next level. For us we view someone’s capabilities as important, but even more important is working with people you enjoy and trust. Craig fits all three of those categories. He’s immensely talented and someone we all enjoy being around and look forward to working.”

McAndrews joins the company May 18 and will oversee the daily operations of the 80-year-old company with manufacturing facilities in California and Texas. He will report to Pennington and work closely with Breana Pennington who retains her role as vice president with expanded responsibility of integrating operations across Diamond’s family of brands and overseeing the California factory. McAndrews will be based in Texas.

“The Diamond Mattress team has done an amazing job of creating a great culture, producing fantastic products and building a business that emphasizes service. I’m fired up about the opportunity to return to the industry with a company continuously investing in growth of its people and business,” McAndrews said.

Pennington said his move to CEO will allow him to use his strengths to implement the company vision, culture and “big ideas,” and to focus on future growth strategies and key customer relationships.

“My great-grandparents, grandparents and father passed down to us the values of humility and stewardship,” Pennington said. “We are willing to recognize our strengths and weaknesses without looking down at ourselves or judging ourselves harshly. When we looked at the potential for what Diamond could become, it was evident that the only way to get there and be good stewards to the blessed legacy we have been a part of was to bring in a president and build a team that with the leadership needed to move to the next level.”

I’m Sheila Long O’Mara, executive editor at Furniture Today. Throughout my 25-year career in the home furnishings industry, I have been an editor with a number of industry publications and spent a brief stint with a public relations agency where I worked with some of the industry’s leading bedding brands. I rejoined Furniture Today in December 2020 with a focus on bedding and sleep products. It’s a homecoming for me, as I was a writer and editor with Furniture Today from 1994 until 2002. I’m happy to be back and look forward to telling the important stories impacting bedding retailers and manufacturers.

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