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Mattress company Leesa is making coronavirus kits and shipping them 'directly to hospitals'

Virginia Beach-based mattress company Leesa is pivoting its business to donate bed kits to hospitals as the World Health Organization reports the number of coronavirus cases now exceeds 650,000 globally.

“These are unprecedented times,” Leesa CEO John Replogle said on Yahoo Finance’s The Ticker. “The demand for hospital equipment is going through the roof, and as a mattress company, we decided we can do something about this.”

Coronavirus cases are still on the rise. (David Foster/Yahoo Finance)
Coronavirus cases are still on the rise. (David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

The direct-to-consumer online luxury mattress company has temporarily shut down its business to retail partners nationwide due to the virus risk. Instead, it designed a new 7-inch mattress with a simplified frame, mattress protector, and pillow specifically for hospital use.

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“We're now shipping these direct to hospitals,” Replogle explained. “We have been able to secure a connection to provide 1,000 hospitals beds. We believe we're able to ship up to 1,000 different units per day — all turnkey — to whatever's needed, be it a field hospital or a hospital that's already in place.”

Coronavirus cases are still on the rise. (David Foster/Yahoo Finance)
Coronavirus cases are still on the rise. (David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

Replogle said that the company is communicating with various officials to try to supply the kits where they are needed.

“We've done outreach to governors, mayors, and hospitals across New York, California, North Carolina — really across the nation,” he said. “And it is really difficult to navigate to put that supply and demand connection together. So we're hoping to get the word out and to make some of those stronger connections.”

A Leesa mattress. (Leesa)
A Leesa mattress. (Leesa)

Leesa was deemed an essential business, enabling the company to stay in operation, but keeping the company’s employees safe is a concern.

“It's been a little tenuous, to be honest,” Replogle said. “We work with a network of different manufacturers. And different states have taken different regulations, but we still have a strong enough network up and running.”

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