In 1974, Capt’n Snooze became one of the original bedroom specialist stores to establish itself in the Australian market. Its first retail shop was in Melbourne, with a sales proposition of having great staff, great products, and a great range, and with these high standards in place the demand quickly grew for the brand. Thus, over the next two years it was able to expand its footprint and open five additional stores in Victoria and New South Wales. This led to its eventual growth into Queensland, after a merger with Bedpost, and later into most other states across the country.
In the early 2000s, Capt’n Snooze became a wholly owned subsidiary of Freedom Group Limited, a lifestyle organisation operating in Australia and New Zealand. Then, several years later in 2006, it received a directive to undergo an extensive makeover. The ‘Capt’n’ was dropped from its trading name, and it began to roll out a whole new look across all of its stores, featuring a much more elegant chocolate-brown colour palette compared to the bright red, cartoon-like logo it had used in the past. A new dimension was also added to the Snooze brand when Freedom Group Limited joined the Steinhoff international group—a global raw materials, manufacturing, distribution, and retail organisation—and was renamed Steinhoff Asia Pacific Limited. This enabled Snooze to leverage Steinhoff’s expertise, product, and marketing information, ultimately leading to new opportunities.
Today, Snooze has 77 stores Australia-wide, five of which are controlled by the business itself while the remainder operate under a franchise model. It is well known for being a long-term supporter of Australian-made mattresses and furniture, and for its high-quality product range.
Managing Director Simon Beaty has been with the company since 2008, a couple of years after its new look was unveiled. His mandate was to grow the franchise distribution while also increasing sales and profitability for the business partners. He says the biggest change he has seen during his eight-year tenure has been an increase in the number of multisite franchisees, a clear indication that people within the brand are happy to reinvest into it because they believe in what it stands for. A large number of employees are even purchasing stores, which is further testament to the Snooze model.