Merced retail store to close following corporate bankruptcy

Merced’s single Mattress Firm location was named Friday among the 700 stores to close following the announcement the corporation filed for bankruptcy.

The Houston-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday in federal court in Delaware. Along with the 1414 R Street store, the first wave of stores to close will include locations in Fresno and Bakersfield.

An employee at the Merced store on Friday who identified himself as the manager declined to comment.

According to court documents, the nation’s largest mattress retailer has more than $1 billion in liabilities and has more than 50,000 creditors. It owes its largest creditor, mattress maker Simmons Manufacturing Co., nearly $65 million.

The company has said the first wave of stores could close within days.

In a statement, CEO and president Steve Stagner says the bankruptcy filing will allow the company to “strengthen our balance sheet” and close stores in certain markets with “too many locations in close proximity to each other.”

The company has more than 3,000 stores in the U.S. and in recent years had been aggressively expanding as it purchased competitors.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.