Christine Foster
three PR
404.835.4524
cfoster@3atlanta.com
Katie O’Neill
three PR
404.835.4527
koneill@3atlanta.com
--Company honors its largest manufacturing facility for superior overall performance--
(ATLANTA and JANESVILLE, Wis. – MARCH 1, 2007) – Simmons Bedding Company presented its Janesville, Wis., manufacturing facility with the 2006 Tony Saliture Award for Operational Excellence, making the facility the only Simmons plant to win the award three times. The annual award recognizes a Simmons plant with superior performance in the areas of safety, quality, customer service, cost and productivity. It is the highest honor bestowed upon a plant by Simmons.
“The Janesville plant is a shining example of what can be achieved when a team constantly strives to reach its highest potential,” said Rob Burch, Simmons’ executive vice president of operations. “We commend all of the associates at the Janesville facility for raising the bar yet again and pushing themselves—and our employees at our other plants—to continually improve their performance levels.”
The award is especially significant to the Janesville plant, because it is named after the facility’s former manager, Tony Saliture, who opened the plant in 1980. Although Mr. Saliture retired in 1998, his continued contributions to Simmons have made him a fixture within the company. The award and its evaluation criteria were developed in 2001 to replace Simmons’ annual quality award, which had been presented to the Janesville plant for seven consecutive years. The Janesville plant previously won the Tony Saliture Award in 2004 and 2005. For more information, please visit www.simmons.com.
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Janesville plant receives Tony Saliture award/page 2
About Simmons Bedding Company Atlanta-based Simmons Bedding Company, a subsidiary of Simmons Company, is one of the world's largest mattress manufacturers, manufacturing and marketing a broad range
®®
of products including Beautyrest , BackCare , Beautyrest Black™, Natural Care™ Latex,
® ®
BackCare Kids and DeepSleep . It operates 21 conventional bedding manufacturing
facilities and two juvenile bedding manufacturing facilities across the United States,
Canada and Puerto Rico. Simmons also serves as a key supplier of beds to many of the
world’s leading hotel groups and resort properties. Simmons Bedding Company is
committed to developing superior mattresses and promoting a higher quality sleep for
consumers around the world. For more information, visit the company's website at
www.simmons.com.
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This press release includes forward-looking statements that reflect Simmons Company and its affiliates (combined “Simmons Company”) current views about future events and financial performance. Words such as “estimates,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “forecasts” and variations of such words or similar expressions that predict or indicate future events, results or trends, or that do not relate to historical matters, identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are expressed in good faith, and Simmons Company believes there is a reasonable basis for them. However, there can be no assurance that the events, results or trends identified in these forward-looking statements will occur or be achieved. Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they are subject to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Simmons Company’s expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to: (i) competitive pricing pressures in the bedding industry; (ii) legal and regulatory requirements; (iii) the success of new products; (iv) Simmons Company’s relationships with and viability of its major suppliers; (v) fluctuations in Simmons Company’s costs of raw materials; (vi) Simmons Company’s relationship with significant customers and licensees; (vii) Simmons Company’s ability to increase prices on its products and the effect of these price increases on its unit sales; (viii) an increase in Simmons Company’s return rates and warranty claims; (ix) Simmons Company’s labor relations; (x) departure of Simmons Company’s key personnel; (xi) encroachments on Simmons Company’s intellectual property; (xii) Simmons Company’s product liability claims; (xiii) Simmons Company’s level of indebtedness; (xiv) interest rate risks; (xv) compliance with covenants in Simmons Company’s debt agreements; (xvi) Simmons Company’s future acquisitions; (xvii) Simmons Company’s ability to successfully integrate Simmons Canada into its operations; (xviii) the loss of key personnel at Simmons Canada as a result of Simmons Company’s acquisition of Simmons Canada; (xix) Simmons Company’s ability to achieve the expected benefits from any personnel realignments; and (xx) other risks and factors identified from time to time in Simmons Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Simmons Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, either to reflect new developments or for any other reason.