What's in the box?... A $1.1B queen-size. That's how much the OG direct-to-consumer mattress icon's worth thanks to a $100M injection of money from new, private investors. And we learned from a slide deck obtained by The Information that Casper Sleep might not be private so long — It's interviewing banks to advise a future IPO.
Some woke highlights from the slide deck... (which was intended for investors only):
- Profitability isn't there yet: But losses are shrinking. Plus, Casper's expecting profits in 2019.
- Growth is happening. Fast: Revenues rose 50% in 2018, and are expected to jump the same amount in 2019 and 2020.
- Amazon's a non-factor: "Dog bed" through "King size" Caspers are all available on the everything store, but just 4% of sales last quarter were on Amazon. That means customers are going straight to Casper or its investor/retail partner Target. That helps the CEO sleep nice.
Brick and mortar retail's not dying... bad retail's dying. Casper's created a bunch of dreamy stores selling mattresses and 45-minute naps (for $25). It costs $650K to build each location, and according to the deck, the whole investment pays off in less than 2 years on average. That's fast. And it's why it wants 200 Casper stores by 2021.