High-end mattress maker chooses Naples for first out-of-state showroom

Founded in 2004, Harbor Springs Mattress Company has developed a loyal clientele in its home state of Michigan. Its handcrafted, all-natural mattresses made with the centuries-old technique of hand-tufting are beloved for their quality, comfort and longevity.

In 2022, the company noticed an unprecedented number of mattresses headed to Florida — often purchased by Michigan residents for their second homes in the Sunshine State. “It seems like there’s a natural migration of Michigan residents who live in Florida, and once they fall in love with us up here, they want nothing else,” says Dar Charlebois, president and co-owner of Harbor Springs Mattress Co. 

The majority of those mattresses were shipped to Florida’s Gulf Coast, which made Naples a logical choice for the company’s first showroom outside of Michigan. Harbor Springs Mattress hoped to have the showroom open this past spring, but delays in the construction process have shifted the opening date to late November or early December. The company is running local print and TV ads to get the word out, and a grand opening celebration is being planned.

Photo by Michael Murphy

Harbor Springs Mattress opted for a new build for the Naples showroom at 82 Ninth Street at the corner of First Avenue South in downtown Naples. “Because it’s a new build, we were excited to be able to design it in a way that fit our brand,” says Charlebois, 55. (The company declined to share the cost of the project.)

When the showroom opens, expect a gallery-like setting for showcasing the company’s collection of five mattress types. “Our customers always seem very impressed when they walk in our mattress stores compared to other mattress stores,” says Charlebois. “We actually have a fairly small, curated collection, and we really think of ourselves as an upscale boutique over what people would normally find in a crowded mattress store.

“We take the philosophy that our mattresses really sell themselves,” she continues. “They’re that well-made. We take a lot of pride in our mattress ticking. We always hear comments on how beautiful our mattresses are.”

The company strives for transparency with customers. “All of our stores have demonstrations or mockups of what’s inside of our mattresses,” says Charlebois. That includes all-natural and organic materials like pure cotton, natural latex from tree sap and wool spun in Michigan.

“We’re very, very generous with the wool as a top layer,” she says. “Wool is the super fiber for sleep: Each barb is 1,000 times stronger than silk, so it has durability. But it also acts as a natural temperature regulator, so your body won’t overheat.”

“There’s an honesty and a transparency and a sense of pride that ripples through everything that we do,” Charlebois continues. “So there’s a sense of relief with us that there’s nothing hidden. There’s no chemicals, there’s no toxins, there’s no off-gassing. It’s a very breathable, natural sleeping surface.”

A queen-sized Moonbeam mattress (the company’s entry-level mattress) costs $2,600 (including a box spring), while the most-expensive luxury mattress offered by the brand costs $8,800 for a king size. Mattresses are made to order in Michigan by a staff of 21, a process that takes five to six weeks.

“Our craftsmen take a lot of pride in every stage and step of the mattress-making,” says Charlebois. “You’re not getting something that was stored in a warehouse. You’re getting something where the craftsmen know your name, and they’re taking their time to make it…Some care has gone into it, and it’s not made in a foreign country or made under harsh conditions.”

Courtesy image

Charlebois joined the company in 2015, after falling in love with both the business and its founder, Rory Karpathian. Expect to see the couple (who own a home in Naples) in the Naples showroom a lot after it opens, an approach they took when opening their Michigan stores.

“In the first year, we have always tried to have a very strong owner presence in the store,” says Charlebois. “I think that’s important, and I also believe it’s very unusual for customers to actually get to meet the people who own or build the product that they are selling. There’s something very special about that.”

Operating a manufacturing business isn’t without its challenges, and the company will have a larger geographic footprint for the first time. But Charlebois has a plan for dealing with any obstacles that come her way.

“We overcome them by really standing true in our philosophy of quality over quantity and just trust that people will appreciate what we have to offer,” she says. “One of the challenges has been to make sure that every point of contact with our customer continues to be imbued with our small business and family business approach, and to really, really maintain that customer excellence. It’s very important to us.”