Dale Carlsen

Dale R. Carlsen founded The Sleep Train Mattress Center in 1985,[1] and has guided the company to become the largest retailer of mattresses on the West Coast, and one of the top three in the United States.[2] In 2002, Dale purchased 54 of Mattress Discounters' stores in California during that company's bankruptcy—more than doubling Sleep Train's size.[3] In August 2006, Dale purchased Sleep Country USA from Simmons Bedding in a move to re-enter the northwestern market.[4]

He is a 1984 graduate of Sacramento State University in the College of Business Administration and a member of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. In 2013, Carlsen was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Sacramento State University "for his work and contributions on behalf of foster children" [5]

  1. ^ Jon Ortiz, Mattresses beneath his wings, Sacramento Bee, October 10, 2005, Page D1.
  2. ^ Nancy Butler, Sleep Train—Calculated risks, focus on people catapults California entrepreneur to the top Archived 2007-10-08 at the Wayback Machine, Sleep Savvy January/February 2007.
  3. ^ Kelly Johnson, Sleep Train agrees to buy 54 stores, Sacramento Business Journal, October 23, 2002.
  4. ^ David Perry, Simmons to sell Sleep Country USA stores to Sleep Train Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, Furniture Today, July 26, 2006.
  5. ^ Kelly Johnson, Dale Carlsen wins honor from Sac State, Sacramento Business Journal, May 24, 2013.