Sleep Country Canada’s CEO believes a recession poses opportunities for growth as the company looks at ways to expand operations.

Sleep Country reported net income of $12.7 million for its second quarter, down about $10 million from last year, as same-store sales declines 10.9 per cent in the same time frame.

“Even though our business was down (in the second quarter) it was still the second strongest quarter in our company’s history, off a quarter last year that was up 18 per cent,” Sleep Country Canada president and CEO Stewart Schaefer told BNN Bloomberg.

Schaefer highlighted a drop in consumer spending on discretionary goods and big-ticket items for part of the slowdown, but mentioned a recession can pose opportunities for expansion in the industry.

“It’s time to drive efficiencies, focus on execution of our plan, but we’re always looking,” he said.

“We’re willing to look anywhere if there’s the right opportunity and the right fit for our organization.” 

Among those opportunities includes Casper’s Canadian operations, which Sleep Country bought for US$20.6 million early in the quarter and Silk & Snow, which the company bought in early 2023 for C$24 million.

Both deals have not yet made a significant impact on Sleep Country’s bottom line, however.

“We think this time in the market has been opportunistic for us, which is why we’ve done these deals, so these are the early days of the results that’s going to come from those companies,” he said.

When it comes to Casper, Schaefer hopes to grow the margins by bringing mattress production to Canada, while growing its accessory business. He also plans to improve Casper’s French-language website, which he called a “disaster” and “not what it should be.”

With files from The Canadian Press