Serta is an American company based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, that specializes in developing and manufacturing

mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a lying person. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a quilted or similarly fastened case, usually of heavy cloth, conta ...

es. It was founded in 1931 in Illinois as Sleeper, Inc. by 13 mattress manufacturers who licensed the Serta name; subsequently, eight independent

licensees A licensee can mean the holder of a license or, in U.S. tort law, a licensee is a person who is on the property of another, despite the fact that the property is not open to the general public, because the owner of the property has allowed the lic ...

acting like a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

owned the company. Afterwards, it was controlled and operated as Serta International by its largest licensee, National Bedding Company (which ultimately held 27 of the 34 U.S. Serta manufacturing licenses). In 2005, two private equity groups teamed up to purchase National Bedding Co.--The Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund, the Los Angeles-based private equity fund of Ares Management; and Teachers’ Private Capital, the private equity arm of the Ontario (Canada) Teachers’ Pension Plan. The American company Serta International is a subsidiary of the American company Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC of Doraville, Georgia.Serta Simmons Bedding
" Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC. Retrieved on July 3, 2022. Other licensees include Serta Dormae in Texas, Serta Restokraft in Michigan, and Salt Lake Mattress in Utah. Serta is the largest mattress brand in the United States, and offers four main types of mattresses – traditional inner spring, gel-infused memory foam, hybrid mattresses which combine both, and the Salt Lake City plant exclusively produces a Talalay Latex collection. Serta products are used extensively in the lodging industry, with

Hilton Worldwide Hilton Worldwide (legally Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.) is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and resorts. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the corporation is now led by ...

and

Wyndham Worldwide Travel + Leisure Co. (formerly Wyndham Destinations, Inc. and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation) is an American timeshare company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. It develops, sells, and manages timeshare properties under several vacation ownershi ...

among its customers. Serta mattresses are also offered on cable home shopping channel ShopNBC. In August 2018, Serta Simmons Bedding, LLC announced a merger with online retailer Tuft & Needle. Serta 'Perfect Sleeper', 1948

Counting Sheep

The company is famous for its "

Counting Sheep Counting sheep is a mental exercise used in some Western cultures as a means of putting oneself to sleep. In most depictions of the activity, the practitioner envisions an endless series of identical white sheep jumping over a fence, while ...

" advertising campaign which were animated by

Aardman Animations Aardman Animations Limited (also known as Aardman Studios, simply Aardman or Aardman Animation and stylised as AARDMAN as of 2022) is a British animation studio based in Bristol, England. It is known for films made using stop-motion and clay ani ...

and first created in 2000. The counting sheep are shown to be desperate for work in wanting people to sleep at night, but get frustrated whenever they found out people have a Serta mattress. During the 2000s, the sheep were all animated using Aardman's trademark use of stop-motion clay animation, made to resemble the style of

Nick Park Nicholas Wulstan Park (born 6 December 1958) is a British animator who created ''Wallace and Gromit'', ''Creature Comforts'', ''Chicken Run'', ''Shaun the Sheep'', and '' Early Man''. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of ...

's works in '' Wallace and Gromit'', '' Chicken Run'', and '' Creature Comforts''. By the 2010s, the sheeps' animation style switched from stop-motion to CGI, and despite still using the same character designs from before, and still being done by Aardman, the animation style for the counting sheep from the 2010s and onwards were made to resemble the style of '' Flushed Away'', which was also produced by Aardman.

Counting sheep voice cast

Brian McFadden Brian Nicholas McFadden (born 12 April 1980) is an Irish pop singer and television presenter who rose to fame in 1998 as a member of the Irish boy band Westlife. Following his departure from the group in 2004, McFadden released his debut solo ...

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...

Phil LaMarr Phillip LaMarr (born January 24, 1967) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. LaMarr was one of the original featured cast members on the sketch comedy television series '' Mad TV''. His voice acting roles in animated series include J ...

Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American actress who has provided English-language voices for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as Haruko Haruhara in '' FLCL'', and would later land ma ...

* Danny Rutigliano *

Carlos Alazraqui Carlos Jaime Alazraqui (born July 20, 1962) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, impressionist, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Deputy James Garcia on '' Reno 911!'' and for his voice acting roles. His extensive ...

Billy West William Richard Werstine (born April 16, 1952), known professionally as Billy West, is an American voice actor. His voice roles include Bugs Bunny in the 1996 film ''Space Jam'' and several subsequent projects, the title characters of ''Doug'' ...

* Richard Steven Horvitz

References

External links

Serta website
Manufacturing companies established in 1931 Franchises Cooperatives in the United States Manufacturing companies based in Illinois Companies based in Cook County, Illinois 1931 establishments in Illinois Mattress retailers of the United States Hoffman Estates, Illinois 2012 mergers and acquisitions Aardman Animations {{furniture-stub

Counting Sheep

Counting sheep voice cast

See also

References

External links