TORONTO, Nov. 23, 2021 /CNW/ - Sleep Country Canada
Holdings Inc. ("Sleep Country") (TSX: ZZZ), Canada's leading omnichannel specialty sleep
retailer, today announced a $500,000
investment for a 25% ownership stake of Sleepout Inc. ("Sleepout"),
a Canadian startup specializing in portable blackout curtains.
As demand for sleep wellness products grows, Sleep Country's
investment will support Sleepout's entry to the market and its
mission of helping people get a better night's sleep.
Born out of the pandemic, and out of co-founders Mark Coombs and Hannah
Brennen's frustration, Sleepout is a Canadian
direct-to-consumer business that works to help people sleep better
while making a positive impact on the environment. Like nearly a
third of Canadians, Mark suffered from insomnia and found that
total darkness was the best solution to a restful night's
sleep. After years of ineffective DIY solutions, Mark and
Hannah developed the Sleepout® Curtain, a patented portable
blackout curtain that installs anywhere in seconds to completely
darken any room.
"We are excited to invest in Sleepout, especially the two
founders Mark and Hannah, to help them take their premium blackout
curtain to market. We believe this product is a
best-in-class solution for one of the most common sleep problems,
and will help people get a longer and better night's sleep.
We look forward to fuelling their growth with our market expertise
and expanding our portfolio of online sleep wellness accessories to
be sold digitally across North
America," said Stewart
Schaefer, President of Sleep Country Canada. "Our investment
supports them, and our strategy to provide customers with seamless
access to the world's best and most innovative sleep products that
we believe will help transform their lives with the power of
sleep," added Schaefer.
"We are thrilled to receive this investment from Sleep Country,
Canada's leading sleep retailer,"
said Mark Coombs, CEO and Co-Founder
of Sleepout. "We couldn't have asked for a better investment
partner. With Sleep Country's support, Sleepout will be able
to cover new ground by achieving larger scale and advancing our
joint mission of helping North American's sleep better," added
Coombs.
Sustainably designed with premium Greenguard® and OEKO-TEX®
certified 100 percent blackout fabric, the Sleepout Curtain is
incredibly effective at keeping out light. It temporarily installs
to any window using industrial-strength locking suction cups and
blocks extra light with the help of the proprietary Sleepout Pads —
a new non-damaging adhesive technology designed specifically to
block light bleeds. The easy-to-install and remove kit packs into a
reusable carrying bag that can fit into a backpack or suitcase,
making it the perfect blackout solution for home and travel.
Sleepout curtains will be sold online through the company's
eCommerce website sleepoutcurtains.com and become a part of
Sleep Country's growing digital ecosystem.
The company has already established a customer base through one
of Kickstarter's top campaigns that ran from June to
July 2021 and sold over 3,000 units.
Subsequent to Kickstarter, Sleepout launched a crowdfunding
campaign on Indiegogo that generated additional revenue and
customer interest.
About Sleep Country
Sleep Country is Canada's leading omnichannel specialty sleep
retailer with a national retail store network and robust eCommerce
platforms. The Company operates under retail banners: "Sleep
Country Canada", with omnichannel operations in Canada excluding Québec; "Dormez-vous?" with
omnichannel operations in Québec; "Endy", Canada's leading direct-to-consumer online
sleep solutions retailer; and recently acquired Hush Blankets Inc.,
one of Canada's fastest-growing
digital retailers. Sleep Country has 287 stores, 17 fulfillment
centres and two storage hubs across Canada. Sleep Country is a purpose-led company
dedicated to transforming lives by awakening Canadians to the power
of sleep. The company is committed to meaningfully and positively
supporting its environment, people and communities including
operating a comprehensive Mattress Recycling Program and working
closely with Canadian charities to donate new and gently used
mattresses to families and children in need.
About Sleepout
Mark
Coombs and Hannah Brennen
founded Sleepout after years of dealing with Mark's insomnia and
personal frustration for the lack of solutions available. Both with
a track record of driving growth at successful Canadian technology
startups, the sleep-obsessed entrepreneurial couple set out to
create a curtain that could provide complete darkness anywhere.
Understanding that many people sleep better in total darkness,
finding a complete solution that could be installed easily without
damaging walls or windows was essential. Sleepout offers an ideal
solution for anyone in need of total darkness and creates a
positive impact on the environment through sustainable design and
and climate-positive business initiatives. Sleep better with
Sleepout.
For more information about Sleep Country, visit
www.sleepcountryir.ca.
For more information about Sleepout, visit
www.sleepoutcurtains.com.
Non-IFRS Measures and Retail Industry Metrics
The Company prepares its consolidated financial statements in
accordance with IFRS. In order to provide additional insight into
the business, to provide investors with supplemental measures of
its operating performance and to highlight trends in its business
that may not otherwise be apparent when relying solely on IFRS
financial measures, the Company uses certain non-IFRS measures,
including "Same Store Sales" or "SSS", "EBITDA", "Operating
EBITDA", "Operating EBITDA Margin", "Adjusted Net Income" and
"Adjusted EPS". These measures are provided as additional
information to complement IFRS measures by providing further
understanding of the Company's results of operations from
management's perspective. Management also uses non-IFRS measures in
order to facilitate operating performance comparisons from period
to period, to prepare annual operating budgets and forecasts and to
determine components of management compensation. The Company also
believes that securities analysts, investors and other interested
parties frequently use non-IFRS measures in the evaluation of
issuers.
Readers are cautioned that these non-IFRS measures are not
recognized under IFRS and do not have a standardized meaning
prescribed by IFRS. They are therefore unlikely to be comparable to
similarly titled measures presented by other publicly traded
companies. Accordingly, they should not be considered in isolation
nor as a substitute for analysis of the Company's financial
information reported under IFRS.
Forward-looking Information
This release contains forward-looking information and
forward-looking statements which reflect the current view of
management with respect to the Company's objectives, plans, goals,
strategies, outlook, results of operations, financial and operating
performance, prospects and opportunities. Wherever used, the words
"may", "will", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "expect",
"plan", "believe" and similar expressions identify forward-looking
information and forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
information and forward-looking statements should not be read as
guarantees of future events, performance or results, and will not
necessarily be accurate indicators of whether, or the times at
which, such events, performance or results will be achieved. All of
the information in this release containing forward-looking
information or forward-looking statements is qualified by these
cautionary statements.
Forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are
based on information available to management at the time they are
made, underlying estimates, opinions and assumptions made by
management and management's current good faith belief with respect
to future strategies, prospects, events, performance and results,
and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding
future expectations generally. Such risks and uncertainties
include, but are not limited to, those described in the Company's
2020 Annual Information Form (the "AIF") filed on
March 2, 2021. A copy of the AIF can
be accessed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to the
Company or that the Company currently believes to be less
significant may also adversely affect the Company.
SOURCE Sleep Country Canada Holdings Inc. Investor Relations