When people meet me at social gatherings or recognize me on the street the first thing out of their mouth is usually, “you’re killing me Larry!” The next thing that happens … they want to know what kind of mattress I sleep on.
For the first time anywhere, I, Larry Miller, the president of Sit ‘N Sleep will publicly reveal, the bed I sleep on…actually…the beds. I don’t sleep on one particular mattress, which would be like admitting to having a favorite child.
I went on a trip to Japan in the late 1970’s and one night I ended up sleeping on something called a Futon. I’d never heard of one or seen one before. It was a soft mattress on a frame that you could use as a bed and then adjust to become a small sofa.
At the time I thought that was pretty neat.
I got back to California and the miniseries “Shogun” about Japanese warriors was a big hit, Americans were starting to eat sushi … so I figured maybe they’ll sleep on this bed/chair thing from Japan. At the time there were only two other places in all of Los Angeles where you could even find a Futon…
At the time there were only two other places in all of Los Angeles where you could even find a Futon. One was a tiny store in an area called Little Tokyo and the other was an even smaller store in a predominantly Japanese area of west Los Angeles. So I went ahead and imported a Futon from Japan and had the mattress part copied. But I had an impossible time finding anyone who could make the adjustable frame. Finally after many frustrating calls and trips everywhere I found someone who could make the frame…in Brazil!
Meanwhile, my dad (who was also my business partner) thought I was completely nuts. He told me, “Nobody is going to sleep on that bag of cotton!”
