Longtime mattress store in downtown Idaho Falls opening new building this spring
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IDAHO FALLS – A legacy mattress store in downtown Idaho Falls is relocating after 64 years of business.
Romaine’s Mattress King, which began operation in 1959 at 401 E Street, will be moving to a new building on the corner of Hitt Road and John Adams in April.
Owner Jake Heaton tells EastIdahoNews.com the new 30,000-square-foot building will allow them to better serve customers.
“This will allow us to have more options in one location,” Heaton says. “We only have 17,000-square-feet of usable space (at the current location), so this will roughly double our size.”
And Heaton says the new store will have less overhead costs, which means prices will remain competitive.
Heaton is the grandson of the original owners, Don and Romaine, for whom the business is named. The Heatons bought the downtown property in 1959.
Jake says his grandparents merged an old service station, grocery store, steel shop and two other buildings into what it is now. The couple was looking to go into business, and their concept was much simpler back then.
“My grandma would make these little felt plants and paintings. That’s when they decided to get into unfinished furniture with their paint,” Jake says.
Ultimately, the Heatons decided to specialize in mattresses.
Don and Romaine operated the shop for about 40 years before selling the business to their son, Carey, in the late 1990s.
Jake has worked in the business with his dad since he was 14, and he became part owner about nine years ago.
The most rewarding aspect of the business for him is being able to help customers get a better night’s sleep.
“Our goal is to help people wake up and sleep well,” Jake says. “We go to trainings with doctors on a quarterly basis to teach people how they should sleep, which in turn helps us have a great business.”
Jake hopes to pass the business along to his kids.
He’s thrilled that Blue Ribbon Construction, a local construction company, is building the new location.
“The reason we wanted to do that is so that we could keep all the money we could in this town,” he says.
Jake’s grandparents are now in their 90s, and he’s hoping they’ll be around to see the completed project. He’s looking forward to unveiling it at a grand opening celebration, which will include massive giveaways for customers.
