Bedgear completes $2 million expansion of East Farmingdale headquarters

Ten percent of Americans, or 33 million people, have a mattress, pillows, sheets or other bedding from Bedgear in East Farmingdale.

In the past decade, the designer and manufacturer of sleep systems has brought its products to 36 countries — and with an eye toward further growth, recently expanded its headquarters at 200 Sea Lane.

Bedgear now occupies 25,000 square feet, up from the 11,600 it first occupied in 2020. The company will mark the completion of its larger office with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday.

Bedgear spent more than $2 million on amenities, such as a new showroom and event space, an exercise gym, a commercial kitchen and eating area, a wellness station with the makings for protein shakes and smoothies, and additional meeting rooms.

The larger headquarters has brought more hiring. Bedgear now has 60 employees in East Farmingdale and plans to add 15 more within 18 months. There were 35 employees six years ago.

"This office gives us a competitive advantage," Eugene Alletto, the company’s CEO and founder, said during a tour.

"Farmingdale’s proximity to New York City, especially Brooklyn, gives Bedgear access to the creative, talented people who gravitate to New York — and some of them will come to work for us," he said. "I also wanted diversity in the workforce because we want to be a global brand. We have 43 different nationalities represented in our Farmingdale staff."

Alletto acknowledged that it would have been far less expensive to add office space in South Carolina or Utah, where Bedgear employs about 200 people at two factories and associated warehouses. But he said he wants to tap into the creativity of people who aren’t already in the bedding industry, which he noted "is based in the South."

Founded in 2009 in Westbury, Bedgear is among several dozen consumer-products companies that call Long Island home.

They include guitar string and musical instrument accessories maker D’Addario & Co., also in East Farmingdale, vitamin giant Nature’s Bounty Co. in Ronkonkoma, LifeVac LLC in Nesconset, the choking rescue device inventor, and desserts manufacturer Cookies United in Islip.

Most are in nondescript buildings with small signs out front, yet they employ hundreds of people and generate millions of dollars in sales each year.

For Bedgear, the advantages of being on Long Island go beyond its employees’ work ethic and talents, Alletto said.

The region is home to Kimco Realty Corp., the Jericho-based owner of more than 560 shopping centers nationwide. Alletto said Kimco is helping Bedgear to identify locations for a new group of stores that will feature all the company’s products and show how they work together to provide improved sleep.

The first of the stores, all company owned, will open later this year, he said, adding Bedgear products will still be sold at Raymour & Flannigan, P.C. Richard & Son, Mattress Firm and other U.S. retail chains.

Kimco spokeswoman Jennifer Maisch confirmed that "introductory discussions" have taken place with Bedgear.

"But it would be premature to speak to any specific plans or other details," Maisch said.

Besides the expanded headquarters and new stores, Bedgear continues its 10-year-old effort to "re-shore" or return manufacturing to the United States. The initiative came in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports during his first administration.

Alletto said production activity has increased at the company’s plants in South Carolina and Utah.

He also said Bedgear opened two facilities in Canada after Trump’s comments about making the U.S.'s northern neighbor the 51st state led to a consumer backlash there. Bedgear also is exploring production opportunities in Turkey to serve European markets.

"We are committed to doing as much domestically as possible," said Alletto, "but when it comes to fabrics they aren’t made in the United States anymore."

By James T. Madore

james.madore@newsday.comJamesTMadore

James T. Madore writes about Long Island business news including the economy, development, and the relationship between government and business. He previously served as Albany bureau chief.