Foothills Mattress owner joins MSZS Fine Furnishings
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After more than 30 years, Foothills Furniture and Mattress is no longer. Kevin Smith closed his longtime store and is now putting his expertise to use at MSZS Fine Furnishings, which is located at 2850 S. Pacific Ave., Suite Z, in the same shopping center as Walmart.
Foothills Mattress first opened in 1993 and moved to Fortuna Road in 1995. Last year, after years of being at the other end of Fortuna Road, Foothills Furniture and Mattress, owned by Kevin and Nicole Smith, moved into Simply Shabby Mini Mall, located at 11411 S. Fortuna Road, in the Yuma East Shopping Center.
“Technically, it’s been 40 years because we ran the business in Idaho for quite a few years before, so we’ve been running consistently for 40 years, and this is the first time my family has not had a business,” Smith said.
The Smiths opted to downsize after Kevin survived cancer and for less stress. The reason they didn’t initially completely close the store is because they specialized in hard-tofind and unusually sized mattresses and furniture, such as cut corners for
RVS and adjustable beds.
A chance meeting with Knappen convinced Smith that it was time to close Foothills Mattress and join MSZS. Owner Keith Knappen has put Smith in charge of the sleep center in his store. Knappen liked that Smith’s store was also a locally operated, family owned business.
“MSZS represents the kids’ initials. We’ve been here five years now,” Knappen noted.
Knappen is using Smith’s expert knowledge to expand the sleep center, which carries many of the same brands that Foothills Mattress sold as well as the major brands, such as Serta Simmons, plus more.
“I was basically much smaller than what Keith has here. Not only what I had before, but 10 times more. I’m selling more than I’ve ever sold,” Smith said.
“When I was doing business, I was trying to support local vendors out of Phoenix, and we’re still going to support all those local vendors,” Smith explained.
Working with Phoenix manufacturers means quick turnarounds for orders. “If they see one they like and we don’t have it in stock, they can order it, and within a week or two, we get shipments because the factories are right in Arizona. So they’re buying local and keeping it instate. Taxes stay local, as well,” Smith said.
The only disadvantage is that he’s no longer in the Foothills. “At least for the time being, but we are working on that, trying to see what we can figure out for the future,” Smith said. “But for now, we’re not going to be in the Foothills, but my phone number, the store’s phone number that I’ve had for all these years, is still valid. They can still call that number, and I will still answer and I can still help them with everything that I sold before. Nothing has changed.”
In fact, MSZS will deliver in the Foothills, he added.
To reach Smith directly, call 928-342-6288. To reach MSZS, call 928-294-1000.
And if you’re wondering about Kevin’s mother, Barbara Smith, who had her shop, Catnip’s Closet, inside and then next to Foothills Mattress, she has retired now that she’s 81.