{"id":109531,"date":"2019-07-26T15:00:49","date_gmt":"2019-07-26T19:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techvibes.com\/?p=109531"},"modified":"2020-10-22T13:50:43","modified_gmt":"2020-10-22T17:50:43","slug":"endys-comfortable-toronto-lodge","status":"publish","type":"magazine","link":"https:\/\/brainstation.io\/magazine\/endys-comfortable-toronto-lodge","title":{"rendered":"Endy’s Comfortable Toronto Lodge"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a story about sleep. Well, to be more accurate, it\u2019s actually a story of sleep\u2019s rise to e-commerce greatness.<\/p>\n

Once relegated to echo-filled big box stores in sleepy suburban strip malls, mattress shopping has somehow become an exciting task, quietly shedding its chore status over the past half-decade. Constantly in search of a good night\u2019s rest, many shoppers now giddily compare different brands, relying heavily on reviews and word of mouth as the main guides pointing towards the most reliable\u00a0purveyors of waking up rested.<\/p>\n

In Canada, there is one particular name that has risen above the deluge of competitors. Endy<\/a> is a mattress-in-a-box brand\u2014a packaging model that has earned its own subsegment of the market\u2014founded in 2015, and in the four years since has\u00a0engineered\u00a0incredible growth.<\/p>\n

Co-founders Rajen Ruparell and Mike Gettis set out to create a made-in-Canada company focused on sleep that offers uncompromising quality and convenience. If the term \u2018mattress-in-a-box\u2019 were to be\u00a0distilled as a business model, Gettis (now CEO) owns the \u2018mattress\u2019 aspect, spending thousands of hours\u00a0tinkering\u00a0with foam and materials that could be rolled up and turned into a comfortable product. Ruparell (now chairman) is the \u2018box\u2019 part, honing in on his business expertise to build a nationwide e-commerce and distribution network.<\/p>\n

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Endy is in the sleeping well business, and business is booming. The company sold to Sleep Country Canada in\u00a02018 for $89 million but chose to remain a separate entity, leaning into the meteoric success the past years brought. Now onto their fourth office space in as many years, Endy and its 50 employees took over an 8,000 square-foot\u00a0floor designed by Harrison Fae<\/a>, though this one will likely stick for a while\u2014it can handle another 50 employees, so Endy is ready for expansion.<\/p>\n

Advertising is\u00a0crucial\u00a0for e-commerce success, and Endy is no different. They made a splash in their early days with\u00a0carefully targeted subway ads, so the entrance to the office is modeled after one of the busiest downtown Toronto subway stations, Queen. The walls even have the recognizable tiling and\u00a0the signature Endy ads that\u00a0one might see on any given day riding the rocket.<\/p>\n

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Work<\/h3>\n

Endy is not building and packaging mattresses in their eighth-floor downtown Toronto workspace. Rather, this hub is the center of operations for everything from customer service to advertising to engineering. The\u00a0mattresses themselves are manufactured\u00a0exclusively\u00a0in Canada in a handful of fulfillment facilities spread around the country.<\/p>\n

Endy built itself on its flagship mattress but has since expanded its repertoire to sell pillows, sheets, and duvets. There is consistent market research happening here to determine what the next product should be\u2014the latest to roll out is the Endy bed frame, and there\u2019s a good bet the next product will also have something to do with sleep.<\/p>\n

The best\u00a0direct-to-consumer companies champion two distinct areas: creativity through marketing and product, and customer service through support and feedback. Endy realizes this and has\u00a0made big investments into those two areas, as their customer support and creative teams make up the largest bulk of employees in the office. The creative team even has its own private photography studio. This was a major wish for the team as the company decided on a new space\u2014they wanted to be able to create and test their own work within the office\u2019s walls and skip the whole \u201crenting a studio\u201d thing.<\/p>\n

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Meeting rooms inspired by Endy\u2019s Canadian roots dot the office. Hop into Pine or Mountain for a quick stand-up, or maybe hang out in the comfortable Moose or Beaver lounges on either side of the space. These bring employees together to informally chat, or simply offer a spot away from the desk to get some work done.<\/p>\n

The main boardroom is a bit of an exception, as it is named after the Panda, Endy\u2019s unofficial mascot. The lovable animal has been the internal face of the company since the beginning, mainly because they sleep up to 10 hours a day. New hires at Endy are dubbed new pandas, though they\u2019re not encouraged to sleep half of the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new Endy HQ is designed to feel like home\u2014comfortable, relaxed, and open. We wanted to avoid the pitfalls of a traditional open office and create an environment that would work for everyone.\u201d – Mike Gettis, Endy co-founder and CEO.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Collaboration is a huge part of how Endy works. There is a real effort made to connect teams who may not regularly work together in order to ensure everyone in the company stays on the same page. The urge to provide amazing customer service is the uniting factor here and it\u2019s shown through the real reviews displayed on TV screens around the office\u2014every Endy employee knows the customer is who they are accountable to, so they need to make sure customers are at the end of every decision.<\/p>\n

The displays around the office also offer a fun glimpse into the work Endy\u2019s fantastic creative and marketing team does. One campaign saw the Endy box photographed in lush locations around Canada, and there\u2019s even an ad involving local Body Break superstars Hal and Joanne McLeod\u2014peak Canadiana.<\/p>\n