Company owner is helping others rest, but not himself

The mattress retailer has made plans to open his fourth store.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
Terry Tueche laughs as he talks about the expansion of his mattress stores.
"I'm at the age where I should be thinking about retiring, not expansion," said Tueche, 57, owner of Quality Mattress Outlet.
He started with one store on Market Street in Boardman in 2001 and added one on Boardman-Canfield Road the next year. Last month, he opened a store across from the Eastwood Mall in Niles.
He's not done yet. He is scouting locations for an Austintown store and hopes to open an additional one or two after that. By that time, he figures he'll have a warehouse for all the mattresses his stores need.
Help from daughters
Tueche said there's no way he'd be able to manage all the growth himself. In fact, he wouldn't have even tried without the help of his two daughters, Michelle Bush, 32, and Debbie Aracich, 23.
Having his daughters working in the company "recharges me," he said.
Bush, who has worked with her father in other businesses, runs the Market Street store. Aracich, who just joined the company, runs the other Boardman store. Both daughters have business degrees from Youngstown State University.
Not only do the women take some of the work burden from him, they also provide inspiration, Tueche said. He's excited to build the company, knowing that it will stay in the family when he does retire.
"I'm loving it," he said.
Tueche tried retirement once. It didn't last long.
"I got bored," he said.
He was forced into retirement five years ago by heart problems. At the time, he owned Budget Discount Furniture in Youngstown but decided to sell the company before he had open heart surgery. He previously had sold two other businesses -- Furniture Barns and Economy Furniture.
He ended up needing a second surgery. After he recovered, he considered moving to Florida, but instead decided to go back into business.
"It's in my blood," he said.
Tueche has worked in the home furnishings business since 1964, including being a buyer for three department stores and managing a local furniture store. He also owned Hubbard Furniture in the 1970s.
Focus
For many years, he thought that a retailer focusing on midpriced mattresses could succeed because companies weren't serving that market. Plenty of retailers sell high-end products, while others offer low-priced models, he said.
He said Quality Mattress has succeeded because it has targeted this midpriced niche. Mattress sets range from $198 to $2,000, but the biggest sellers are those between $398 and $598, he said.
His stores don't sell the three major brands -- Sealy, Serta and Simmons -- but instead sell from manufacturers that don't have big marketing budgets -- Spring Air, Ther-a-pedic and King Coil. He said he's impressed with the quality of their work and how they stand behind their products.
For example, the president of Ther-a-pedic was at the Niles store Wednesday to help the sales staff understand the benefits of the company's products, he said.
Tueche said business is going so well that he doesn't have any intentions of straying from his focus on midpriced products. Sales are increasing even though the local economy is struggling and mattress sales nationwide are lackluster, he said.
"It's a down market right now, and we're flourishing," he said. "I can't wait to see how we do when things get better."
shilling@vindy.com