After 1,500-store expansion, Mattress Firm sues its real estate team and prepares to trim

Mattress Firm, the Houston-based retail chain that has added 1,500 locations since 2010 in an effort to be a national powerhouse, is suing two of its former real estate executives, its outside broker and a group of developers over the vast expansion. The company alleges in its suit that its former employees, Bruce Levy and Ryan Vinson, as well as Colliers International Vice President Alexander Deitch, conspired with developers to fraudulently push the company into more expensive locations to enrich themselves. Mattress Firm is planning to eliminate stores in the future, but has not announced numbers or locations. [Bisnow]