President and COO of 1-800-Mattress dies

Luis Barragan, president and chief operating officer of 1-800-Mattress and the executive credited with creating the company’s Internet presence, Mattress.com, drowned while on vacation last week. He was the son of 1-800-Matress’s founder and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of 1-800-Mattress, a $170 million-a-year retailer with 350 employees, 104 stores in the Northeast and California and the 243rd largest web site in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites.

"Luis was a visionary for how mattress retailing would evolve. He was able to see the growth of the Internet as a credible retailing channel and he encouraged us to expand our showroom division," said founder and CEO Napoleon Barragan.

Luis Barragan, who was 34, joined the company in 1992 as a purchasing agent and was named president and COO in 2002.