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Jim Nation Retires After 50 Years in the Bedding Industry

Published: January 3, 2025
Author: HFT

Jim Nation is retiring from Southerland after 50 years in the mattress and sleep business.

During his long career in the industry, Nation worked as a bedding buyer for department stores. He joined Spring Air in 1990 to oversee its national accounts, and he worked there for the longest period of time (17 years) during his career. Later, in 1995, Nation was appointed CEO and president. Following Spring Air’s 2007 merger with Consolidated Bedding, its biggest licensee in Florida, he left that role.

Working with then-President Bob Sherman, Nation joined Serta in 2008 as president of sales development. In 2016, he was appointed as an executive advisor to Serta.

He has worked in Florida for E.B. Malone, which subsequently changed its name to Bassett Bedding. After that, he started working on the Sears account at Ohio-Sealy. In addition to being a member of the Better Sleep Council and finance committee, Nation is also the head of the International Sleep Products Association’s board of directors, executive committee, and board of trustees.

Looking back on his career, Nation expressed his pride in having worked in the field for more than 50 years and claimed he was able to influence the expansion of each company he worked for.

He said that his work with Sears had a major influence on Sealy’s operations. I contributed to the expansion of Spring Air, and when I moved to Serta, I impacted and advanced the growth of that brand. Southerland is at a different level now than it was when I joined the team, and I have positively contributed to taking it to a new level.

Nation said that his time as Spring Air’s CEO stood out as a highlight.

“I think that being the CEO of Spring Air was the most rewarding role in my career, but it was also the most challenging,” he remarked. “By collaborating with a diverse group of licensees, we successfully established Spring Air as a national brand.”

Nation most recently served as Southerland’s executive vice president of worldwide licensing and national account sales. In order to expand Southerland’s national and global reach, he joined the company in 2017 as a member of the senior leadership team. Southerland was recently acquired by 3Z Brands.

Bryan Smith, president of Southerland, stated, “Jim has been a great friend to me in addition to being a great mentor.” Jim is one of those men that can take charge and get things done. He is the one who works in the background in silence, yet he has a big influence on many decisions. His presence on our squad has been a luxury.

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