A company that makes rug pads is planning to set up shop in Suffield in a vacant building.
The company, RugPadUSA, presented its plans to buy the building at 100 Marketing Dr. for its world headquarters to the board of selectmen last week.
The building was occupied by the Windsor Marketing Group.
Giving the presentation were David Driver, of Goman+York, a real estate company working with RugPadUSA, and the RugPad’s chief operating officer, Karl Froehlich.
Unlike some other small and medium-sized businesses that are struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic, RugPadUSA has an enormous growth trajectory, Driver told the selectmen.
The company achieved $26 million in sales in 2019, and is expected to reach $30 million this year, Driver said. In addition, the number of people employed by the company will increase, with at least 50 employees in Suffield, he added.
The company sells its rug pads from its own website and through internet shopping sites like Amazon, Wayfair, Overstock, and Walmart, according to Driver. In addition, he said, it recently acquired machinery that will enable it to produce rug pads from start to finish, which means it will be able to create pads for wholesale too.
Froehlich estimated that the company could achieve $300 million to $400 million in sales in coming years, once it begins selling at wholesale in addition to its direct sales to consumers. He said the company’s goal is to employ 500 people throughout the country in five years.
According to Froehlich, the jobs in Suffield would vary from $12-an-hour unskilled positions to salespeople and accountants. The company would likely start out running two shifts at the Suffield building but could expand to running 24 hours a day eventually, Froehlich said.
RugPadUSA was founded in Wilton in 2012; has since expanded to locations in Ansonia and Reno, Nevada; and plans to expand to other areas of the country as well, Driver said. The company also recently acquired a separate facility in Maine. The operations currently in Maine and Ansonia will eventually be moved to Suffield, Driver said.
