Spring Air’s Rick Robinson dies at 60

BOSTON – Spring Air President Rick Robinson, who died unexpectedly earlier this week, is remembered by industry veterans for his marketing and salesmanship skills.

Rick RobinsonRobinson, 60, was named president of Spring Air International in 2009 when longtime Spring Air executive Ed Bates acquired ownership of the Spring Air brand and relaunched it under a new corporate entity.

Bates praised Robinson for his work for the Spring Air brand.

“Because of his leadership abilities and his many innovative insights and ideas, Rick was my first choice to head the new Spring Air enterprise,” he said. “Not only did Rick have an extremely broad skill set, but he was also the kind of person whose energy and optimism could be felt as soon as he entered a room. He was a unique individual in our industry and our company. He will be greatly missed.”

Spring Air announced that Nick Bates, the company’s vice president, will retain that title and will take on Robinson’s responsibilities on an interim basis.

Industry leaders said few details were available about Robinson’s sudden death, but they said the veteran bedding executive made his mark in the industry.

“We was one of the most talented product and marketing guys I’ve ever known,” said Owen Shoemaker, who knew Robinson for almost 20 years. “A lot of people were very impressed with Rick and happy to work with him.”

Shoemaker, president of King Koil, said Robinson predicted the rise of the adjustable bedding category and was an early advocate of the specialty sleep category through his work with the Nature’s Rest brand, the idea for which he developed while on a family vacation.

Therapedic President Gerry Borreggine said he met Robinson more than 30 years ago when he was running the 40 Winks sleep shop chain in Westmont, N.J., and Robinson was a sales trainer for Serta, Borreggine’s primary brand.

“Rick Robinson was, without question, the greatest sales trainer I have ever seen,” Borreggine said. “He was able to transfer his enthusiasm for the product to our sales people. He was extraordinarily gifted at that.”

Robinson had more than three decades of industry experience. He worked for Serta, Restonic, Nature’s Rest, A.H. Beard in Australia and Spring Air.

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