SIOUX CENTER—One of Sioux Center’s newest businesses seeks to be an educational tool for the community and college students.
Doug Anderson, 49, of Orange City opened a branch of Factory Direct Mattress Siouxland at Main Street Storage , 3760 Highway 75 on the north end of Sioux Center.
The mattress outlet store is a part-time job for the Northwestern College business professor that continues to give him hands-on experience as well as share that work with students in his fourth year teaching this fall.
“When you teach business, you really want students to have some hands-on experience — what does marketing, sales, supply chain, inventory really look like,” he said.
Doug Anderson of Orange City opened a branch of Factory Direct Mattress Siouxland at Unit 89 of Main Street Storage, 3760 Highway 75, on the north end of Sioux Center.
Anderson also believes in the product.
“We have fantastic prices for a high quality product,” he said. “I know there are other places in the greater area that you can get mattresses. I don’t want to compete with them. What I’m trying to compete with are the people who are going to Sioux City, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Minneapolis to get mattress — that’s who I’m trying to keep local. If they need something, hope they’ll come check us out. I love people who price shop and those who shop on quality.”
Anderson had more than two decades of executive experience with nonprofit organizations before coming to Northwestern. Most recently, he was the chief operating officer for the national headquarters of Camp Fire in Kansas City, MO, after serving as the executive director of the Teen Challenge Kansas City Girls’ Home.
The Davenport native is a University of Iowa graduate. He has a master’s degree in Christian ministries (leadership and management) from Assemblies of God Theological Seminary at Evangel University in Springfield and has taught graduate and undergraduate classes in nonprofit management for the University of South Dakota.
“Most of my career has been hands on and that’s the way I like to teach, that’s the way I like to experience life so it made sense to incorporate this,” Anderson said.
He’s also familiar with this kind of store management.
“A good friend of mine owns a similar kind of store in Kansas City where I moved from three years ago,” Anderson said. “I helped him part-time for a number of years until moved to Orange City.”
He spent that past couple of years working through the transition of being a nonprofit manager to being a professor.
“As brand new at teaching, I needed to get my feet wet,” he said. “This idea really came up in the summer after my second year. It just took almost a year to find a location.”
Unit 89 at the Main Street Storage Units provides 1,380 square feet of “perfect space” for his business.
“I knew I needed to be in a storage unit to keep overhead low, which allows me to keep my prices low,” he said. “Choosing Sioux Center made sense, too, because it seems this is where everyone comes for shopping.”
With it being a part-time business, hours are by appointment only.
“People call to set up a time to come and review their options,” Anderson said. “Whether it’s soft, firm, pillow top — we have options.”
Anderson also has a goal of impacting the community by offering more than just an option for a good night’s rest.
The Sioux Center Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting Tuesday, July 12, for the new Sioux Center business.
“I have a huge heart for nonprofit organizations,” he said. “As this grows and becomes profitable and successful, my plan is to give a portion of proceeds to local nonprofits.”
The Sioux Center Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting Tuesday, July 12, for the new business.
“It means a lot to join the chamber,” Anderson said. “I believe it’s a way to build relationships. I think being part of the chamber is important because it says that you want to be here, that you care about the communities you live and work in.”
