BOYD FLOTATION was founded in 1977 by Dennis Boyd, an entrepreneur that firmly believes in the health benefits of a quality night's sleep. A world class swimmer in high school and college, Boyd was often troubled by tendonitis in his shoulders - until he purchased a waterbed. The warmth of the heater and the full support for his shoulders and back made such a difference that he was able to stop taking cortisone shots.
In 1975, as a junior in the School of Business at the University of Missouri, Columbia, one of Boyd's assignments was to develop and present a marketing plan for a business. Sold on waterbeds for their therapeutic value, he put together a plan for a waterbed store. When the professor asked the class to vote on Boyd's plan, all 30 students - including the professor - gave it a thumbs down. Undaunted, Boyd visited 22 banks, who all rejected his application. Then a banker, married to a nurse who worked in a hospital where waterbed cribs were used for premature babies, approved Boyd's loan. On November 17, 1977, Boyd opened his first store, Royal Waterbeds, in Columbia, Missouri. Then in 1980 he opened the first of 7 retail locations in the St. Louis, MO Metro Area.
But Boyd's passion for providing quality sleep did not end with his retail successes. Boyd began to design and manufacture hardside waterbeds and softside waterbeds. In the 1990's Boyd also turned his design attention towards other styles of Specialty Beds, including Latex, Memory Foam and Air.
In 1999 the Specialty Sleep Association recognized Boyd's pioneering and innovative Specialty Mattress designs by naming Boyd Manufacturer of the Year. Boyd Flotation was also recognized as the Manufacturer of the Year in 2004 and 2006. Boyd has been voted to the Small Business Hall of Fame and the American Dream Award. His companies have been recognized by Inc. Magazine 5 separate times as one of the nation's 500 fastest growing privately held companies.
Boyd currently sells over 400,000 mattresses worldwide each year. Boyd Flotation is the largest manufacturer of waterbeds in the industry. Boyd's impressive list of over 20 US patents with more pending, all pertaining to the continued quality, innovation and design of unique specialty sleep products, including waterbed mattresses is solid proof of this company's only focus.
