Mattress maker Zinus houses its U.S. sales, marketing and distribution operations in the East Bay. It recently expanded into San Leandro. 

Blanca Torres
Reporter- San Francisco Business Times

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Zinus Inc., a mattress and bedding distributor, took 116,017 square feet in the Fairway Industrial Center at 1951 Fairway Drive in San Leandro.

The company plans to expand from its current 48,000-square-foot space at 30799 Wiegman Road in Hayward, which serves as its U.S. sales and marketing base.

Zinus, based in Asia, also has offices in Canada, China and Korea. It makes mattresses, pillows, sleep foundations and slippers sold in stores such as Target, Bed Bath Beyond, Sam’s Club and Walmart.

The company’s San Leandro deal is one of the largest inked this year in the East Bay.

“The commercial real estate market is showing continued signs of improvement,” said Greig Lagomarsino, a broker with Colliers International who represented the landlord, Loma Verde Properties along with Todd Severson and Nick Ousman of the same firm. “Many Bay Area companies are back in expansion mode and this transaction is indicative of the market today. This facility provides an excellent opportunity to accommodate Zinus’ current and future expansion needs.”

Fairway Industrial Center contains 288,000 square feet with about 38,638 square feet available for lease.

Blanca Torres covers East Bay real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.

Article source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/04/zinus-inc-takes-116000-sf-in-san.html

Although most respondents to the survey showed satisfaction with primary banks (81 percent), many expressed frustration that could push them to find a lending alternative. Top on the list of gripes: “slow execution.” More than half of consumers say the process needs to be faster. Others cited difficulty with communications, inability to track the status of the application and even untrustworthy advice.

“I think they trust good service, word of mouth and experience, and when they get those things, the survey shows, it’s less about them being a bank and more about reaching the values that are core to them. That’s trust, service and price,” adds Hautop.

Familiarity is also a driving factor.

Most banking is done online today, with many consumers rarely if ever going into a retail bank. These same consumers are making weekly trips to discount retailers. As the mortgage market now shifts from a largely refinance trade to purchase applications for a home, banks need to take that level of exposure and the information about a captive audience and translate that into increasing market share.

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Warehouse giant Costco got that message last spring, announcing a new mortgage lending program with New Jersey-based First Choice Bank. Costco itself doesn’t lend but gathers quotes from other lenders, so that the customer can comparison shop, essentially a marketing service.

Bottom line, consumers want to trust their lenders again. Retail giants don’t have to deal with the legacy of lending ills uncovered after the housing and mortgage crash. Armed with new federal regulations designed to insure truth, clarity and transparency in lending, consumers now feel more protected when shopping for a mortgage and may be more willing to shop outside the bank.

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—By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow Her on Twitter @Diana_Olick and on Facebook.

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Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100001629