If you’ve been involved in mattress manufacturing for any time at all, you know the name Gribetz, a 70-year-old brand of quilting machines and other bedding equipment.
Gribetz is still that. But, more significantly, it’s now the name of a larger machinery division (formerly Leggett & Platt Inc.’s Global Systems Group) that became part of ABM International Inc. in March.
The deal included the transfer of all GSG’s machinery and equipment products to ABM, including the Galkin Automated Products, Gribetz International and Porter International brands and the intellectual property associated with those brands, as well as 100,000-square-feet of production facilities and 70 employees. Through the deal, Gribetz continues to offer products through partner brands Merello, Eton Systems, Teknomac and Waste-Exit.
“The new Gribetz is everything that GSG was — all the brands that were part of GSG, all the partner companies — are all part of the transfer to ABM,” says Paul Block, president of sales for Gribetz. “We decided to go with the Gribetz name because we felt we wanted to use our strongest brand as the moniker for the company going forward.” (Block notes that the March 1 closing date of the ABM-Gribetz deal was personally significant. He sold Galkin, his family’s bedding machinery business, to GSG on that same date in 2010. Before the recent sale, Block was president of sales at GSG.)
As Gribetz and ABM continue to integrate the two companies, all decisions are being made with this in mind: “Our goal is to be able to move forward without disrupting the business in any way,” Block says. “We cannot sacrifice quality. We cannot sacrifice on-time performance. All those things need to stay the same. … We can’t disrupt what we produce for our customers and how we produce it.”
But there are changes ahead.
Block says Gribetz is already benefitting from having a nimble, entrepreneurial owner, with ABM President Neal A. Schwarzberger at the helm.
“We have a list a mile long of equipment that we want to design and build. … Every day we brainstorm,” Block says. “There’s not a day that goes by when I’m not on the phone with Neal going through ideas: ‘What’s the next thing we can do with the company? What’s the next thing we can do with the equipment? What would change the industry? How do we move forward? How do we drive our customers forward? How do we make things better for them in the future?’ This is what we’re doing every day.”
How ABM International and Gribetz Create a Perfect Partnership for Bedding Machinery
Schwarzberger is a third-generation leader of ABM, which was founded in 1947 by his grandfather, Arthur Schwarzberger, in his Chicago garage. The family-owned company started with mechanical quilting machines. As it grew and expanded its offerings, it eventually moved to Montgomery, Texas, part of the Houston metro area, in 2003. The vertically integrated company now produces a wide variety of quilting, sewing, filling, cutting and packaging machines for items such as quilts, comforters, bedspreads, blankets, futons, sleeping bags and pillows. Until now, it hadn’t done a big business in mattresses.
When Schwarzberger learned L&P was interested in selling its machinery business, he saw an opportunity to expand into the category, Block says.
“Neal is beyond excited about owning Gribetz, a company he’s always admired,” Block says. “But he couldn’t before. He knew he couldn’t compete with Gribetz, so this was a great opportunity for him.”
The purchase has significant benefits for Gribetz, too. “ABM has been in the sewing industry for generations. … They provide a great customer experience and have had great success designing and developing machinery for customers,” Block says. “It’s the perfect fit. It’s exactly what we needed. We needed somebody who’s a visionary.”
In addition to a vision and new energy, ABM offers Gribetz and its customers practical benefits, too, including a strong controls programming group. “Utilizing the people we already had and adding the (ABM) people, we’ll be able to do things on that end that we haven’t been able to do before,” Block says.
Since the acquisition, Block and Schwarzberger have quickly developed a good working relationship.
“We’re having a little bromance here,” Block says with a laugh. “We enjoy each other’s company. We have very similar brains. It’s bringing me back to a fun time in my career.”
The two first met three decades ago, when Block was working for his own family company. At the time, Block was interested in showing Galkin products at Interzum Cologne in Cologne, Germany, and was looking for a partner company. Susan Perry, a longtime executive at the International Sleep Products Association, thought Galkin and ABM might be a good fit and connected the two men. Block ended up going to Interzum alone but he and Schwarzberger developed a mutual respect. After all these years, the two finally attended Interzum Cologne together, debuting the new Gribetz-ABM relationship in May.
Defining the Future of Gribetz: Prioritizing the Voice of the Customer
In some ways, the new Gribetz is much the same as the former Global Systems Group, especially in terms of its current products. Gribetz likes to tout that it has more than 117 years of experience making mattress machinery, offering 250 products. Gribetz brands include:
- Galkin Automated Products: Founded more than 100 years ago, Galkin produces sewing equipment, as well as binders, flangers, tape-edge machines and more.
- Gribetz International: In business for more than 70 years, Gribetz is a leading manufacturer of quilting, sewing and cutting machines, as well as other equipment for the bedding, home textile and apparel industries.
- Porter International: The brand, with more than 55 years of experience, specializes in sewing machines for sewing room operations in the bedding, automotive and home textile industries.
The group also includes several partner companies:
- Eton Systems: Through this partnership, Gribetz offers the company’s overhead conveyor systems to bedding producers.
- Merello: Merello offers an auto-packaging system that can package any size mattress in less than 17 seconds, according to the company. Custom add-ons include a boot system, automatic compression adjustment and modifications to wrap extra-long or extra-wide mattresses.
- Teknomac: This specialist in roll-pack mattress packaging also produces machines for decorative border production, quilting and quilt panel cutting.
- Waste-Exit: As the name implies, Waste-Exit offers a vacuum system that removes hazardous material waste to eliminate nonproductive labor and free up factory floor space.
But Block and Schwarzberger are planning for a new Gribetz, too, taking the opportunity of the sale to rethink the company’s future — and Gribetz’s customers are at the center of that process.
“I think a lot of our customers will tell you that we’re very much in discussions with them about what they would like to see us be,” Block says.
“I think more than anything, we are trying to get the voice of the customer as a big part of our business. We’re sitting down with our customers, interviewing them, asking them questions, finding out what they like, what they don’t like, how GSG has been successful for them in the past, how it hasn’t been and what adjustments we need.”
“People seem to be responding to our message, and our message is, ‘What do you need?’” Block adds.
One thing customers tell Block they need is higher levels of service from machinery producers, including more reactive service, new ways to communicate and quicker access to information.
“I think that might be the No. 1 thing we’ve learned,” Block says. “So, we’re asking, ‘What can we do to be a better service organization?’”
Mattress manufacturers are also telling Block they need innovative solutions to help them deal with a lack of skilled and experienced workers.
“They can’t find people. That’s the biggest problem, and when they find people, they’re green or they don’t stay in the job for very long,” Block says.
Automation can help eliminate the need for some workers, he says, “but manufacturers are (still) stuck in these situations where they have to train people quickly.”
“They have to rely on their vendors to help them get there, and vendors have to find a way to help them,” Block adds. “That’s what we’re seeking to do: Make our customers become more successful, more quickly with limited resources … That means things like better instructions, tools and ways of doing things — and more assistance.”
Block wasn’t ready to unveil Gribetz’s specific plans for the upcoming ISPA EXPO March 10-12, 2026, in Orlando, Florida, but expects “to be the star of the show.”
“I think our customers will be very excited,” he says.
Gribetz’s Strategy for Navigating the Bedding Industry Downturn and Tariffs
Block acknowledges that it’s a difficult time for the mattress industry, with consumer spending on bedding declining significantly over the past few years.
“We have our work cut out for us because we understand things are going to be like this for a little bit, and we have to make it through,” he says.
Is Block seeing any improvements in the overall bedding market? “Maybe a little glimmer,” he says. “But I don’t have any confidence that things are just going to go ‘boom’ and turn around, not right now. But I do see some potential.”
In addition to weak consumer demand, the Trump administration’s ever-changing tariff policy has been a challenge for many businesses.
“It’s harder for us to keep our costs down like everybody else, but we have a better advantage than our overseas competitors” because Gribetz is a U.S.-based company, he says.
“And going forward, we’ll be a U.S.-based company serving U.S. and global customers, with U.S. factories, U.S.-made equipment and U.S.-based service,” Block says. “We’re working on 24-hour service right now to create a company that our customers can rely on all the way.”
Despite the overall gloom bearing down on the mattress industry, Block is excited about Gribetz’s future.
“This is going to be my last chapter, my last act (in the industry),” Block says. “I’m committed to creating a company with Neal that goes beyond what our customers expect.
“It’s hard and It’s crazy and it’s aggravating, but it’s fun. Neal and I say it all the time, ‘I’ve never had this much fun in my life.’ ”
