Custom comfort

Every body needs a comfortable night's sleep. And, most likely, everyone defines "comfortable" differently than his or her spouse, family members or friends. Custom Mattress Outlet on Goshen Road in Fort Wayne is ready to help each individual find the mattress that means comfort and a good night's sleep, customized just for them.

Custom Mattress Outlet has been assuring years of comfortable nights' sleep to thousands of area residents since Bud Doetsch first opened the business in 1978 to manufacture and sell mattresses. It's been a family-focused and -operated business ever since. Bud's daughter, Marguerite, and her husband, Gabe Bolas, bought the store in 1995. They came up with Custom Mattress' well-known advertising tag line, "If you're not on Goshen Road ... you're in the wrong place."

Today, Bud's grandson, Jared Wehrle, is carrying on the family tradition. He bought the business from Gabe and Marguerite earlier this year. "I may be young," says Jared, who's not yet 30, "but I've worked in this store since I was in college; I even remember when I was a kid, they used to build mattresses next door to our showroom. I'm experienced in every part of the operation from working with customers on the sales floor, to making deliveries, to purchasing and bookkeeping. Now I'm learning the last piece of running a retail operation - marketing." Wehrle is proud of a new flight of TV spots, debuting this month, that puts the familiar "if you're not on Goshen Road" theme into a fresh, upbeat package that reflects a new owner and a new century - all the while respecting tradition.

Today, as...