Private Quarters Review and Profile

Private Quarters no longer appears to be active as a direct sales company.

In early May 2012, Private Quarters posted a closing-sale notice stating that it would cease operations and was selling its remaining bed, bath and comfortwear inventory. Consultants reported being informed on May 8, 2012, that the company was going out of business and that it would no longer accept returns, exchanges or refunds.

Original Npros business profile for Private Quarters, preserved below for archival purposes:

Private Quarters was a California direct-selling company founded in 2004 by Jeff Stroud and Wayne Selness. The business grew out of the former Strouds specialty bedding chain, which had operated approximately 70 retail stores before entering bankruptcy and liquidating its remaining 47 locations in 2003. Stroud and Selness subsequently adapted the bedding business to a home-party sales model, launching Private Quarters with sheets, towels, pillows, comforters and other bed-and-bath products. The original company planned to raise $3.5 million to fund product development, consultant materials and its sales-tracking system.

Private Quarters marketed luxury and hotel-style bedding, sheets, duvet covers, blankets, comforters, feather beds, pillows and pillowcases. Its broader catalog included towels, robes, slippers, shower curtains, bath rugs, spa accessories, home-storage products and other comfort-oriented merchandise. Prices ranged from inexpensive bath accessories to bedding ensembles and comforters costing several hundred dollars.

The company sold its products through independent representatives known as Comfort Consultants, who conducted home parties, collected catalog orders and recruited additional consultants. Private Quarters used a multilevel party-plan compensation structure. Consultants could earn as much as 40% on personal retail sales and additional commissions of as much as 11% on qualifying sales generated by sponsored team members. When the company was being developed in 2004, projected starter-kit prices ranged from $100 to $300 and the initial compensation concept included retail commissions of approximately 20% to 25%, along with team-based commissions.

Private Quarters also operated a charitable initiative called Share the Comfort, through which the company and its consultants donated bedding and related products to shelters serving homeless women and victims of domestic violence. By November 2009, the company reported donating approximately $100,000 in products during the program's first two years. Private Quarters was a member of the Direct Selling Association, and company board member Daniel L. Murphy was elected treasurer of the DSA for its 2011â€"2012 leadership term.