The man who brought us the spring mattresses

Last January we dedicated this space to praising the figure of the founder of one of the best-known mattress brands in the entire State, the famous Pikolin, born in Zaragoza. At the time, we noted the fact that the other major Spanish mattress brand, Flex, also originated in the capital of the Ebro River, something truly remarkable. Today we're talking about the person who laid the foundation stone for that other brand, Antonio Beteré Salvador.

In 1912, a small bed frame repair shop where Beteré worked was the embryo of the future multinational, which was not yet called Flex, a name that would come many years later. In 1925, Beteré took a key step, moving from repairing to manufacturing its own metal bed frames, through the creation of the Numancia brand. Some time later, that modest workshop was transformed into a full-fledged company, named Flabesa (Fábricas Lucía Antonio Beteré, SA) and occupying much larger facilities. The presence of the word Lucia The company's name refers to Andrés Lucía Borge, Beteré's uncle, who had founded the establishment, initially as a simple blacksmith's shop (1908). In fact, the move to the new facilities was largely due to Lucía winning a large lottery prize and investing in the business she had with her nephew. During the Republic, they wanted to go further, and without leaving Zaragoza, they opened new factories in Madrid, Andalusia, and the Basque Country.

The generational change came just after the end of the Civil War, when Lucía folded and left all business responsibilities in Beteré. One of the characteristics of this new era was the intensification of advertising campaigns, first in the press and then on the radio, which made the Flex brand familiar to the Spanish people of that time (the first Flex was born as a product of Numancia and would eventually become the company's name).

By the 1950s, the company led by Beteré was already one of Spain's leading mattress manufacturers, thanks to its expansion throughout the Iberian Peninsula through agreements with local partners, which allowed it to gain significant reach without depleting its financial resources. During his travels throughout Europe, Beteré discovered spring mattresses and decided to manufacture them in his own factories. They represented a major innovation that replaced traditional wool mattresses, which required periodic treatment.

In 1959, just as Flabesa was celebrating its silver anniversary, the factory reached 1,500 employees, and a year later, Beteré was able to open the company's ninth factory. In the 1960s, production levels reached such high levels that it became one of the world's leading mattress producers. Such hard work earned him, in 1962, the Medal of Merit for Labor, traditionally awarded by the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Labor. He was also to assume even more responsibilities, as he served on the board of directors of Banco Zaragozano in 1964 (which was acquired by Barclays Bank in 2003).

After his death, the next generation expanded the family business and also the fortune: his son, also named Antonio Beteré, was one of the main shareholders of Banco Central in the late 1980s (in fact, he was a member of the so-called Madrid Clan, a group of shareholders that supported the bank's president, Alfonso Escá). If when we talk about Pikolin we remember that its slogan "I don't care, I sleep in Pikolin."had permeated popular culture, in the case of Flex and himself"Today I feel Flex",Conceived in 1986, we must say the same. Incidentally, during the Barcelona Olympics, the Beteré company was one of the main sponsors, which allowed for advertisements featuring Cobi in striped pajamas jumping on a bed to go to sleep.

The company is currently 80% owned by the founding family, whose partner is the Aurica investment fund, linked to Banco Sabadell. The company is valued at around €400 million, and it has recently been reported that shareholders are seeking a new owner.