Siblings-turned-entrepreneurs build Coop Sleep Goods into a powerhouse brand with Amazon

From a single pillow product launched in 2013 to over 50 items and 1 million pillows sold, Coop Sleep Goods has scaled exponentially by listening to Amazon customers to fuel their innovation.

3 min
August 6, 2024

Growing up, siblings Jin and Kevin Chon were no strangers to entrepreneurship. Their parents immigrated to the U.S. and built a successful apparel manufacturing business in Los Angeles. The Chon kids spent summers tagging clothes and learning the family trade, developing an entrepreneurial spirit from a young age.

Years later, Jin, a former attorney, and Kevin, who had worked his way up in the family business, decided to take a leap into ecommerce. In 2013, the siblings launched their first store in Amazon selling apparel.

“We put 10 SKUs in our Amazon store and the next day we got an email saying: ‘item sold, item sold,’” said Jin. “At that point we had run our own ecommerce clothing store for two and a half years off Amazon, and so we knew how hard it was to get that kind of traffic, get those sales. Amazon just really made it easy for us.”

4013_LAX_ZOE_240607_5746.jpg

Kevin and Jin Chon, co-founders of Coop Sleep Goods have sold over 1 million pillows - a feat they attribute directly to the power of the Amazon store.

The Chons quickly realized there was a huge opportunity to build a brand on Amazon. Drawing from their apparel background, they identified pillows as a promising product category to explore. Determined to create a better product than the “one-size-fits-all” options available, pillows--just like clothing--they thought, should be adjustable.

“People were complaining, ‘oh, it’s too tall, it’s too short, it’s not comfortable,’” said Jin. “We realized we could put a zipper on this and allow people to adjust it to their own unique needs and that was the magic moment that really catapulted Coop Sleep Goods.”

Closely reading customer reviews on Amazon became integral to the Coop Sleep Goods’ product development process.

“It gave us the knowledge to be able to adjust our product and to create something that better fit the market,” said Kevin. This customer-centric approach, combined with the freedom afforded by Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which allows independent sellers to have Amazon take on providing the storage, picking, packing, fulfillment, and customer service for their orders, fueled Coop Sleep Goods’ rapid growth.

“Without Fulfillment by Amazon, we wouldn’t have been able to scale our business as quickly as we did,” said Jin. “It takes care of the hardest part of having an ecommerce business, which is the picking, packing and shipping the product out. Not having to worry about the fulfillment aspect of the business really frees up your time to be working on your product, on your branding, on your marketing.”

Amazon, said the Chons, has been the pivotal partner.

4013_LAX_ZOE_240607_6092.jpg

“We saw that one size fits all doesn’t work for pillows,” explained Kevin Chon. “We realized the pillows have to be open. They have to be adjustable.”

“Ever since we started selling on Amazon, it’s only grown,” explained Kevin. “There’s, you know, probably 200%, 300% growth every single year in the early years. And even to this day, there’s significant growth.”

Today, Coop Sleep Goods has expanded to over 50 products and sold over 1 million pillows - a feat they attribute to their partnership with Amazon. The brand has also leveraged Amazon tools like Brand Registry and Advertising to protect its intellectual property and reach new customers.

“Being on Amazon has opened so many doors for us to tell our story,” said Kevin. “Realizing a lot of people consolidate information by going on Amazon, seeing the top products, and us being there has been a true unlock for us and has opened up many, many opportunities.”

Coop Sleep Goods’ commitment to serving its community has also been core to its purpose, with the Chons donating bedding to organizations like the Salvation Army and children’s hospitals. Looking ahead, the siblings hope to continue expanding Coop Sleep Goods globally and solidify it as a household name synonymous with innovative, problem-solving sleep products - a legacy they can one day pass down to the next generation, just as their parents did.