Many have wondered and asked what was being built and what was the future of 17 JT Connell Highway, formerly home to Long Wharf Seafood. What’s Up Newp is here to (finally) provide that answer.
The building that has been under construction for the last several months is a new state-of-the-art $1 million facility, which will become the corporate headquarters and R&D center for local sleep technology company BedJet.
BedJet manufactures and sells a cooling and warming climate comfort system made just for beds. The BedJet system was invented on the kitchen table of Newport local inventor Mark Aramli. Mark was invited to ABC’s Shark Tank with his BedJet invention and famously got shot down by the Sharks in one of the worst fails of that season, being told by the Sharks that nobody would ever want a BedJet.
Aramli listened to his own gut and borrowed everything he could to launch the product. Now four years later, BedJet has skyrocketed to become a national brand that’s been written up by both CNBC and Kiplinger’s as one of the most successful “fails” in the history of Shark Tank.
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“It’s been a joy having the last laugh on the Sharks. We got started on a shoestring budget in the back of an old frozen yogurt shop in downtown and have now blossomed into the highest grossing merchant in all of downtown Newport and the #1 company in the USA for climate controlled bed systems,” Aramli said.
The building was personally designed by Mark with assistance from architect Peter Springsteel.
“BedJet was born in Newport and we wanted our headquarters to reflect the classic look and feel of a downtown Newport building,” Aramli said.
The company expects to move into the facility March of 2020.
And, if you’re still shopping for Christmas gifts, you can give the gift of better sleep while supporting a local business by shopping the BedJet Holiday Sale here.
