Photo via Google street view.

Chinese mattress manufacturer Healthcare Co. Ltd. has signed a letter of intent to acquire San Diego-based furniture retailer, Mor Furniture For Less.

The Chinese company is expecting to pay $68.4 million for the 36-store furniture retailer, which reports estimated annual sales of more than $310 million, according to a press release. The sale is expected to be complete by the end of October.

Healthcare also owns MLILY USA, a leading mattress manufacturer based in Knoxville, Tennessee. And with its acquisition of Mor, the company will have a better understanding of U.S. retailers and its customers, the release stated. If finalized, the retail side of the company will have its own executives reporting to Healthcare Co. in China.

Healthcare Co. is mostly engaged in research and development, manufacture and sales of memory sponge household products used in mattresses, pillows and other daily household products.

“The direct day-to-day contact with consumers through Mor’s vibrant retail locations gives us the opportunity to gather critical information about consumer shopping behavior in the U.S.,” said James Ni, chairman and chief executive officer of Healthcare Co. “Direct consumer interaction will help us hone our [original equipment manufacturer] product development and better serve our growing network of customers throughout the world.”

Mor Furniture founder Richard Haux Sr. founded the company in 1977 as a small waterbed store and grew it to operate in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Mor Furniture has stores in Fresno and Visalia, as well as a warehouse in Visalia.

The Mor purchase marks Healthcare Co.’s second retail acquisition in the last 18 months, with its purchase of Maxcolchon last year, a Spanish bedding manufacturer and retailer, which is currently operating 57 stores across Spain.

The Mor acquisition is Healthcare Co.’s first in the United States, and the company operates factories in China, Serbia. It serves markets in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.