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Attendance down at ISPA, but buying power was in full force

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 17, 2002

Uptick in color
Foam front line

DENVER — Bedding suppliers were buoyed by good responses to their introductions at Expo 2002 here.

The biennial show, sponsored by the International Sleep Products Assn., gives suppliers of everything from quilting machines to ticking, and from foam to innerspring units, to showcase their latest wares.

Latex and latex-like foams, in addition to other new foam products, were stars of the show, as were products that will enable bedding manufacturers to reduce the flammability of their mattresses. Ticking producers said they did well with the family of white styles that remains a staple on retail bedding floors, with some adding that there were calls for more color in ticking. Pastels were on the rise.

Attendance at the show was down substantially from the previous show, held in Charlotte, N.C. Exhibitors cited a variety of factors for that, ranging from a decline in international attendance to weather worries.

But the buying power of the mattress industry showed up in force. The high quality of the traffic more than made up for the lower quantity of buyers, suppliers said.

"The decision-makers from just about every company are here," said James Bush, executive vice president of Hickory Springs' bedding products division.

"We've seen all our major customers," said Rob Culp, chairman of Culp. "Their business is good. That's exciting for us."

Uptick in color

Culp scored with its introduction of rayon warps, and a piece-dyed jacquard with a metallic overlay. The supplier also reported interest in an expanding color palette. "We're seeing color creep back into the market," Culp said.

"Everyone asked for color," said Dennis St. Louis, vice president of sales and marketing at Value Ticking. Light blue, mint green, butter, peach and lavender did well, he said.

But Bekaert's Scott Nelles, vice president of sales, said white continues to dominate. "The consumers are voting with their dollars for light, including white," he said.

Jersey knits were one of the hits of the show for Bekaert, Nelles said.

The mood at ticking supplier Soltex was "definitely upbeat," said Norman Kovalsky, vice president of sales and marketing.

Foam front line

Leggett & Platt said its introductions, which covered a range of new products, were well received. "The show has been good," said Jay Sanders, vice president and director of marketing for the bedding components group. "There has been major interest by the manufacturers."

Introductions included the Optima low-pressure sleep system, which combines viscoelastic foam and foam "comfort fins" in a one-sided mattress. The viscoelastic surface "translates into a virtually pressure-free sleep experience," the company said.

Fire-resistant materials were offered by two of Leggett's units. And the company's Digital Technologies division got a strong response to its new Virtu MT, a digital inkjet, wide-width textile printer, which it hailed as "a breakthrough for exclusive styling, on-demand availability of printed goods, and reductions in inventory and associated manufacturing costs."

Foamex did well with its four major introductions, which included Resilitex, a VPF foam that it said is a "latex replacement material," and SenSus, a premium viscoelastic foam that it said is "fluidly responsive to a broader range of temperatures than other viscoelastic products."

Alvaro Vaselli, vice president of sales and marketing for the company's foam products unit, said the company did well at the show: "The companies that we met with were very interested in the concepts we showed them."

Carpenter debuted Qualatex, which it said is an advance in polyurethane foam that offers advantages in comfort and durability over latex.

Anatomic Concepts got a good response to its line of foams designed to fit the human body. "I have enough follow-up to keep me busy for quite a while," said Bruce Evans, vice president of national accounts for consumer products.

Latex International also did well at the show. "We had a tremendous number of very productive meetings," said Will Veitch, vice president of sales. "These are major players, some of which we have been wanting to do business with for a long time."

The company will dedicate its new foam plant in Shelton, Conn., in May, one year after a fire destroyed its plant. "People are very excited we will be back in production so soon," Veitch said.

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