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Wild West still lives in specialty sleep arena

David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, April 7, 2002

"This is the Wild West," declared an exhibitor at the Futon and Specialty Sleep Expo, held last month in Chicago.

That's a good image to capture the spirit of this fast-emerging, dynamic category, whose devotees are blazing new trails toward comfort. There's a sense of adventure that's a refreshing change of pace from the more buttoned-down world of conventional bedding. There's also less order, which is sometimes a bad thing.

The adventure could be seen clearly in the way the industry talked to itself.

Example: "I had no idea it could be like this!" That was the headline over a picture of an attractive woman in an ad in the show directory. The woman is lying in bed and has her arms thrown back over her head. Her satisfied smile and body language speak of … you know what.

But the copy speaks of something else: The producer's new line of platform bed mattresses. You wouldn't see an ad like that from a conventional bedding producer.

Example: The Buttie Award. Yes, that is butt, with an "ie" thrown in for adjectival purposes. Six producers competed for this coveted award. The futons were made up in identical covers. Show attendees tested the futons out with their … rear ends, and then picked the most comfortable.

The winner, for the second year in a row, was Natural Futon Sleep Products, which again won the right to say its products are "tush-tested and tush-approved." Again, the conventional guys would not do this sort of thing.

I cite these two examples simply to convey some of the uninhibitedness you still find in the category. I'm not saying those are the main marketing strategies being used by most producers, because they aren't. As a group, the producers are making some very comfortable products, and they are largely telling a comfort story.

The untamed nature of the Wild West of futons and specialty sleep sometimes can be seen in the wild market share numbers that fly around like reckless gunfire. Various figures and ranges have been advanced, so you have lots of options to choose from.

Option 1: Specialty sleep is 12% to 18% of the total bedding market.

Option 2: Specialty sleep is 14% of the total bedding market.

Option 3: Specialty sleep is 18% to 22% of the total bedding market.

Isn't it nice to have so much choice on this issue?

I don't count the number of mattresses sold in this country, but I'm told those numbers above are all on the high side. People who do pay attention to those sorts of things say specialty sleep may be 10% of the market.

But, hey, it just may be the 10% that has more fun!

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