Israel: Dr. Gav has high hopes for Spring Air
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 9, 2009
RAMAT GAN, Israel — The early returns are in. Spring Air is a hit with its new Israeli partner, leading mattress retailer Dr. Gav.
“Our Spring Air mattresses caught on with consumers very nicely,” said Yossi Elboher, CEO of the retailer, showing a visiting reporter the models at the company's Design Center store here the other day. “From day one, we saw nice sales of Spring Air. In just three to four weeks, 50% of our mattress sales are Spring Air already. It shows we made the right move.”
Dr. Gav had been a Simmons dealer, but dropped the line to switch to Spring Air, Elboher said.
Dr. Gav (gav means “back” in Hebrew) sets itself apart with an emphasis on health and comfort. The retailer, established in 1984, operates 15 company-owned stores in Israel. It is based in the Rishon LiZion Industrial Zone, a few miles outside Tel Aviv, Israel's largest city.
Elboher, who joined the company 10 years ago from American Express and has overseen a steady expansion of the retailer, plans to open four new locations in 2009.
Spring Air is a good fit for Dr. Gav, Elboher said. He cited the “level of comfort” the bedding provides, and the fact that the line is focused on back support (Back Supporter is Spring Air's flagship brand). Consumers also appreciate that Spring Air is a U.S. brand. And, he continued, “the level of finish and fabric is very impressive.”
“Those four factors,” Elboher said, “give consumers comfort that they are buying products that look and feel good.”
Israelis like U.S.-made products, including mattresses, recliners, office chairs and motion sets, all of which Dr. Gav brings in from U.S. sources. “Israelis regard them as high-quality products, with anatomic and ergonomic features,” Elboher said. “They regard anything done in the U.S. as being done professionally.”
The retailer's first Spring Air models, all Back Supporters, are produced by Spring Air's New Brunswick, N.J., facility and are being shipped to Israel. But Dr. Gav will take over production of the line in the spring, when it plans to open a manufacturing facility in Israel. In addition to producing the line for its own stores, the company plans to sell the line to other retailers.
Spring Air officials said they were pleased with the new partnership with Dr. Gav.
“We have found a great partner to work with in Israel,” said Spring Air's acting CEO, Steve Cumbow. “They really understand the Back Supporter message — it's in their name, which makes for a super fit with our brand. This is a very exciting addition to our family of licensees. The bedding market in Israel is mature and dynamic, and they have one of the strongest consumer economies in the region. Having a presence in the Middle Eastern market was important to us.”
For his part, Elboher said that Spring Air was “the logical choice,” given its research and expertise in the back support arena, an area that Dr. Gav serves with a variety of home furnishings products and accessories.
Elboher said the Spring Air partnership is a strategic one for the retailer. “We look at the Spring Air relationship as a long-term relationship and we look to them to help us grow in the mattress business,” he said.
Dr. Gav plans to add another Spring Air brand, Back Supporter Four Seasons, to its stores in 2009. And the retailer will back the Spring Air brand with a $150,000 advertising campaign, mostly in print ads. Initial plans call for ads that show the Statue of Liberty sleeping on a Spring Air mattress.
One secret to the company's initial success with Spring Air bedding is that the entire company believes in the benefits of the new line.
“It's not only me,” Elboher said. “It's the management and the retail management and the entire team. We are all dedicated to Dr. Gav and to Spring Air. That is the key to success — when your staff is behind it.”
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