Specialty sleep keys on solid sales, opportunities
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 3, 2002
High Point — High Point —In the good old days it was waterbeds, strobe lights and love beads. Today it's solid margins, a growing category and plenty of opportunities for retailers.
And, while waterbeds are still around, they are just one part of the specialty sleep products category, which also encompasses latex beds, foam beds, airbeds and adjustable beds. Together those products give consumers plenty of options to the more traditional innerspring bedding, which continues to dominate the market.
Retailers will get a good look at the latest innovations in specialty sleep this month when that category takes the spotlight at the Futon and Specialty Sleep Expo, set for March 21-23 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., just a short distance from O'Hare Airport.
As in previous years, the Specialty Sleep Assn. and the Futon Assn. International are working together to stage a multi-category, one-stop trade show. Exhibitors include manufacturers of a wide range of specialty sleep products, as well as makers of futon frames, mattresses and covers.
Show highlights include presentations by design guru Connie Post and motivational speaker Peggy McNamara. The expo also includes a full slate of workshops on marketing and customer service, and a variety of roundtable discussions.
The specialty sleep category remains largely untapped by traditional furniture retailers, its supporters note. They see that as a big opportunity.
Dale Read, vice president of the Specialty Sleep Assn. and a writer who specializes in coverage of sleep products, offers this outlook:
"Consider that the total market for mattresses and boxsprings is about $7.6 billion at retail. The specialty sleep segment of that market is somewhere between 12% and 18%, and growing. So if you're not in the specialty sleep business, you are losing your piece of a billion-dollar business."
Read says the category should be appealing to retailers for others reasons, too: The products are comparable in price to premium and ultra-premium innerspring bedding (from $700 to $2,400, retail, for queen-sized models) and are not as likely to be promoted by sales and discounting.
Specialty sleep products are also right for Baby Boomers, a demographic group with tremendous purchasing power, Read noted.
"Specialty sleep taps into the Baby Boomer's quest for better health and wellness," he said. "The customized comfort and exceptional support offered by specialty sleep allows for the restful sleep that is so important to physical and mental well-being. And many consumers are willing to pay $1,000 or more for a mattress that will make a difference."
For further information on the show, contact Expo Manager Tambra Jones at 559-868-4184, the SSA headquarters at (336) 889-6176, or visit the FAI Web site at www.futonexpo.net.
-
Latex International riding specialty sleep momentum
Mar 15, 2012 -
Retailers: Specialty sleep outlook remains positive
Jul 20, 2008 -
Specialists sell a wider mix of bedding
Feb 18, 2007 -
Specialty sleep hits rough patch
Jul 20, 2008
Featured Company
-
Brandwise Inc.
Brandwise serves a model - not just an industry - by integrating, automating, and optimizing the entire sales channel, from wholesale Suppliers to their Reps and the Retailers they service. In short, our software helps Reps and Suppliers sell more and create... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
