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Why this column hasn't been a chore (mostly)

By Larry Thomas, Business editor -- Furniture Today, December 2, 2001

I've written about 600 of these columns since I began covering the bedding industry in 1989, but this one proved one of the most difficult ever. It's always hard to say good-bye to a friend, but in this case I'm trying to say goodbye to hundreds and hundreds of them. There's no column-writing textbook which explains how to do that.

No, I'm not leaving Furniture/Today. I have the same telephone number, the same e-mail address and the same messy cubicle, but the bedding industry is no longer on my "beat," as we newspaper folks like to say.

I'm certainly looking forward to my new beat — motion upholstery and business news — but I know I'll miss the camaraderie and the give-and-take with mattress manufacturers and retailers that is essential to keeping a weekly column from becoming a weekly chore.

As I reflect on the past 12 years, I'm hit with a flood of good memories and only a tiny number of bad ones. And that 99:1 ratio of positive to negative is what has made it enjoyable to come to work every day.

I'm not going to name names because I surely would leave out someone or something very important. But suffice it to say that 99% of the mattress people I've met over the years have been a real pleasure to work with, and for that I thank you. Without your cooperation, my job would have been infinitely more difficult, and the readers who depend on Furniture/Today to help them make critical business decisions would have suffered.

That cooperation occurred even though there were times I'm sure some of you felt like strangling me. (And there were a few occasions when the feeling was mutual.) But just as I always tried to present fairly all points of view on the issues, you always respected the opinions of those with whom you occasionally disagreed.

And that mutual respect extended to a personal level as well. I'll never forget the outpouring of support I received when my son, now a healthy 8 year old, underwent two open-heart surgeries as an infant. I know many of you kept our family in your prayers during that difficult period, and for that I can't thank you enough.

But most importantly, I want to thank the thousands of you (most of whom, regrettably, I've never met) who have read this column regularly these past 12 years. It's my hope that you have gleaned some tidbit of information, some bit of analysis each week, that you couldn't get anywhere else.

Beginning next week, David Perry, a face that's familiar to many of you, will begin appearing at the top of this column. David covered bedding for five years in the mid- and late 1980s, a time when $999 was a high price point and waterbed manufacturers were convinced they soon would be making half of all mattresses sold in the United States.

So please do one last favor for me: Take it easy on David for a few weeks. He has a bit of catching up to do.

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