Sealy and Simmons sharpen their Web sites
By Larry Thomas, Bedding editor -- Furniture Today, September 23, 2001
Recognizing the increased use of the Internet as a research tool for big-ticket purchases, Sealy and Simmons recently overhauled their Web sites. The new-and-improved sites contain tons of easy-to-navigate product information, shopping tips and dealer locator systems that actually work!
"Our goal is to empower the consumer by arming them with high-quality information so that they can feel confident about making decisions in the mattress marketplace," said Josh Loew, Sealy's director of business development.
One of our favorite features on the Sealy site is a Q&A with Sealy spokesperson and former Olympian Dot Richardson. Although she mentions Sealy at every opportunity (hey, that's her job), she also discusses her personal sleeping habits and talks about the difficulties of balancing medical school and her training schedules for the past two Summer Olympics.
Among her recommendations for a better night's sleep: Take the TV out of the bedroom. She says it's easy to get hooked, then stay up too late. Richardson, an orthopedic surgeon at a sports medicine clinic in Orlando, Fla., hopes to be a commentator at next year's Winter Olympics.
On the Simmons site, we were drawn to a section called "Design Your Perfect Bed," which asks users questions about their sleeping habits and then recommends either a Simmons Beautyrest or BackCare sleep set. Specific models are not recommended by name, but the site will suggest a model with a specific rating, called the Motion Separation Index for Beautyrest and Lumbar Support Index for BackCare.
"This section help consumers better understand how our beds can improve their sleep quality and narrow the selection to a particular Simmons product … before they walk into the store," said Don Hofmann, senior vice president of marketing.
Veteran bedding retailer Roger Magowitz, who owns 19 Mattress Discounters stores in the Virginia Beach-Hampton Roads area of Virginia, tells us his stores are being confused with the much larger, financially troubled Mattress Discounters chain based in Maryland, and he assured us his stores are on solid financial ground.
"We want our customers to rest assured that we're here to stay," said Magowitz. "Our sales are steady and have been growing each year."
Magowitz said he owns the stores under a 14-year-old licensing agreement with the Maryland chain. While working for that company, he opened the first Mattress Discounters store in Virginia Beach in 1981. Five years later, there were six stores in the area, and Magowitz purchased them from the Maryland company and signed the licensing agreement.
"Our commitment to this community continues to be strong … and we're pleased to remain an integral part of it," he said. Magowitz also owns the Metropolitan Mattress chain in Phoenix.
The Maryland-based Mattress Discounters has about 285 stores. It's the nation's largest bedding specialty chain but is plagued by declining sales in most markets. Standard & Poor's recently downgraded its debt to low junk-bond status.
-
Southerland to make Sharper Image bedding
Apr 6, 2011 -
Southerland to make Sharper Image mattresses
Mar 23, 2011 -
Reaching out online
Jan 10, 2012
Featured Company
-
FurnitureCore.com
FurnitureCore.com is a dynamic web application aimed at the furniture industry. Retailers and manufacturers alike will find our deep reserve of tools to be exactly what their furniture business needs.www.furniturecore.com... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
