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Mattresses, beds — an obvious match

By Kay Anderson -- Furniture Today, September 23, 2001

It's almost Furniture Sales 101 to say we should sell a mattress to someone buying new bedroom furniture. But remembering the basics when it comes to the relationship between buying new bedroom furniture and a new mattress is critical. If consumers follow through with their buying plans this year, almost half of this year's mattress' dollars will come from households that are shopping for bedroom case goods — for the master bedroom, another adult bedroom or youth bedroom.

More than two fifths of the households that plan to buy master bedroom furniture this year say they're also going to buy bedding.
This group is also allocating a bit more for their mattress purchase — a median of $500, compared with a median of $400 by those who are not planning a joint purchase with bedroom furniture.
About a third of this group is between the age of 25 and 34, prime time for forming new households, either singles moving out on their own, or young couples just starting married life. Middle singles (between ages 35 and 65) are also planning to buy mattresses and master bedroom furniture in significant numbers.
In keeping with their youth and/or their single status, renters, apartment and condominium dwellers are more heavily represented in the group that plans to purchase both bedroom furniture and mattresses.
Nearly half of households planning to buy other adult bedroom furniture this year included a mattress purchase in their buying plans. Their median budget for a mattress matches the national median of $400.
The households planning to buy mattresses along with other adult bedroom furniture are, generally speaking, older than those furnishing the master bedroom. A fourth of them are between the age of 55 and 64, perhaps turning the former kid's room to something else as the children leave the nest. More of this group (15%) have annual incomes above $100,000.
Not quite two-fifths of households planning to buy youth bedroom furniture this year also plan to buy a mattress.

Perhaps reflecting the preponderance of twin beds in kid's rooms, the median these households plan to spend for a mattress is lower — $300. As expected, most (86%) of the households in this group are parents. Almost half are young parents, meaning they are under the age of 45 and the youngest child is under 6 years old.

Households buying bedroom case goods account for ...

44% of households planning to buy a mattress/ boxspring in 2001

46 of the mattress/ boxspring plan-to-spend dollars

% that also plan to buy a mattress/boxspring in 2001 of those who plan to buy...	Median plan to pay for bedroom furniture	Median plan to pay for mattress/boxspring
Master bedroom 43%	$900	$500
Other adult bedroom 47%	$500	$400
Youth bedroom 38%	$300	$300

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Methodology

Aug 15, 2006

Other adult bedroom

Feb 23, 2003

Youth/teen bedroom

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Consumer buying trends The Affluent

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Mattress/boxspring

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