Spring Air is first major to test China-made mattresses in U.S.
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, April 5, 2004
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Bedding major Spring Air says it will import sharply priced finished mattresses made in China.
Spring Air President Jim Nation said the No. 4 bedding producer will test the Chinese beds in the U.S. market. The models won't carry the Spring Air brand.
"We are going to see what happens," Nation told Furniture/Today. "Why wouldn't I do this to myself before someone else does this to me?"
The Chinese-made mattresses will be paired with box springs made in the United States. The sleep sets will retail from $299 to $499 in queen. The mattresses will be compressed for shipment. A timetable for introductions hasn't been announced.
While Spring Air will be the first bedding major to bring finished mattresses from China, other Chinese bedding already is on the U.S. market.
Excel Bedding and the Summit Sales Group are marketing Chinese beds here, with Excel representing Xilinmen Group Ltd. in Shaoxing, China.
Nation and other top Spring Air executives recently spent a week touring China to see what opportunities that country offers in bedding.
Although Spring Air will test Chinese bedding in the United States, Nation said a much bigger opportunity is to market branded bedding in the Chinese market. The expanding Chinese middle class eventually could offer a market of 100 million innerspring beds a year, about five times the size of the U.S. innerspring market. Chinese consumers are interested in Western-style bedding, and "the opportunity for branded products is great," Nation said..
He will return to China later this year to continue his research.
"Finding the right strategic relationships in China could be very beneficial," he said.
