Furniture First wakes up to bedding
Buying group members learn more about high-profit category at symposium
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, March 28, 2004
HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. — HOWEY-IN-THE-HILLS, Fla. — Bedding was topic No. 1 at the annual Furniture First symposium here.
With more than 100 buying group members in attendance, the meeting covered every conceivable management issue connected with this key profit category.
Successful members served as case studies, and a number of consultants and suppliers talked about strategies for maximizing the bedding opportunity.
And that opportunity is significant, said Bill Hartman, president of the 10-year-old buying group. "We feel if you're not doing 14% or 15% (of sales) — at least — in bedding, you're not doing enough," Hartman said, adding that bedding is more profitable than most other furniture categories.
"Mattresses are one of the most profitable areas of the store," he said. "We don't want our members taking that business for granted. We have to stay sharp on it, and that's why we made it such a major priority for this symposium."
Reflecting the enthusiasm that retailers have for the category, Furniture First's bedding specialty concept, Mattress First, continues to grow as a gallery concept. The three-year-old program now has more than 60 in-store galleries established, and a couple of retailers have set up stand-alone Mattress First shops.
In retail spaces of up to 3,500 square feet, the Mattress First program features bedding from Simmons, Sealy, Serta, Tempur-Pedic and Hometown Comforts, the private-label promotional brand developed for Furniture First by Symbol. Just as important as the beds on display, the Mattress First program includes a complete retail package that includes flooring, wall colorings, lighting, wall and ceiling graphics and even floor planning.
"When you walk into one of these galleries, you know you're in a specialty shop that has the bedding solution you need," Hartman said.
Consistent with the teachings of a featured symposium speaker, Dr. James Maas, a sleep researcher at Cornell University, Mattress First shops emphasize the value of better sleep rather than the components that go into a mattress. In particular, the 25-foot-wide store graphics developed for Mattress First contrast tired people with those who appear vigorous and happy.
"The signage helps both the consumer and the salesperson focus on what's important, which is a good night's sleep," Hartman said. "We're trying to sell a better lifestyle, and everything about the retail display is designed to reinforce that."
In several cases, retailers said that consumers are selling themselves up into more expensive foam beds. Several retailers report that the Tempur-Pedic line of three beds has proven to be surprisingly robust since it was added to the Furniture First menu of program suppliers last year. Hitting lower price points but still resulting in big-ticket sales, latex foam beds from other bedding suppliers have also been selling well, several attendees said.
"One of the big surprises for us has been the latex mattresses in the last year," said George Evanoff of Banner Mattress, a four-store chain in Toledo, Ohio. Banner has its own bedding manufacturing facilities, and Evanoff told a story of ordering the wrong foam, which he thought would be too hard. "All it did was increase our latex sales 50% so we decided it might be OK to add another SKU."
Stephen Kane, from five-store Carpet Town Furniture in western New York, agreed that foam is gaining ground. He said Tempur-Pedic started selling, at more than $2,000 per bed set, as soon as he started advertising it.
"Once we started advertising it, a lot of our customers already knew about Tempur-Pedic and wanted it," Kane said. "They just needed to know where to get it."
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Founded: By the late Jerry Fried in 1994
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Size: 112 retail members with 240 stores doing $800 million in 2003 sales
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Typical member profile: Midpriced, full-line furniture stores, family owned and operated, tending toward traditional styles. Although there are exceptions, sales usually fall in the $5 million to $20 million range
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Notable large members: Banner Mattress Co., Toledo, Ohio; Carpet Town Furniture, Weston Mills, N.Y.; Furniture World, Salem, N.H.; Kacey Fine Furniture, Denver; Kloss Furniture, Highland, Ill.; Rotman's, Worcester, Mass.; Terry Furniture, Emory, Texas
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