Toronto — Canada's bedding market continues to be dominated by Sealy, Simmons and Serta, who together ship almost 60% of all the mattresses and box springs made in this country.
Including Bedford Furniture, producer of the King Koil and Restonic brands in Canada, and Spring Air Canada, the Top 5 account for 76% of total bedding shipments in this country.
And they are doing quite well.
In 2002, total Top 5 shipments were C$445.6 million, up 11% from the previous year's C$401.4 million. That growth outpaced the entire bedding industry, which Statistics Canada said had total shipments of C$586.7 million in 2002, up 8.3% from C$541.7 million the year before — certainly a notable gain in the face of a sputtering economy.
By way of comparison, total shipments of U.S. bedding factories grew 3.8% in dollars from 2001 to 2002, according to the International Sleep Products Assn.
In some ways, like the prominence of a few "S" brands, the bedding industries in Canada and the United States are similar.
One way they differ is on fire safety issues. While open-flame-resistant bedding has become the hot topic in the U.S. industry, spurred by impending tough standards in California, it's not on the radar screens north of the border, at least not yet.
While the Canadian bedding industry has enjoyed considerable growth over the past decade, factory executives concur that this year has been softer and the gains are coming at a somewhat slower pace.
From the factory perspective, two factors continue to dominate product and merchandising innovations: one-sided (or no-flip) mattress constructions, and the role of high-end bedding.
Playing both sides
Most Canadian producers say they will continue to offer both two- and one-sided product for the foreseeable future, although Sealy Canada will go almost entirely one-sided with the introduction of its Unicase Posturepedic line at the January Toronto market.
"We are going to be introducing Unicase at every price point from entry level to luxury," said Tony Smith, chief operating officer of the No. 1 Canadian producer. "We have presented most of the national accounts with a strategic overview of what we're doing and the feedback, generally, has been extremely positive."
"The future is solid for one-sided product," said Gary Baskerville, vice president of sales and marketing for Bedford. "They are among our best sellers at King Koil and we'll be going into 2004 with a greater depth of commitment to this category."
Although the evidence is anecdotal, most executives at both the factory and retail levels believe one-sided mattresses haven't caught on with Canadian consumers as strongly as they have south of the border.
"Canadian consumers are still reluctant to change," said Ron Dennis, vice president of marketing at No. 2 Simmons Canada, which while strengthening its one-sided lineup won't forsake traditional two-sided goods.
"We want to be able to offer the consumer choices," he said. "We are going to see more no-flip product enter the market and, because of that, it's going to drive more business into the category."
"One-sided product has been accepted in the United States more so than in Canada," said Bob Malin, vice president of marketing for Serta and chairman of the Serta of Canada marketing committee. "But it will continue to be a growing category in Canada. It could even reach 25% of the market in Canada in the next few years."
"Not all retailers are 100% behind no-flip," said Laurie Horne, vice president of corporate accounts for Springwall Sleep Products. "Springwall will have a portion of our lines as no-flip, but we're not going to see it take the Canadian marketplace by storm."
Sealy Canada's Smith is confident Canadian consumers will become believers. "Our belief is that if we produce a product with those characteristics that the consumer likes and prefers, one-sided bedding will be accepted," he said.
"We plan to introduce similar constructions and technology across our entire line, including Stearns & Foster," he continued, adding the transition in Canada will lag behind that in the United States.
All executives agreed that in order for one-sided bedding to achieve its profit potential, retailers must commit to more sales training for their floor salespeople.
"One of the problems is that salespeople really haven't been trained to sell this product," Bedford's Baskerville said.
While high-end bedding will continue to flourish, most factory executives believe the segment will undergo a certain degree of rationalization on retail floors over the coming year or so.
"I still think there's a solid future for luxury bedding in this country," said Baskerville. "But luxury product is over-positioned on many floors, so retailers are beginning to cut back on the number of luxury items they carry."
This could mean retailers will get the same or more dollars from fewer SKUs, making their luxury presentations more productive on a sales-per-square-foot basis.
Baskerville also expects to see some moderation in the construction of luxury models. "There has been some consumer resistance when you get into the very thick luxury beds," he said. "They tend to be very heavy and very difficult to handle."
Rationalization at the high end is likely to be most evident at smaller independent retailers.
"Most are selling less high-end and more meat-and-potatoes bedding," said Les Channell, president of Spring Air Canada. "To the independent, the high end is just not as important, and part of that is because when business is tough, they feel they can't sell high-end goods."
Although innerspring constructions will continue to dominate the Canadian market, several executives expect to see a resurgence in foam.
"We're going to see more manufacturers enter the pocket-coil business, but we're also going to see more and more foam," Dennis of Simmons Canada said.
And although fire safety isn't a front-burner issue here, most factories believe they will be under some pressure to adopt higher FR standards in the not too-distant future. "It's something we'll have to deal with in the mid-term, not the near-term," Dennis said.
"It's not an issue in Canada yet," said Springwall's Horne, "but the outcome of what's happening in the United States will affect the Canadian market. After all, we all purchase ticking from the same sources as the U.S. manufacturers."
Springwall, a significant Canadian producer, declined to provide sales figures, and a reliable estimate couldn't be developed.
| Canada's Top 5 bedding manufacturers | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales in millions of current Canadian dollars | Percent change | Market share | ||||
| Rank | Company, headquarters, Web site, notes | 2002 | 2001 | 2001 to 2002 | 2002 | 2001 |
| Sources: Furniture/Today market research, Industry Canada, Statistics Canada | ||||||
| 1 | Sealy Canada | C$139.7 | C$121.1 | 15.4% | 23.8% | 22.4% |
| Toronto www.sealy.com | ||||||
| Owned by Bain Capital, as is its U.S. counterpart. Operates factories in Toronto; Edmonton, Alberta; and St. Narcisse, Quebec; and a distribution center in Vancouver, British Columbia. Makes and markets all Sealy brands. | ||||||
| 2 | Simmons Canada | $130.9 | $120.1 | 9.0% | 22.3% | 22.2% |
| Mississauga, Ontario www.simmonscanada.com | ||||||
| A wholly owned subsidiary of SCI Income Trust. Operates factories in Delta, British Columbia; Brampton, Ontario; and Kirkland, Quebec; and a distribution center in Regina, Saskatchewan. There are 15 freestanding and 55 in-store independently owned and operated Simmons Mattress Galleries. Holds a perpetual licence agreement with Simmons U.S. Active in private-label, manufacturing for Sears Canada and Ikea. Also makes under license the ObusForme line of foam- and visco-elastic-topped innersping mattresses and foundations, which it sells exclusively to Sleep Country Canada. | ||||||
| 3 | Serta of Canada | $79.0 | $71.2 | 11.0% | 13.5% | 13.1% |
| Itasca, Ill. www.serta.com | ||||||
| Four licensees, in Toronto; Winnipeg, Alberta; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Montreal. All participate in joint marketing and sales activities, particularly for national retail accounts such as Sears Canada, Sleep Country Canada, The Brick, Mattress World and Furniture Plus. | ||||||
| 4 | Bedford Furniture | $56.0 | $54.0 | 3.7% | 9.5% | 10.0% |
| Toronto | ||||||
| Privately held, family-managed bedding producer of the King Koil and Restonic brands in Canada. Bedford licenses Mirabel Bedding to make and market the King Koil brand in Quebec; those sales not included.. | ||||||
| 5 | Spring Air Canada | $40.0 | $35.0 | 14.3% | 6.8% | 6.5% |
| Toronto www.springairmattress.com | ||||||
| Recently sold to Spring Air Partners by founder Normand Ricard. Operates factories in Surrey, British Columbia; Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec; and Toronto. Also makes and markets the Sommex International brand in Quebec. Sales do not include those of the Spring Air factory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, an independently owned and operated licensee. | ||||||
| Top 5 totals | $445.6 | $401.4 | 11.0% | 76.0% | 74.1% | |
| Total industry shipments | $586.7 | $541.7 | 8.3% | |||
