Mega rolls out Sleep Experience
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, September 15, 2003
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — Mega Group has begun rolling out Sleep Experience, its bedding retailing concept, with three 1,800-square-foot in-store installations in Lethbridge, Alberta, and Brossard and Valleyfield, Quebec, and a 2,000-square-foot freestanding unit here.
Walter Celin, director of retail solutions for the furniture buying and marketing group, said he anticipates a total of 15 by year's end. Set to open are Kamloops, British Columbia; Medicine Hat and Olds, Alberta; Chatham, Ontario; and Sherbrooke and Trois Rivieres, Quebec.
The Quebec units will be freestanding. While details are still being worked out, Mega plans units in Manitoba and the Maritime Provinces as well. Thirty Sleep Experience units are expected by the end of 2004. In Quebec, they will be called Experience Sommeil.
At the Canadian Home Furnishings Market next January, Mega plans to unveil the latest freestanding version with a 3,000-square-foot model store.
Mega designed Sleep Experience as a tool for independent retailers to capture a bigger share of the high-margin bedding business.
"Our research showed that independent retailers in Canada are underachieving in the bedding category. They are losing market share not only to the big-box stores but to the specialists," Celin said.
Sleep Experience was created based on consumer research. "The consumer is asking for a higher level of expertise and information when shopping for a mattress," he said.
In a typical 1,800-square-foot boutique, the plan calls for 25 SKUs that cover innerspring, water, air, foam, latex and three adjustable beds, plus accessories such as mattress pads, specialty pillows and linens.
"We require that every Sleep Experience member show at least one sample of every major type of bedding," Celin said. "Our goal is to show the consumer that she can find the right product in terms of comfort and budget."
Depending on the size, the cost of installation would be between C$20,000 and C$25,000, and should generate average sales of C$245 per square foot.
"We are the only national sleep shop in Canada that offers every type of bedding under one roof, and at every price point as well," Celine said.
Sleep Experience's private-label brand, also called Sleep Experience, is made by Springwall, and the lineup includes the latter's chiropractor-approved line. Specialty bedding comes from Strata/Halcyon Waterspring, a Toronto-based factory that produces water, air, visco-elastic foam and latex mattresses.
"We then work with the existing 'Big S' lineup the retailer already has, incorporating that into the Sleep Experience presentation," Celin said. "This usually means increasing their SKUs until we ensure the retailer has the proper mix."
For the time being, Mega is offering the Sleep Experience/Experience Sommeil program only to its membership.
