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Successful stores hardly ever sleep

David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 2, 2003

Everyone likes retail success stories. We have two of the best ones in the bedding business for you in this special bedding section.

The first one ties in with our special focus in this issue on the specialty sleep category. The company is Select Comfort, the Minneapolis-based airbed producer and retailer. Not too long ago, the company faced a rocky outlook. But a smart, savvy group of marketers turned everything around.

Select Comfort ranks No. 1 on our list of the Top 25 Bedding Retailers. It is one of the shining beacons in the specialty sleep arena, spotlighting all the things that are right with the category.

I'm extremely impressed with the Select Comfort organization, which takes marketing excellence to new heights. The team has produced great results in the last few years. This is a company going places fast.

It's also the perfect choice for our cover story in this issue, which will be distributed at the Futon and Specialty Sleep Expo in Las Vegas. The expo, which we discuss in an overview story on the show (below, this page), is a dynamic marketplace for producers and retailers. There is plenty of growth ahead for the specialty sleep category.

Our second retail success story touches on the futon category. The retailer is Better Bedding of East Hartford, Conn., which includes Gold Bond futons in its product assortment. Gold Bond is a leading futon producer and exhibitor at the Futon and Specialty Sleep Expo.

Better Bedding focuses most of its efforts on the conventional side of the bedding category, and we don't want to slight that part of the business. So this issue also takes an in-depth look at how Better Bedding grew from a single sleep shop into a New England powerhouse. Hint: Two hard-charging brothers played a key role.

This is another impressive retailer. The company has established a reputation for integrity, service and professionalism that is the envy of retailers everywhere. Those brothers are giving our industry something good to talk about.

Finally, we round out our offerings with a look at the consumer. It's always good to focus on the consumer, but sometimes bedding companies forget to do so. We've got some interesting insights into consumers from a Comfort Counts survey conducted by Serta.

The survey results point out some provocative similarities — and differences — in how men and women look at various bedding issues. Our thanks to Serta for making this information available to us.

We hope you enjoy the stories we've prepared for you. And thanks to all you retailers, producers and suppliers who keep us filled in each week on what's happening in Mattress Land U.S.A.

There's never a dull moment on the bedding beat.

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Specialty sleep products likely to stay hot

Dec 22, 2004

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