Touting better sleep
David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 2, 2003
Minneapolis — Airbed producer and retailer Select Comfort was founded by a former innerspring mattress producer who wanted a better night's sleep.
That same thought motivates the company today. In its marketing materials, the company says it offers "a new generation of sleep comfort and technology." That strong message sometimes includes direct comparisions to innerspring bedding.
For example, the company notes that its Sleep Number beds, which have dual air chambers, enable couples to adjust both sides of the bed for maximum comfort. "Nine out of 10 couples aren't comfortable on the same mattress," Select Comfort said. "That's because ordinary innerspring mattresses don't allow each of you to customize the firmness."
That is one of three main advantages of the Sleep Number bed, the company says. The others are:
• Air-chamber technology provides adjustable comfort. "On The Sleep Number Bed by Select Comfort, you rest on a fully adjustable cushion of air that evenly supports your body's weight from head to toe, conforming to your unique shape and sleep position," the company says. "The result is a reduction of painful pressure points and more proper spinal alignment."
• "It is the only bed clinically proven to improve sleep quality and relieve back pain." That's a pretty big claim. The company backs it up by saying that in research conducted at Stanford and Duke universities, subjects fell asleep faster, spent less time awake in bed, and experienced a better quality of sleep on a Sleep Number bed. It also says that in other clinical studies, 93% of participants sleeping on a Sleep Number bed reported back pain relief, while 90% reported reduction of other aches and pains.
Those advantages all add up to "a lifetime of better, more rewarding sleep," according to Bill McLaughlin, the company's chief executive officer.
Consumers are willing to pay handsomely for those benefits. While best-selling innerspring beds sell at well below $1,000 in queen, Select Comfort's best-selling price point is $1,600 in queen.
And the company says most consumers are setting their beds at firmness levels far below those associated with innerspring bedding, an indication that consumers are looking for alternatives to innerspring.
A Sleep Number of about 70 equates to the feel of an innerspring bed, according to Select Comfort. Most Select Comfort consumers set their beds in the range of 25 to 45, a much softer feel.
New drive should fit CEO's Comfort level
08/18/2007Select Comfort offers Sleep Number pillows
09/23/2008Select Comfort: It's a numbers game
03/01/2003
