Growing IBC on bedding industry radar
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2005
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. — After years of solid growth, steady expansion and major investments in plants and key people, International Bedding Corp. now finds itself appearing on something it long has sought to avoid: the industry's radar screen.
That signals the presence of a company too big for competitors to ignore, and it can be an uncomfortable spot for a rising bedding player.
For years, IBC has kept a low industry profile, staying out of the press and attempting to avoid the spotlight. But as it has quietly kept growing, adding blue-chip national retail accounts and opening modern plants around the country, the producer undeniably has arrived on the national bedding scene.
"We are getting to a size where it's impossible to hide," admitted Neil Ellman, IBC president. "We are in a lot of Top 100 retailers, under a variety of names."
IBC is one of Top 12 producer Therapedic's largest licensees, and it also ranks as a Top 12 producer in its own right, marketing its Europa and MiraLux brands, among others. Some industry estimates put the company's total volume at well over $100 million. IBC doesn't talk about its volume.
But the company did break its long-standing silence recently and agreed to a series of interviews with Furniture/Today. They marked the first time that company officials have shared their story in depth with a trade newspaper.
Ellman, who at 35 is one of the youngest presidents of a major bedding company in the United States, understands the philosophy that his father, Leon, has followed over the years.
"When you are on the radar screen," Neil Ellman said, "you can be more easily targeted. I can't argue with that too much. I'm kind of staying the course, because it is working."
No red tape
With 10 bedding plants, four of them added last year, and a growing stable of brands, IBC can service retailers anywhere in the country.
"We have broadened our dealer base to where we feel we are just on the edge of the radar screen," said Scott Miller, national vice president of sales.
IBC officials say there is no red tape to handcuff their dealers. "Quick answers and quick reactions are what our customers want," Ellman said.
The company's bedding empire, headquartered here, features plants in eight states. The four newest are in Spring City, Tenn., and Reno, Nev., in addition to new plants in Pennsylvania and Texas, all of which opened last year.
The other plants are in Orlando, Fla., Colonial Heights, Va., Barnesville, Pa., New Haven, Ind., Cleburne, Texas, and Phoenix.
"We have been priming the pump for so many years and talking to major accounts," Ellman said. "Now we are firing on all cylinders. We have put together a tremendous organization."
Added his younger brother, Lance, 31, executive vice president of operations: "Once a retailer tastes what we can provide him with — the margins and the limited distribution — it just snowballs. A lot of retailers are looking at our success with other retailers."
Low cost, not low end
The company prides itself on being a low-cost, efficient producer. "We want to be the leading value company in the United States," Neil said.
Lance put it this way: "We always want to maintain our position as a low-cost producer and absolutely the most efficient operator. We offer high-quality materials at the best prices."
That doesn't mean the company is a low-end producer. IBC has moved up in price points and has a full assortment of models at key high-end price points from $1,000 to $2,000. But price points under $1,000 are the heart of the company's business today.
There are significant opportunities at under $1,000, Neil Ellman said. "Some majors have vacated the price points below $1,000."
And some of the majors are making beds that tend to feel the same, he added, noting that IBC takes a different approach.
"We are passionate about the way our beds feel," Neil said.
"It's what happens when the customer lays on the bed that matters the most," said Eric Johnson, vice president of merchandising and marketing. "When people lay on our beds they say, 'Wow, that's a comfortable bed.' We've got testimonials that our beds are the easiest beds to sell. They are loaded with meaningful features. They look right and feel right."
Product development
Neil Ellman said IBC focuses on product development. "We will always be developing the next best product," he said. "We put a lot of money into research and development. We were the first company to bring foam-encased bedding into the mass price points."
Lately, the company has been focusing on single-sided designs — "a more efficient way to make a mattress," Neil said. "It makes for a more stable mattress."
"We've gotten some better feels by focusing on one-sided mattresses," added Lance.
Neil and Lance are third-generation bedding execs. Their father, Leon, established the business in Florida in the early 1970s when he moved there from South Africa. Leon's father, Nate, founded the Softex bedding company in South Africa. Then Leon joined that company, took it private and ushered in a new era of growth.
But political developments in South Africa prompted Leon to look to the United States for opportunity. He started by buying the Therapedic licensee in Florida, taking over a bedding factory in Miami.
Through plenty of hard work, he grew that business and began looking for opportunities to expand. Nowadays, IBC is clearly visible on the radar screens of competitors around the country.
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