Domestic bedding parries China's thrust
Canadian producers offer improvements in styling, technology in Toronto
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2005
Toronto — While Chinese bedding for the first time made its presence broadly felt at last week's Canadian Home Furnishings Market, domestic producers also made moves to reassert their primacy on retail floors large and small.
Over 95% of all sleep products sold in Canada are made in Canada, something that's not likely to change significantly soon, although observers noted that many of the lower-end price points are vulnerable, and that's where market-share shifts could occur in the near future.
With the exception of Serta Canada, every important bedding supplier in the country, including the importers, exhibited here. Among domestic producers, improvements in technology and styling were abundantly evident.
Simmons Canada made the market's strongest technology introduction with the launch of its Evolution pocket coil, an springing system designed for single-sided mattresses.
Beyond that, the strongest statements among domestic manufacturers were found in the expansion of their Euro-top models and visco-elastic constructions.
"We're not going to see any significant trends on retail floors this year, although there is going to be more and more visco-elastic foam products everywhere," said Ron Dennis, vice president of marketing for Simmons Canada. "But pocket coil continues to dominate the market and will continue to do so for some time."
Louis Bachicha, chief operating officer of Sealy Canada, said that while his company's new Euro-top and Euro-pillowtop products won a lot of floor space here, retailers continue to emphasize areas where importers probably will never be very strong.
"One of the advantages we have is just the assortment of product we offer; we maximize every retail price point," he said. "What's more, retailers don't want to carry a lot of inventory and that also gives us an advantage."
"The China factor is very evident," said Laurie Horne, director of operations for Springwall Sleep products. "But what we've been experiencing is that the retailers have been very happy with a lineup which has higher price points and better value. Upscale, more expensive beds, such as our new Eurotrex program from Belgium, have really become part of our program."
Smaller domestic producers also were staking out their niches. For example, Foamco Inds., producers of the Dreameasy line, introduced five waterbeds and five airbeds, filling a gap larger producers mostly have left behind.
"We're the only people making these kinds of beds in Canada, and people responded very positively at this show," said C.J. Shah, president of the Toronto-based factory. "Consumers who are used to sleeping on water will continue to sleep on water — they are very dedicated users. We know it's a declining market, but it's still a niche that needs to be filled."
Shah believes airbeds still have room to grow.
Foamco also introduced an adjustable bed called Ortho-Mate, featuring a visco-elastic mattress plus a heat and massage system, with an opening retail price point of C$2,999.
Among importers making strong statements, Primo International launched 10 groups, three visco-elastic constructions and seven pocket coil models.
David Itzkovitz, president of the Montreal-based resource — which continues to manufacture part of its bedding line — believes the search for value by consumers and retailers will benefit importers.
"In five years, the situation in bedding will be the same as it is in leather today," he said, adding that imports could represent as much as 30% of the Canadian market in five years.
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