Bedding numbers down, but better than expected
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, June 8, 2009
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The dollar value of bedding shipments dropped 9.1% last year, while bedding units plunged by 11%, according to newly revised statistics from the International Sleep Products Assn.
It was the worst year in the modern history of the mattress industry.
ISPA's final figures on industry performance in 2008 were slightly better than the preliminary figures that the industry's trade association released in February. Those preliminary figures showed the trade association's sample of large producers reporting an 11.8% dollar decline and an 11.7% unit decline.
But ISPA said a stronger performance from companies represented in its annual survey of bedding manufacturers yielded numbers reflecting smaller declines.
ISPA said the dollar value of bedding shipments was $6.2 billion in 2008, with 35.9 million units shipped that year.
The “2008 Mattress Industry Report of Sales and Trends” also provided sales breakdowns revealing that innerspring bedding fared much better last year than specialty sleep products, although both categories suffered declines.
Innerspring mattress unit sales dropped by 9.1% last year, ISPA said, while specialty mattress units dropped by 17.7%. The dollar value of innerspring mattresses fell 6.3% in 2008, while the dollar value of specialty sleep mattresses was down 17.8%.
Despite those declines, the industry was able to achieve a 2.1% increase in its average unit selling price, which stood at $174.16 last year (including mattresses and foundations). That gain was achieved largely on the strength of a 3.1% hike in the average unit selling price of innerspring mattresses, which was $209.86. The average unit selling price of a specialty sleep mattress was $572.08, a 0.2% decline.
The ISPA report included these other highlights of 2008 performance:
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Residential sales of mattresses and foundations accounted for 93.1% of the dollar volume of the U.S. market, with the contract market accounting for the remaining 6.9%.
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The South continues to set the sales pace in the industry, accounting for 40.4% of the dollar value of bedding shipments and 44.8% of the unit value. The West was second, accounting for 23.5% of the dollar value of shipments and 19.8% of the unit value of shipments.
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In bedding sizes, queen remains the top size in unit shipments, commanding 36% of that market, compared with 36.8% in 2007. Twin unit sales accounted for 25.1% of the market last year, an increase of one percentage point. Full-size unit sales accounted for 18.1% of the market, compared with 17.4% in 2007, while king units were 10.2% of the market last year, compared with 11% in 2007.
In this year's first quarter, industry shipments were down 17% in dollars and 14.8% in units as the average unit selling price declined 2.5%, ISPA reported.
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Mattress sales down 9.1% in 2008, ISPA reports
Jun 3, 2009
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