Serta to add sleep shops
Plans more than 100 units this year
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 6, 2005
Hoffman estates, Ill. — Serta International plans to add more than 100 Serta-only sleep shops this year, on top of the more than 400 dealer-owned units already supported by the company's fast-growing specialty store division.
"We are committed to helping our dealers capture more business," said Bob Sherman, president of Serta International.
The Serta-only sleep shops operate under a variety of names, the most prominent of which is America's Mattress. Serta International, formerly National Bedding Co., started a specialty store division about two years ago that supports the sleep shops, adding more than 100 stores last year alone.
Sherman gave Furniture/Today a look at an American Mattress store in Schaumburg, Ill., near Serta headquarters. The store is designed to welcome and inspire consumers.
"We want them to feel comfortable when they walk in the door," Sherman said. "And we also want them to feel the sense of urgency that comes when a sale is going on."
The Schaumburg store had an airy, open feel, with walls painted in a female-friendly blue. Balloons on the beds added a festive touch. Signs and banners proclaimed that a sale was under way. Dozens of beds, most of them innerspring models, filled the showroom in a clean, neat presentation of Serta and Masterpiece bedding. Serta owns the Masterpiece brand.
Sleep shops like this are key tools in Serta's growth strategy.
The local bedding entrepreneurs who own the stores work closely with the sleep shop division, Sherman said. Serta has a dedicated staff to support the program, helping dealers get established and providing services, including national meetings where they share ideas.
"With this program the entrepreneur ... can compete with the national chains," Sherman said. "We work with them to make them successful."
National Bedding initiated the program before it took over responsibility for the Serta brand and has now made it available to all Serta licensees. "The other licensees have shown a lot of interest in it," Sherman said.
While the shops carry only Serta-brand bedding, consumers don't perceive them as single-vendor stores, he said. "They see a number of names. The stores don't shout 'Serta only.' Consumers see a store full of beds."
The stores also feature futons, metal beds and a variety of bedding-related products.
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Serta to add sleep shops
Feb 11, 2005
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