Industry veteran shares insights
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 6, 2005
Barrington, Ill. — Ed Scott, a veteran of the U.S. mattress industry, sees a bright future for bedding produced in Asia.
He spent over 20 years working for Sealy, Serta and Restonic, marketing bedding lines made in U.S. factories. Now, Scott, 57, previously president and CEO of Restonic, is president and CEO of Stylution USA, joining forces with respected Asian bedding and furniture producer Jack Chen, whom he worked with at Restonic.
Scott and Chen will be bringing a line of Chinese-produced mattresses to the U.S. market. Samples will arrive for retail presentations this month, with shipments in quantity due in May.
Chen is a Restonic licensee in the Far East, but his Stylution venture with Scott is unaffiliated with Restonic. As head of Restonic, Scott did some international travel and worked with bedding producers around the world. So he's not a newcomer to the global bedding scene.
In this question-and-answer session, Scott discusses the challenges and potential of Chinese-made bedding.
You've spent your bedding career thus far on the U.S. side of the manufacturing arena. Is it strange for you to now be on the Chinese side?
We don't make the marketplace. The marketplace evolves. Other industries have been changed by production in Asia. The U.S. marketplace will judge if our new venture succeeds. The marketplace may prove our model is wrong. We will see. But I am confident in our offering.
How important will Chinese-made bedding become in the U.S. market?
Five years from now, I believe 20% to 25% of U.S. bedding will be produced overseas.
Is it inevitable that Chinese-made bedding will gain clout in the U.S.?
Look what already has happened in a number of industries in the United States, including the furniture industry. What would make the bedding industry so unique that many other consumer product categories would be affected but bedding wouldn't?
Is the U.S. bedding market ripe for change?
Yes. Undifferentiated product, reduced specifications, increased margin pressures and inattentive customer service have sadly become the norm for our industry. Even leading retailers in the United States often have been forced to accept all or some of those conditions.
What should retailers do?
Those circumstances can change for retailers who envision the opportunity and take the steps necessary to succeed in a radically altered marketplace. That marketplace is on the horizon with the coming influx of high-quality imported mattress products. The case goods and leather upholstery industries have been forever altered by this trend, and the bedding industry will soon follow that path.
Is there an advantage in embracing imports rather than fighting them?
Those manufacturers and retailers who recognize the opportunity and take advantage of it first will reap the rewards. Just as surely, those manufacturers and retailers who fail to recognize the opportunity or fail to recognize its existence will be at a significant disadvantage.
What is the background of your venture?
Stylution USA is the outgrowth of several years of planning focused on developing products and programs for the U.S. market in order to give retailers the opportunity to benefit from the coming change, not be overwhelmed by it. We believe that utilizing low-cost offshore production facilities to bring value-priced products from Asia to the United States is only the first step.
Where will your beds be produced?
The Stylution USA effort is supported by a 1 million-square-foot production facility in Dongguan, China, wholly owned and operated by Stylution International. Stylution International was founded in 1973 and over the last 32 years has become an industry leader in the mattress, upholstery and case goods industries. Mattresses will be produced at that ISO 9000-certified facility for shipment, after vacuum-packing, to the United States. Contract producers in the United States will make the box springs, utilizing a cut-and-sew operation based in China.
Others already are bringing Chinese-made beds into the United States. What makes you different?
Several competitors have employed a "low-price only" strategy with only limited success. They have failed to develop product lines that meet the comfort and quality needs of the marketplace, or to develop an infrastructure to support those lines. Stylution USA's approach is more broad based and encompasses sales support, point-of-sale materials, restricted distribution, unique construction enhancements and, most importantly, products with the look and comfort necessary for retail success.
How strong is your U.S. offering?
Stylution USA will offer the most competitively priced and professionally supported bedding line in the United States. For example, we will customize an advertising support program to meet the needs of the individual retailer. Our base program will be built upon the lowest possible net price adjusted to support the required advertising program.
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