Luxury brands face a challenging year
David Perry -- Furniture Today, May 29, 2005
High Point — It was another challenging year for some of the industry's leading luxury bedding brands, which faced a spate of tough competition.
Stearns & Foster, the industry's largest high-end brand, recorded its second straight year of shipment declines. According to Furniture/Today estimates, S&F suffered a 7.6% shipment decline in 2004. That followed an 8.5% decline in shipments in 2003.
S&F shipments hit $258 million in 2002 on the basis of a stellar 20% increase that year, but have not been able to maintain that torrid pace since.
Stearns & Foster, one of three brands in the Sealy portfolio, was the only one to see a decline last year. The flagship Sealy brand, boosted by a strong year for Sealy Posturepedic, posted a 16.8% increase in shipments, to $954 million. If this year is as strong, the Sealy brand alone will crack the $1 billion mark, a notable achievement.
The third Sealy brand, Bassett Bedding, has remained flat for the last two years, according to Furniture/Today's estimates.
Spring Air's luxury brand, Chattam & Wells, also recorded a down year in 2004, with estimated shipments of $27 million, a 20.6% decline. That brand was hurt by a Chapter 11 filing last year by a major Spring Air licensee, said Jim Nation, Spring Air president, but has since rebounded.
Chattam & Wells was flat in 2003, with shipments of $34 million, Furniture/Today's estimates show.
Another luxury brand, Serta's Masterpiece, experienced a flat year in 2004, with shipments estimated by Furniture/Today at $16 million. Masterpiece was a wholly owned subsidiary of Serta, but is now part of Serta International, that producer reported.
All of the luxury brands are competing in a marketplace that has attracted growing competition from both conventional and specialty bedding producers. Leading specialty sleep producers, in particular, have experienced substantial growth at the high end of the market.
| Breaking out the brands | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimated U.S. wholesale bedding shipments in $ millions | Percent change | |||
| Company | Brand | 2004 | 2003 | 2003 to 2004 |
| Figures are by estimated U.S. wholesale bedding shipments. All figures for calendar 2004 and 2003. All sales information, except for that supplied by publicly held companies that break out U.S. wholesale bedding shipments, or companies that provide accountant verified or audited figures, are Furniture/Today market research estimates. Figures have been rounded to the nearest million. Source: Furniture/Today market research |
||||
| Sealy | Sealy | $954 | $817 | 16.8% |
| Stearns & Foster | $218 | $236 | -7.6% | |
| Bassett Bedding | $22 | $22 | 0.0% | |
| Total | $1,194 | $1,075 | 11.1% | |
| Serta | Serta | $767 | $726 | 5.6% |
| Masterpiece | $16 | $16 | 0.0% | |
| Total | $783 | $742 | 5.5% | |
| Spring Air | Spring Air | $351 | $320 | 9.7% |
| Chattam & Wells | $27 | $34 | -20.6% | |
| Total | $378 | $354 | 6.8% | |
-
Tempur-Pedic gaining share in luxury market
Jun 15, 2008 -
Luxury brands experience a tough year
Jul 2, 2006
Featured Company
-
Brandwise Inc.
Brandwise serves a model - not just an industry - by integrating, automating, and optimizing the entire sales channel, from wholesale Suppliers to their Reps and the Retailers they service. In short, our software helps Reps and Suppliers sell more and create... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
