Tempur-Pedic adopts FR protection nationwide
David Perry -- Furniture Today, October 3, 2005
Lexington, Ky. — Visco-elastic bedding leader Tempur-Pedic has added open flame protection to all of its bedding lines, the company announced.
Tom Bryant, president, told Furniture/Today that all bedding products the company is delivering throughout the United States now meet the stringent FR standard that went into effect in California earlier this year.
He said the FR protection, provided with a barrier material for the mattress and the foundation, doesn't affect the comfort of the company's products. Tempur-Pedic developed a proprietary barrier material that does not detract from the comfort, he said.
Tempur-Pedic began rolling out open flame-protected bedding lines in California late last year.
Bryant said Tempur-Pedic took about a 6% price increase in February, its first price increase in four years, to "make sure we were covering all of our costs." The majority of that price hike was tied to adding the FR protection, he said.
The addition of open flame FR protection hasn't helped the company sell more beds, in Bryant's view, and the company doesn't plan to make it a part of its marketing message.
"That is not high on the list of (consumers') consideration for purchasing," he said. "We don't think it's a competitive advantage. We are not into using scare tactics to gain consumers."
A national standard on open flame mattress protection is expected to go into effect early in 2007.
