Food, dresses, showgirls: Perrys salute best in Vegas
David Perry, Executive Editor -- Furniture Today, February 27, 2006
It's time for a Las Vegas edition of the Perrys, presented by yours truly for notable achievements in the bedding marketplace.
Best achievement in mattress flammability: Sealy, for its inclusion of fire-resistant materials throughout its new flagship Posturepedic line. Now that Sealy has added FR protection to the bulk of its lines, we hope other majors quickly will follow suit. Time is life on this issue.
Best new ad campaign: Simmons, for the return of the bowling ball. Dealers wanted it and Simmons delivered — reworked, in touch with the times and carrying a key message. I especially enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at how Simmons filmed the spots at a Hollywood shoot.
Best market breakfast: Tempur-Pedic. The visco leader wins easily in this vital category (well, it's vital to me, anyway) for its spectacular Breakfast in Bed event. I saw all of my favorite food groups, including doughnuts, on the groaning boards. There's nothing like a great breakfast buffet to get the bedding crowd off to a good start. Oh, and the new beds were appetizing too.
Best celebrity appearance: Kathy Ireland at Therapedic. Kathy made a graceful kickoff speech at Therapedic's Mandalay Bay party, helping to launch her new bedding line. "Try to stay awake when you try the beds," Kathy told marketgoers. She's a class act.
Best use of showgirls: Kingsdown. This is another of those key categories I'm happy to size up, as it were. Showgirls stationed in the Venetian directed retailers to Kingsdown's "Sleepless in Las Vegas" event. An excellent merchandising move.
Most dressed up showroom: Serta, which accessorized its space with Vera Wang dresses, calling attention to its new line with the noted fashion designer. The Counting Sheep were happy to welcome her to the Serta flock. The beds got good marks for value.
Most retail-friendly showroom: Comfort Solutions by King Koil. Martin Roberts and his team at Grid2 did a wonderful job. The space was full of good ideas for bedding retailers. Grid2, by the way, will design Spring Air's new permanent showroom in Las Vegas.
Best foam innovation: Kaymed, for its Memory Nests of memory foam. Their scooped-out shape gives them the look of cells, and the air displacement the cells produce yield the sensation of flotation sleep, the company says. Very clever.
Best market party: Setting aside the always-packed Furniture/Today fete, the winner is Leggett & Platt. The components major took over the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay for a wonderful evening of entertainment, food and fellowship. It was a who's who of the bedding industry.
I know I'm leaving out several worthy companies, but I'm out of space. If I missed you in Vegas, send me an e-mail and tell me what was new for your company.
Contact David Perry at dperry@reedbusiness.com
