Kluft's comeback blooms at Bloomie's
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 27, 2006
Ontario, Calif. — Earl Kluft's bedding comeback at E.S. Kluft & Co. continues to gain momentum.
The man known for fine tailoring and craftsmanship picked up some major West Coast placements for his high-end lines last year, adding California powerhouses Sit 'n Sleep and Mancini's Sleepworld to his stable of dealers.
Now, Kluft has secured placements at one of the nation's most prestigious retailers, Bloomingdale's. The department store will add Kluft's Royal Standard line to the bedding departments in all its sleep shops, including the bedding floor of its flagship store on 59th Street in New York.
The Royal Standard line, featuring premium English nested coils, was created specifically for Bloomie's.
"This new line gives Bloomingdale's a product comparable to the imported luxury innerspring mattresses that have recently been gaining momentum in the upscale bedding marketplace," said James Coia, divisional merchandise manager for furniture and mattresses at Bloomingdale's. "Our customer expects to find the very best products in our store, and we feel that with the addition of the Kluft collection to our bedding assortment, we can truly say we have a sleep shop like no other store in the world."
Kluft, owner of E.S. Kluft, said, "We're pleased and excited that our products will be available at Bloomingdale's, the most prestigious luxury department store in America. This validates our passion for building fine hand-made bedding."
The Royal Standard collection consists of three English-style, outer-tufted models, each featuring damasks from Belgium's Bekaert. The mattresses, as well as the eight-way hand-tied Divan foundations, are fully upholstered and finished with matching self-welting.
Other features in the patent-pending design include English nested coils, Joma wool, cashmere, Talalay latex and staple cotton batting. The no-drum design of the innerspring unit allows for the full benefit of the nested, individually wrapped coils, with minimal motion transfer.
The Bloomie's placement is the latest road marker on Kluft's journey to regain a prominent role in the bedding industry. Kluft, the former owner and creator of the high-end Chattam & Wells brand, purchased the Aireloom brand two years ago and wasted no time in revamping that line.
He also brought out the Kluft line, making his name a brand in its own right.
E.S. Kluft & Co. is located in Ontario, a Los Angeles suburb, and is the parent company of Aireloom, a premium brand established on the West Coast in the 1940s.
Bloomingdale's, a division of Federated Department Stores, operates 36 stores in New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, Minnesota, Florida, Georgia and California.
