Vendors outline key product benefits
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, December 31, 2006
High Point — While some in the bedding industry look at specialty sleep as a "new" category, it's actually been around for decades.
Way back in the 1970s, waterbeds entered the national consciousness. That product generated plenty of headlines with its counter-culture roots and appeal, but it gave many consumers a different way to sleep. Waterbed purists touted the benefits of hard-sided waterbeds, whose bag of water gave them a unique way to sleep. Then soft-sided waterbeds (which looked like conventional beds) gained popularity, broadening the appeal of the category.
Today, waterbeds still occupy a niche in the specialty sleep arena, but they have been largely supplanted in consumer awareness by airbeds and visco-elastic foam beds.
Several of today's leading specialty sleep producers trace their history back to the formative years of specialty sleep, and they cite that experience as giving them an edge.
Three well-known companies have at least 30 years of experience in the category. They are Boyd Specialty Sleep, InnoMax and Strobel.
Denny Boyd, president of Boyd Specialty Sleep, said his company has stood the test of time. Asked what makes Boyd different from other companies, he responded: "About 30 specialty sleep patents, 30 years of experience, a full complement of products in every specialty sleep category, 24-hour ship times, proven technology, and experienced and dedicated sales training."
Mark Miller, president of InnoMax, also cited his company's experience as an important asset. "At 31 years and counting," he said, "InnoMax is one of the oldest specialty sleep vendors in the bedding industry. As one of the few manufacturers who has been around longer than the 20-year warranties common in the specialty sleep industry, our primary focus is on producing proven, reliable products built to withstand the test of time."
But InnoMax isn't resting on its laurels. "History has proven," Miller said, "that the most successful specialty sleep retailers are those who take the time to educate consumers so they can emotionally invest in the science of specialty sleep. Knowledge is power and InnoMax, in conjunction with its partnership marketing program, empowers retailers with the merchandising and educational tools to succeed in the specialty sleep category."
Mark Strobel, president of Strobel Technologies, said his company "is one of the oldest and most experienced companies in specialty (technology) sleep products, with 32 years in this business." He noted that Strobel "introduced the first U.S.-made memory foam mattress 10 years ago. Strobel believes this experience leads his company to produce the highest-quality and most-durable memory foam mattress on the market today."
Strobel also said that his company offers patented technologies no one else can offer.
"Strobel is not another 'me-too' company," he said, "and has actual research on its beds with the 'Lever Support System' that proves it offers proven best back support, 90% less tossing and turning, and clinically proven better sleep. This gives Strobel dealers an advantage in the marketplace that helps them close many more profitable sales. Strobel offers all forms of specialty sleep with memory foam, latex, water, air, adjustable beds and unique patented combination systems."
In the airbed arena, Comfortaire is a veteran player that has moved beyond the basics, according to David Karr, president. "Comfortaire has 25 years of continuous experience in the air-supported sleep category," he said. "The industry standard is a six-inch latex-cotton chamber surrounded by a foam edge support and zipped into a cover. It is the basic design that we introduced in 1981.
"As a company we've moved forward from that to low-profile engineered alloy chambers and placed them at the surface of the mattress. Our unique Box-Top Aire design puts the air in the surface to better posturize the consumer. It also offers Edge-to-Edge adjustability because it does not require foam edge supports. This adds over 12% to the adjustable sleeping surface. The low-profile chambers also reduce the 'roll to the middle' feel experienced by some with the six-inch chambers."
But even newer entrants into the specialty sleep arena say they offer unique features and benefits that separate their companies from competitors.
Noted Chris Henning, president of Tempur-Pedic Retail: "We are the only mattress that uses Tempur material (our unique and proprietary formula) to develop the ultimate sleep surface. To this day, we're the only mattress recognized by NASA and certified by the Space Foundation."
Added Mike Zippelli, CEO of Dormia: "At Dormia, we incorporate the finest materials, like luxurious bamboo ticking, New Zealand lamb's wool and foundations made by the Pennsylvania Dutch into an outstanding sleep system that is one of the best values in the market today."
Larry Klein, vice president of sales at Natura, said his company offers "a wide product range to choose from and allows retailers the opportunity to offer the most desirable features under one brand."
