Tarbutton: FR change a sales opportunity
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, April 30, 2007
Des Plaines, Ill. — Bemco President Daryl Tarbutton says the bedding industry has an unprecedented opportunity this spring and summer to sell truckloads of mattresses. But he's surprised that more retailers don't seem to be seizing that opportunity.
With the pending onset of a new federal mattress flammability standard on July 1, all bedding producers will be shipping new fire-resistant sleep sets to their dealers. And that means the current bedding lines, if they are not FR-compliant, will be leaving sales floors across the country.
"Just as the auto industry advertises annual year-end model close-outs, we strongly urge Bemco retailers to use this close-out promotion as a tonnage mattress selling event for the next several months," Tarbutton said. "Not only will this allow dealers to move out any non-compliant sleep sets, but the sale can run concurrently with new product introductions."
Bemco is giving its dealers plenty of close-out ammunition, offering an array of close-out elements, including an ad kit featuring six color newspaper ads and/or pre-printed inserts, radio spots, point-of-sale acrylic displays, hang tags and two-sided vinyl point-of-sale banners.
"These tools will help dealers maximize their sales volume," Tarbutton said. "Since most dealers have a mix of compliant and non-compliant bedding, the close-out sale allows us to introduce success — tonnage promotions — into the mix."
