Drop in specialty units puzzling find in my book
David Perry -- Furniture Today, August 5, 2007
A few weeks ago I asked Charlie Eitel, chairman and CEO of Simmons, what he thought of an association report stating the specialty sleep category suffered a slight unit decline last year. He expressed confidence in association statistics, but admitted: “I have a hard time understanding that (reported decline).”
I’m with him on that one. I admit I’m puzzled by that statistic, contained in the 2006 Mattress Industry report recently issued by the International Sleep Products Assn. ISPA said specialty sleep mattress units declined 0.2% last year.
Coming on the heels of a reported 24.5% jump in specialty sleep mattress units the year before, the decline for 2006 is shocking. What’s more, specialty sleep’s leading players had a strong year last year.
In our recent reporting on the reported decline, several industry leaders weighed in with their views. This week I’m weighing in with mine. I just don’t see how that unit decline last year can be accurate. And, after checking around, I can say that others share my doubts.
The two largest specialty sleep producers, Tempur-Pedic and Select Comfort, said ISPA’s monthly reports paint a more accurate picture of what is happening in specialty sleep than ISPA’s annual report. And those monthly specialty sleep numbers said that units were up 2.7% last year.
But even those monthly reports showed that specialty sleep mattress units were down last year in five of 12 months. That indicates the specialty sleep category, which appeared immune to industry downturns in the past, has now come down to earth.
Make no mistake: The specialty sleep category continues to dramatically outperform the innerspring category, and remains a key driver of overall industry growth. The dollar growth of specialty sleep mattress sales remains robust — up 12.2% last year. I know that you take dollars to the bank, not units. But I also know that unit figures are a better indicator of real growth than dollar figures. And even in those ISPA monthly totals, specialty sleep units took several hits last year.
One of my friends on the specialty sleep side of the business said he didn’t like my questions about what is happening to the specialty sleep category. I’m not trying to rain on specialty sleep’s parade, but reported declines in performance raise obvious questions. Ignoring those questions doesn’t help anyone.
One obvious question: Did specialty sleep units really decline last year? I just don’t see how that could be. I think ISPA should revisit its specialty sleep numbers.
