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Select Comfort remains unchallenged as No. 1

Sleep Train jumps three slots to No. 4

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, August 12, 2007

High Point — The country's three largest bedding retailers each recorded strong gains in 2006 and retain their market-leading positions.

Airbed retailer Select Comfort remains unchallenged as the No. 1 bedding retailer in the country. Its revenues jumped 15% last year to $676 million, almost $250 million ahead of its nearest rival.

That would be Sleepy's, which also posted a 15% sales gain in 2006, finishing the year at $430 million. Sleepy's could close some of that gap this year with its deal to pick up some of the stores operated by Rockaway Bedding, which ended 2006 with revenues of $129 million.

In the No. 3 position is Mattress Firm, which engineered an impressive 22.3% sales gain in 2006 to finish the year with revenues of $401 million. That retailer has made a number of acquisitions that position it for further growth.

While the top three on Furniture/Today's list of the Top 25 Bedding Retailers protected their positions last year, The Sleep Train made a big jump up the list, moving into the No. 4 position. Sleep Train, No. 7 in 2005, purchased Sleep Country USA in 2006 and saw its revenues leap 70.2%, to $326.8 million.

Sam's Club, the membership club retailer, had bedding revenues last year of $316 million, a slight 1.0% increase, and again ranks No. 5 on the list.

Department store heavyweight Macy's, No. 4 last year, dropped to No. 6, with a 9.7% decline in bedding revenues.

Mattress Giant, posting a 4.5% gain last year, slipped one spot, to No. 7.

The No. 8 and No. 9 retailers — the Serta-exclusive sleep shop network and the Berkshire Hathaway furniture division, respectively — held their positions last year.

Cracking the Top 10 was Ashley Furniture HomeStores, which posted a 35.7% revenue gain last year, the third best by any top bedding retailer, to finish the year with bedding revenues of $190 million.

The breakdown of the Top 10 shows that bedding specialists continue to be the industry's strongest players, occupying six of the 10 positions, including the top four. But it also shows the variety of bedding channels that key the business today: The Top 10 list also includes a warehouse membership club, a department store and two furniture store operators.

Overall, the Top 25 retailers had bedding sales last year of $4.8 billion, a 12.2% gain.

The second tier of 10 is similar to last year, with a couple of notable exceptions. Sears had a 15.4% bedding revenue decline in 2006, to finish the year at $110 million, dropping from No. 12 into the No. 17 position. New to the list is American Signature, which ranks No. 15 on the strength of bedding revenues of $115 million, and No. 19 Raymour & Flanigan, with 2006 bedding sales of $95 million.

Ranking No. 11 is Rooms To Go, which dropped from No. 10 last year.

Moving up the list is 1800mattress.com (formerly 1-800-Mattress). No. 15 last year, it now ranks No. 12, with bedding revenues last year up 37.5% to $143 million.

In its final appearance on the list, Rockaway Bedding ranks No. 13, an unlucky number for that retailer, which filed for Chapter 11 protection this year and is now destined to boost the Sleepy's empire.

JCPenney again holds down the No. 14 spot, and Slumberland again ranks No. 16. Mattress Discounters dropped one spot, to No. 18, while Costco stayed at No. 20. Art Van dropped down three spots, to No. 21.

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