Vegas highlights include licensing, encased coils
David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, February 15, 2010
Things I learned in Las Vegas earlier this month: There are some impatient players in the mattress category. How else to explain the rush to leave Las Vegas on Wednesday, just two days after the market started?
I tackled this topic in my blog the other day, and I want to briefly go on record here to say: Anyone who spends only two days shopping bedding at the Las Vegas Market is missing a great deal. If their mattress lineup is perfectly aligned, retailers could still benefit by checking out new sleep accessory offerings and taking in a seminar or two.
Archie Manning is a class act. I had the chance to talk to Manning one-on-one before his Bedding Kickoff address that night. The former NFL star is a polished, poised performer and was an excellent choice to talk football and business to an appreciative audience of bedding execs.
World Market Center CEO Bob Maricich told me that Manning was sacked 339 times in his long NFL career, but always got up for the next play. That plucky spirit can inspire us in the mattress business. In football terms, we've been sacked for big losses in the last two years, but this year we are looking to gain some ground.
Diagnostic selling systems are gaining momentum. Kingsdown is the leader in this arena (and improved its own diagnostic system's performance and display options with its Las Vegas showing), but now has some significant company. Comfort Solutions has a new BodyMatch system that looks promising, and Spring Air's new Comfort Silhouette Imaging system should be helpful for that producer. Using science to sell better sleep is a great idea. It beats touting low prices.
The mattress licensing movement marches on. Now joining the licensing lineup, which already includes Donald Trump, Kathy Ireland, Jane Seymour, Laura Ashley and Danny Seo, are Playboy Enterprises and Nickelodeon. Say hello to a Playboy mattress at Mattress Development Co. and SpongeBob SquarePants juvenile beds at Serta. From kids to adults (and fans of an adults-only magazine), we've got licensed mattresses for almost everyone.
Our industry has a big heart. Tempur-Pedic donated $500,000 to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the result of strong retail support for a Teddy Bear promotion. Kudos to Tempur-Pedic for that campaign.
Encased coils are springing up everywhere. Therapedic successfully launched its Therawrap line of encased coil beds, while Natura made a strong entry into the innerspring category with its GreenSpring line. And the leader in encased coils, Simmons, introduced a new Super Pocketed Coil in its revamped Beautyrest line.
There is cause for optimism about business prospects this year. Judging by the breadth of introductions we saw in Las Vegas, there are plenty of exciting new products coming to spark retail sales later this year.
Contact David Perry at dperry@reedbusiness.com
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