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California's Sit 'n Sleep debuts updated format

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, July 27, 2008

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif. — Larry Miller, the best-known bedding figure in Los Angeles, looms larger than life in the remodeled and remerchandised Sit 'n Sleep store here.

Miller has been the face of this sophisticated, large-format bedding retailer for years. And now his smiling image is featured prominently in this store and almost a dozen others in a redesign that gives the retailer a fresh look.

That's just one of the things the retailer is doing to boost its business, which isn't where company officials would like it to be. The southern California economy is not robust, and it is affecting many businesses in the sprawling Los Angeles market, according to the retailer.

Sit 'n Sleep also is adding more specialty beds to its product mix, hoping to capitalize on that hot product category. And it continues to pursue a strategy of deliberate growth, adding stores only in its home market.

But the retailer says it isn't making the changes in response to what its competitors are doing. Sit 'n Sleep marches to its own drumbeat.

When Miller, president, and his partner, Nelson Bercier, took stock of the company's expansive stores a while back, they decided the stores needed freshening up to move from “good” to “great.” “We needed a facelift,” Bercier said the other day, surveying the remodeled store here.

“We are marrying the look of the store to our electronic media, which is Larry,” Bercier said. “Our customers see our commercials and they come in our stores and they connect with us.”

Consumers who enter the store here in this southern Los Angeles suburb see a huge picture of Miller greeting them on a panel just inside the door. Miller's smiling face also looks out from the walls on the right and left sides of the store.

Sales associates say that consumers come into the Sit 'n Sleep stores asking if Miller is in the store. The man who founded the company with his father, Phil, almost 30 years ago, remains a vital force in the company, but even he can only be in one store at a time.

With the new signage, however, the real Miller or a print version of him is always present.

The remodeled stores feature a wooden racetrack, a new look for the retailer, which encloses sleep accessories and some high-priced bedding lines, including Kingsdown in the Laguna Hills store. The color scheme is warm, and Sit 'n Sleep lifestyle signage decorates the walls and aisles. “We want to brand Sit 'n Sleep,” Bercier said. “Sit 'n Sleep is the brand.”

The new, cleaner look de-emphasizes the manufacturers' point-of-purchase displays that gave the older stores a “circus” look, one that was “confusing” to consumers, Bercier said. “Our manufacturers trust us,” he said. “It is in our best interest to do a lot of business with them all. Would they prefer more POP? Probably. But they've been very supportive of the redesign.”

The rest of the Sit 'n Sleep stores will be switched to the new format by later this year. Store Image of Toronto came up with the new design in consultation with Sit 'n Sleep officials.

The fresh face is playing well with a key group — the company's highly skilled sales associates, which Miller says are the best in the industry.

“We know we are on the right track,” Bercier said. “Our sales associates feel better about coming to work here.” Sit 'n Sleep focuses on its sales associates, building strong relationships with them. Miller and Bercier say the associates are the real drivers of the business.

In the specialty sleep arena, foam bedding is an “up and coming” sub-category for Sit 'n Sleep, Bercier said. The retailer will almost triple the number of specialty sleep beds on its floors, moving from 12 models to 30, including both latex and memory foam models. The lineup will include specialty beds by Tempur-Pedic, Aireloom, ComforPedic by Simmons, Kingsdown, Spring Air, Sealy and Dormia.

The retailer continues to expand in the Los Angeles and Orange County market (the store count is now up to 22), but has no plans to go farther afield.

“We know this market and the people know us,” Bercier said. “When we go outside this market, who knows how the stars align?”

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