South Bay debuting line of memory foam bedding
OEM source will expand offerings with products sold directly to retailers
David Perry -- Furniture Today, July 30, 2008
AT THE MARKET — South Bay International is ready to step onto the bedding stage with an exclusive line of memory foam mattresses and pillows manufactured in China.
The company, which has been an OEM supplier to bedding producers and retailers for more than a decade, continues that work, but is now adopting a higher profile by selling a line of memory foam products directly to retailers. South Bay is making its Las Vegas Market debut this week in its new permanent showroom in the World Market Center, C-1355.
Company officials say they combine the strengths of Chinese production with a U.S.-based headquarters and warehouse.
“As the only U.S.-based company with its own 700,000-square-foot, vertically integrated factory, we truly are a domestic partner with the prices of an import,” said Bob Dupre, vice president of sales and marketing. “Other high-profile competitors claim they are the only one. We rightfully challenge that claim.”
The company’s factory is in Jiaxing, China, and is one year old. It can produce 2,000 mattresses per day, with memory foam and conventional polyurethane foams poured on site. All foam fabrication, lamination, core assembly, cut and sew, molding operations, quality control and packaging and shipping operations are also done at the facility, company officials said. That ensures product quality, they said.
South Bay is unveiling its Sleep Science line at the Las Vegas Market. The mattresses offer various combinations of memory foam, latex and conventional polyurethane foam, in both ventilated and solid layers, and also feature combinations of natural and synthetic blended fibers. Retails range from about $1,299 to about $2,700.
South Bay touts the “100% pure” nature of its memory foams, a feature which sets it apart from some of its competitors, according to Peter Tarquinio, president and CEO.
“We have become advocates for ensuring the integrity of memory foam products,” he said. “We feel that many visco-elastic foam products are being adulterated and degraded due to the fact that some foam companies use fillers that adversely affect the unique characteristics of the memory foam, and therefore produce an inferior product.”
South Bay says it prides itself on its innovation, and cites the Wedge, an edge support system it developed that uses foam rails to provide structural support to the side of the mattress while prolonging its useful life and extending the sleeping surface by up to 20%. It has licensed that feature to a few bedding producers, including one of the majors in the United States.
“We are, at our core, a company built on innovation and dedication to quality,” Tarquinio said.
In Las Vegas, the company is showing its new ventilated memory foam layer, which South Bay calls “the perfect construction to allow for air flow, while maintaining the perfect level of support and softness.” The ventilated layer is used in mattresses and in the company’s topper line. South Bay also offers ventilated and non-ventilated pillows, including the Tri-Density pillow that combines ventilated and unventilated sections in an ergonomic shape. That pillow will retail for $99.
In addition to its Sleep Science line, South Bay will introduce ViscoKidz, its memory foam line produced for children. The covers of those beds, offered in twin or full sizes, are blue, pink, green, orange or lavender.
“Our Sleep Science and ViscoKidz products lines are a superior blend of technology and artistry that incorporate scientific research and know-how with natural and technologically advanced materials,” said Mike Marl, national sales manager. “The lines offer some of the most aesthetically pleasing, luxuriously comfortable and supportive mattress and pillow products available in the market today.
