Bedding's star still shines bright in furniture stores
David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, October 12, 2008
OK, we've had enough bad news in the mattress category. So this week we promise you only great news, as in: The bedding category is rocking at retail. Sounds good, doesn't it? It's true.
Furniture/Today's latest installment of the Furniture Store Performance Report once again demonstrates the power of the rectangle on sales floors around the country. Overall, bedding accounts for 11% of the selling space in furniture stores, the survey of 2007 performance reveals. But it accounts for 14% of sales. In other words, bedding gives far more back to retailers than they give to it.
No other category can match bedding as an overachiever. Only three others manage to return more than their investment in square footage — entertainment centers, motion chairs and decorative accessories — but only by one percentage point each.
Interestingly, that overachievement gap is even higher in single furniture stores, according to our Performance Report, published in the Sept. 8 issue. Single-store operations devote 9% of their selling space to bedding and generate 13% of their sales in the category. Multi-store furniture store operations devote more space to bedding — 14% — and generate 16% of sales in the category.
In comparison, case goods and upholstery are laggards. Overall, furniture stores devote 35% of their selling space to case goods, and generate “only” 29% of their sales in the category. Upholstery, which commands 33% of the selling space, accounts for 33% of sales.
Bedding is like a high-yield certificate of deposit; it consistently produces a dividend in the form of superior sales performance. I don't think I need to remind you furniture retailers, in this year of challenging business, just how important a consistently superior record of success is to the health of your business.
In our Performance Report we also looked at the average markups in various product categories. And bedding is also a standout there. The sweet spot for markups is two times the cost of goods. And in that category, bedding has no peer; 46% of the furniture stores surveyed said they mark up queen-size bedding 2.0 times — the highest percentage of any category. In contrast, only 40% of the furniture stores use a 2.0 markup on master bedroom groups, while just 39% use a 2.0 markup on a leather-covered stationary sofa.
Seventeen percent of the furniture stores, by the way, said they mark up their mattresses more than 2.0 times, while 37% said they mark up mattress less than 2.0 times.
So, Mr. or Ms. Merchandise Manager, as you survey your sales floor these days in search of additional dollars, your plan of attack should be obvious: Devote more of your selling space to mattresses. How about adding a mattress gallery program? The sales dollars will come rolling in. Repeat after me: Mattresses give back more than you give them.
Contact David Perry at dperry@reedbusiness.com
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