Serta closing in on Sealy with strong sales increases
David Perry -- Furniture Today, August 26, 2010
David Perry Executive editor
That Sealy butterfly has been buffeted by strong winds from its biggest rivals, which have been making up ground on the industry's largest brand. Now there's a real race for the prestigious position of No. 1 in bedding.
Sealy can still lay claim to having the industry's top-selling brand - Sealy - but its lead there has shrunk dramatically in recent years. Serta was just $62 million behind the Sealy brand in 2009, according to Furniture/Today's bedding market share report.
To see how the three-way battle between Sealy, Simmons and Serta may play out, we looked at how the sales battle has been waged in the last five years. And the story is striking: A strong performance by Serta, a middling performance by Simmons, and a poor performance by Sealy.
The numbers tell the story:
Overall, Sealy had bedding shipments of about $1.3 billion in 2005, grew in 2006 and 2007, but then suffered big declines in 2008 and 2009. Sealy's 2009 shipments were about $1.1 billion, a 16.8% decline from 2005. Excluding the company's other brands, sales of the Sealy brand alone were an estimated $977 million in 2009.
Simmons had shipments of $849 million in 2005, grew in 2006 and 2007, and then went south in 2008 and 2009. Its 2009 shipments were $858 million, a 1.1% gain from 2005.
Serta was the biggest winner in the last five years. It had shipments of $811 million in 2005, grew in 2006, 2007 and 2008, and had a small decline last year. It posted 2009 shipments of $915 million, a gain of $104 million or 12.8% since 2005.
That 2009 performance vaulted Serta ahead of Simmons into the No. 2 sales slot.
As for Sealy, I have to wonder if that producer realizes how vulnerable it has become in the market share battle. Serta has been cutting into Sealy's lead for years, and continues to be a much more aggressive player in the market. Look at the recent Las Vegas Market, where Serta promoted heavily, introduced a number of new products, and kicked off an aggressive Labor Day promotion. Sealy, by contrast, talked about social media and its new website but introduced no new products. Advantage: Serta.
Bob Sherman and his experienced team at Serta have engineered a strong growth story in recent years, one that appears poised to take it to the top of the brand pyramid in the near future.
-
Three perspectives reveal strong market in Vegas
Feb 11, 2011 -
Think big, Serta's Sherman tells Vegas crowd
Aug 29, 2011
Featured Company
-
Brandwise Inc.
Brandwise serves a model - not just an industry - by integrating, automating, and optimizing the entire sales channel, from wholesale Suppliers to their Reps and the Retailers they service. In short, our software helps Reps and Suppliers sell more and create... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
