MDC adds to Hemingway beds with Ultra Plush 6000
David Perry -- Furniture Today, March 15, 2011
Katie Jansen of Mattress Development Corp. sits on the company’s new Ernest Hemingway bed. The tufted bed will retail for about $4,000.
LAS VEGAS — The new Ultra Plush 6000 introduced by Mattress Development Corp. is packed with features: Standard encased coils, low-profile encased coils, organic wool, pima cotton and Talalay latex.
The tufted bed, retailing at $4,000, is an addition to the company's Ernest Hemingway offerings.
"I think Hemingway would have enjoyed that bed," said Stuart Carlitz, CEO of Mattress Development Corp., referring to the iconic author and adventurer. "I think he would have been pleased to call that his bed."
The model, which was featured in the company's Las Vegas Market showroom, offers "very substantial comfort," Carlitz said. "It has a luxurious feel but doesn't give up any support."
Pictures of Hemingway on the showroom walls looked down on Carlitz as he reviewed the new beds, part of the Romance Collection. In addition to the $4,000 model, a $3,000 bed, also tufted and with four inches of Talalay latex, made its debut.
Carlitz said interest in the Hemingway line is on the upswing. "Several domestic and international manufacturers visited us in Las Vegas," he said. "We are starting to get interest internationally with the Hemingway line."
The Hemingway line is part of the bedding portfolio of Mattress Development Corp., based in North Brunswick, N.J., the licensor of the Eclipse and Eastman House brands.
In Las Vegas, Mattress Development also added beds to its Eclipse and Eastman House line. The heart of the Eclipse line is in the $499-$799 price range, while the heart of the Eastman House line ranges from $799 to $1,199.
"I think there will be a lot of bedding battlegrounds this year," Carlitz said. "With these lines we are well positioned to compete at key price points." He sees Mattress Development Corp. enjoying "a better year in 2011 than we had last year."
The Eclipse line features Spinal Zone Quilting, a "densified" quilt in the center third of the mattress. The additional support there helps prevent body impressions and provides greater support in the middle of the mattress, Carlitz said.
The Eastman House beds feature inner tufting and coilon- coil construction, a type of construction not commonly seen these days.
There are five Eclipse licensees and four Eastman House licensees. Two factories are dual licensees and produce both lines. Overseas, Eclipse has 24 factories while Eastman House has 11.
Carlitz said he's focusing future licensing efforts for those brands at independent bedding producers, rather than producers who already have a brand affiliation. "I don't want the licensees to be in competition with another master," he said.
He does allow that there are "rare exceptions" - factories "that can devote the time, resources, focus and energy to multiple brands." And he says that Bedding Inds. of America, the factory he owns that produces four bedding brands, is that rare exception.
In addition to the three brands he controls - Eastman House, Eclipse and Hemingway - Carlitz said he has dedicated resources focused on the Therapedic line, for which he is a licensee. "Therapedic is very important to me," he said. "We do dedicate specific personnel to our various brands."
Bedding veteran Joe Bagnasco heads sales efforts for the Therapedic line for Carlitz.
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Mattress Development adds to Hemingway bed line
Mar 7, 2011
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