Hendrixson's Scores With High-End Beds
David Perry -- Furniture Today, October 11, 2011
Virginia, left, and Paul Hendrixson, right, join store manager Damian Ford in getting comfortable on a Shifman sleep set at Hendrixson’s Furniture.
FURLONG, Pa. - The high-end mattress business is alive and well at Hendrixson's Furniture, a furniture retailer located in this affluent enclave.
The retailer, with stores here and in Emmaus, Pa., is enjoying strong results with two-sided sleep sets by Shifman Mattresses, the luxury bedding producer located in Newark, N.J., a 75-minute drive away through rolling countryside.
Hendrixson's has found success in the mattress category by carrying several of Shifman's top beds, displayed in nicely accessorized room settings and accented with everything from four-poster beds to fancy mirrors. The beds shine in those settings, and consumers have a way of stepping themselves up to better beds, company officials say.
The retailer does more than 50% of its bedding business with beds retailing at $5,000 and up in Shifman's top-end Masters Collection.
Damian Ford, manager of the Hendrixson's store here, notes that the company does not even advertise the Masters Collection. The price points in that collection, which retails from about $3,000 to about $9,000, might scare some consumers away, he said.
Instead, Hendrixson's starts its most aggressive bedding promotion - a "lowest prices of the year" offer that includes an extra 10% off - with a queen-sized Shifman set at $629, a price designed to attract attention. Other Shifman beds are sale priced at $854, $1,124 and $2,024 in queen in the direct mail piece that Hendrixson's uses to promote the sale.
Once consumers come in looking for bedding, the retailer likes to show them the best beds in the line. "They step 
Damian Ford, left, of Hendrixson’s Furniture and Bill Hammer of Shifman Mattresses stand with a Shifman sleep set in a four-poster bed at Hendrixson’s Furniture.
up much more than they thought they would when they try the beds," Ford said. "They can see the quality and feel the quality in the high-end Shifman products."
Added Jonathan Hendrixson, a member of the founding Hendrixson family: "For a lot of our customers, once they try the beds, they are willing to buy them. They realize they are getting more than they thought they would."
He said Hendrixson's does well in bedding by keeping its story simple, offering just the Shifman brand. Carrying too many bedding brands can confuse the customer, Hendrixson said.
High-end customers are back in the market, the retailer says. "The affluent customers have weathered this economy better than others," Jonathan Hendrixson noted. "There is still a demand for high-end products. Some stores have chased down (in price) too aggressively, and that is a pretty crowded field."
So Hendrixson's keeps its prices up, selling lines like Stickley, Hancock & Moore, Hickory Chair and Kindel - in addition to those high-end Shifman sleep sets.
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