First impressions matter at Pa. retailer Interiors
David Perry -- Furniture Today, October 29, 2011
This iComfort sleep set by Serta, located in the atrium at Interiors, helps call attention to the mattress offerings at the high-end furniture store.
LANCASTER, Pa. - The journey to fine furniture (and mattresses) at Interiors here begins in the atrium at the front of this 70,000-square-foot store.
As shoppers enter the airy enclave, they are greeted with a selection of the goods available in the store. It's a quick look at items ranging from $700 to $7,000. Stylish sofas, accommodating accents and timeless tables are on display, whispering of so much more furniture waiting to be discovered in the rest of the store.
This high-end, designer-oriented retailer recently introduced a new product category into the atrium, where the store makes that all-important first impression with consumers. For the first time, a sleep set joined the upholstery and case goods in the atrium.
The sleep set is in Serta's iComfort line of gel memory foam beds. With its high-style lifestyle display unit, the iComfort sleep set holds its own with the more traditional stars of the furniture industry.
"It has created a lot of interest in bedding, regardless of the resource," said William Bradley, merchandising manager at Interiors.
He recalled the moment when he first saw the iComfort line in Serta's showroom. "When I walked in and saw the display I thought, ‘If buyers are this excited, how would a consumer feel?'"
That iComfort sleep set in the atrium is helping to encourage shoppers to head for the company's Sleep Loft, where a number of high-end sleep sets - and some medium-priced models, too - are on display.
The bedding category is up 65% at Interiors this year, the company reports. The iComfort line is part of that success. "As soon as it hit the floor," Bradley said, "it started selling."
Bradley and Todd Lehman, president and CEO of Interiors, said specialty bedding is helping drive higher tickets at Interiors. Those $2,500 and $3,000 price points help boost sales, they said.
Interiors also carries bedding by Tempur-Pedic, whose sales are up 21% this year, and by Englander, currently up 35%. A key performer on the sales floor is the Lehman Collection, produced by Englander, a longtime supplier to Interiors. More on that collection in our next installment of Retail Bedding Playbook.
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