Panel to discuss mattress labeling practices

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, January 28, 2013

BarnardLAS VEGAS - "Eco-chic" interior designer Sarah Barnard of Sarah Barnard Design in Santa Monica, Calif., will moderate a panel discussion about the value of consumer disclosure labeling in the specialty sleep marketplace at this week's Las Vegas Market.
     Panel participants will include Chris Chamberlain, cofounder of The Clean Bedroom, an organic bedding retailer with stores in Maine, California, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York; Barry Cik, founder of Naturepedic, an organic bedding manufacturer with a product labeling program; and a Las Vegas consumer who places a high value on transparent communications when deciding which products to purchase for her home.
     The hourlong seminar, open to all market attendees, is set for 4 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, in World Market Center space C-176 and is sponsored by the Specialty Sleep Assn. The event was created to raise awareness on how using "truth in marketing" of sleep products can help to grow sales among specific groups of consumers, according to Dale Read, SSA president.
     The panel will discuss how identifying "what's in a mattress" can be a powerful selling tool for retailers. The group also will provide tips on how stores in the specialty sleep arena can address the product labeling issue, officials said.
     "Purchasing safe and environmentally friendly products for the home is a growing priority for many consumers, especially for mothers of young children," said Read. "With the SSA's Environmental & Safety Program, we've done the legwork for the manufacturer and the retailer."
     The SSA program has three levels of bedding product seals with levels of requirements. The seals, plus a required SSA Consumer Disclosure Label, appear on mattresses from manufacturers that comply with the program and serve to inform the consumer about the minimum environmental and compliance levels to which a manufacturer claims its products adhere, SSA officials said.