Bedding majors roll out new brands, additions
High Point Market Guide: Product strategies
David Perry -- Furniture Today, April 7, 2008
HIGH POINT — Call this bedding market A Tale of Three Brands.
The big bedding news here is being made by three Top 15 bedding producers. One is rolling out a reinvented brand, one is launching a new brand, and one has additions to one of its key brands.
Industry sales leader Sealy, showing at its Archdale campus as usual, is touting its new Posturepedic line, which has been revamped to offer a unique combination of pressure relief and push-back support, according to that producer.
Sealy’s new Posturepedic line retails from about $599 to $2,000. It incorporates changes in the innerspring unit, including the addition of “posture channels,” as well as the use of new “pressure knock-out zones” that consist of various types of foam, including memory foam and latex. Those foam inlays target the areas most prone to pressure points, according to Sealy.
The new Posturepedic line is designed to eliminate tossing and turning caused by pressure points, the producer said.
The new brand is Five Star Mattress, a new bedding entity created by the owners of Serta. Five Star is being shown in The Bedding Center in Plaza Suites, where Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. is concentrating bedding showrooms in a bid to raise bedding’s profile at the High Point Market. Five Star has a 2,000-square-foot showroom in The Bedding Center.
The Five Star line targets retail prices ranging from $299 to $999. It offers branded bedding components at value prices, according to Donna Zett, Five Star president. “This line has a great deal of potential,” Zett said. “We are in an acceleration mode. We’ve got those first orders. Now we are waiting for reorders.”
The Five Star line is being produced by Serta factories.
The third brand in the spotlight here is Therapedic’s Kathy Ireland Home collection. Therapedic, which shows in The Bedding Center, is showcasing two additions to the Kathy Ireland collection. The first is the A Café line, which features coffee-colored mattress ticking to bring the joys of the kitchen into the bedroom. That line has been refined based on feedback from Ireland, who wanted to make sure it was affordably priced for families, and from retailers. The line can now start at $399 or $499.
The second new Kathy Ireland group is J du J, which brings the garden indoors. It features celadon green in the ticking to make a green statement. That all-foam line can start as low as $699, well below the $1,000 level where many other all-foam lines begin, according to Therapedic officials.
Gerry Borreggine, Therapedic president, said those new lines should offer welcome relief to retailers — and consumers.
“It’s no secret that business is difficult right now,” he said. “Retailers are looking for products that will prevent the consumer from walking. Money is tight and not everybody walking into the stores can afford a $1,200 sleep set. With Kathy Ireland Home A Cafe and J du J, we have equipped our dealers with the products that will capture the promotional end of the business.”
