As the mattress industry lurches through unusually trying times, we’ve got a formula for retail success: 

* Learn from bedding retailers with a proven track record of growth. 

* Add more high-end beds to your floor to boost your average unit selling price and generate a buzz with consumers. 

* Make sleep accessories a more important part of your product mix. The most successful bedding retailers are already doing a nice job with accessories. It’s high time other bedding retailers got on the accessories bandwagon. 

* Refine your advertising strategies. This is a good time to make some adjustments, but you’ve got to keep promoting. 

* Surround yourself with people dedicated to your success. 

That’s the winning formula that we will be featuring at our upcoming Bedding Conference, which begins May 14 at the Ritz-Carlton golf resort in Naples, Fla. While we set the agenda several months ago, it offers an unusually timely and compelling presentation for retailers. To paraphrase Winston Churchill: Never have so many needed so much help in so many different ways. 

We will be providing retailers with help on several fronts at the Bedding Conference. 

We will share the success stories of the Ashley Furniture HomeStores, R.C. Willey, Sleep America and the Verlo Mattress Factory Stores. Together those retailers offer several instructive lessons. 

A panel of leading retailers will tackle the importance of selling better sleep. Accessories producers will tell retailers how they can boost their sales tickets. Three high-end bedding producers will challenge your thinking on where price points should top out. Advertising and sales training experts will share some of their best practices. And I’ll present the highlights of our latest retail bedding research. 

If you haven’t registered yet, it’s not too late. You can register online at http://reed.premium.def6.com/slideshows/beddingconference08/ , or you can email our special events manager, Meg Goldsby, at meg.goldsby@reedbusiness.com. 

A couple of reminders for conference attendees: 

* We are meeting at the Ritz-Carlton golf resort in Naples. There are two Ritz properties in Naples. Make sure to come to the golf resort. 

* Our dress code is business casual for all sessions, except our awards dinner, where the gentlemen should wear coat and tie. 

* Come prepared to learn. We’ve got a great group of bedding experts ready to share their knowledge with you. I’ll see you next week in Naples.