Are bedding imports friends or foes for retailers? That’s a bit overstated, I admit, but you see where I’m headed — a discussion of the role bedding imports play on retail floors.

I admit I’m prompted to raise the “foe” possibility by the continuing anti-import sentiment that exists in our industry. Those tainted mattresses discovered by a Dutch bedding retailer a few weeks ago didn’t help the pro-import cause, and sparked plenty of industry buzz.

Leading bedding importers tell me that retailers love the robust margins they say their lines provide, and I don’t see any bedding importers disappearing from the scene. But serious questions remain about the future of bedding imports. Few bedding insiders think mattress imports will be nearly as big a factor as imports of wood furniture have become in case goods.

We published an interesting figure on bedding imports in our recent Furniture Store Performance Report, in the Sept. 10 issue. The report was based on responses from over 200 furniture retailers. Almost half the revenues generated by that group came from small stores — moms and pops — with annual sales of less than $2 million.

The telling statistic: 41% of the responding furniture stores said they are direct importers, with 10% of those importing bedding. That’s a pretty significant number, considering our sample was heavily weighted toward smaller stores. We wouldn’t think that smaller stores would be as likely to be direct importers as the big retailers. Interestingly, 65% of the direct importers who responded to our survey said they are bringing in master bedroom. So they know something about importing.

It’s worth noting, however, that bedding is toward the bottom of the list of products they directly import. And we should remember that retailers also could be getting imports from suppliers who are importing product.

In general, the industry continues to believe the quick-delivery, full-service model used by major U.S. bedding producers will be largely resistant to major inroads from Chinese mattresses.

One reason is that U.S. bedding producers already are using imported components, including innersprings and foam. That limits some of the possible cost advantages of fully assembled imported mattresses.

On the general subject of importing, here’s one final point to consider: Some bedding executives argue that wood furniture imports have been helpful to the bedding category, because they have freed up significant consumer dollars that can now be spent on bedding.

But I wonder if that “found” money is going to bedding. Something tells me it may be going to iPods … and gasoline bills.