ComforPedic Retail Road Tour a good idea

HARTFORD, Conn. - Greetings from the capital of the Nutmeg State, a very special place for me to embark on a journey of retail discovery. More on that in a moment.This is my jumping off point for a rendezvous with the ComforPedic Loft Showroom on Wheels, an 18-wheeler that I last saw parked in a dusty Las Vegas parking lot across the street from the World Market Center.

That’s where the tour set out last month on a 10,000-mile retail odyssey across the U.S. and Canada. The goals: Introduce the new Simmons ComforPedic Loft line to retailers, conduct sales training sessions for them, and get their feedback (and that of consumers, too) on the new line. Simmons executives Scott Smalling and Butch Webster are following the truck in an SUV. In just a few hours, I’ll be meeting them. Can you say Road Trip?

Retail road shows are not a new idea, but they are a good idea, especially in these tough times. I’ll be spending the next few days traveling with Scott, Butch and the mobile showroom and sharing my observations on the trip. You will find them right here in my bedding blog on our homepage.

I chose Hartford as my departure point for sentimental reasons. I share a bond with the city with such well-known Hartford residents as Mark Twain and, from our industry, Bob Naboicheck, the Gold Bond president. Hartford was my birthplace and my hometown. My family moved to the Midwest and then to the South when I was still a boy, but the pull of New England lingers.

RETAIL LESSONS: The bedding experts tell me that New England has been hit hard by the recession. And the national bedding picture is lousy, with the industry mired in a double-digit sales slump. But the battle for business continues. In this section of my reports, I’ll be sharing some of those retail insights that are most apparent when you see them up close.
GEOGRAPHY LESSONS: Bradley International Airport, where my New England sojourn begins, sits in the quaintly named town of Windsor Locks. It is the second-busiest airport in New England (yes, Boston’s Logan takes first place honors). Its name pays tribute to Lt. Eugene M. Bradley, an Oklahoma lad who died when his P-40 crashed at the field in 1941 in a training drill that turned tragic. It was the first fatality at the field.
GOOD EATS: There’s a famous saying: An Army travels on its stomach. Well, so does a ComforPedic Loft Retail Tour. In this section of my reports, I’ll tell you about the local fare. Ever heard of a grinder? I’ll give you the tasty details.

LEARNING ABOUT LOFT: The seeds of the new ComforPedic Loft line of memory foam beds were planted with a key insight. A 2008 Gallup study found that 53% of prospective mattress purchasers between the ages of 18 and 34 said they were “likely to purchase a foam mattress.” Simmons spent more than a year researching and developing the ComforPedic Loft line, intended to be an affordable line for younger consumers.

COMING TOMORROW: Hello, Agawam.