Mattress fabrics play many roles

Transcription

BedTimes
NOVEMBER 2009
THE BUSINESS JOURNAL FOR THE SLEEP PRODUCTS INDUSTRY
All dressed up
Mattress fabrics play many roles
Your guide to the ISPA Industry
Conference & Exhibition
Fall Vegas market
is all about value
Leadership Lessons:
How to build trust
Cutting Edge
Technology
OPTIONS
• Model 1367 Motorized Carousel
• Model 1379990 Additional roll carts
• Model 1379835 Additional stacker carts
Additional stacker
carts available
Model 1379835
Touch screen controls
Additional roll carts available
Model 1379990
Electronic
Edge Guiding System
SPECIFICATIONS
Voltage (v/ph/hz)
220V 1PH 50/60HZ
Current (amps)
30
Air pressure (psi)
80
Air consumption (cfm)
5
Shipping Weight (lbs)
5,000
Shipping Dimensions (w/l/h, In.)
Roll Holder
Infeed
Main Unit
PRODUCTION
55 Watt
100 Watt
5.5
8.0
Minutes 8 hours
Minutes unload / load
480
- 96
480
- 96
Minutes Run time
Panels per minute
394
x 5.5
394
x 8.0
pieces per shift
2167
3152
FR Queen Panels per min.
Motorized Carousel
Model 1367
Model 1379D - 55 watt
Model 1379D100 - 100 watt
121 x 35 x 40
143 x 94 x 96
160 x 68 x 96
Conforms to all safety regulations dictated by the FDA
Website:
www.atlatt.com
The
email:
[email protected]
Sudden Service™ Company
This equipment is protected by one or more of the following patents:
US patents: 4,280,421; 4,432,294; 4,466,367; 4,644,883; 5,134,947; 5,159,889; 5,203,270; 5,522,332; 5,524,563; 5,562,060;
5,634,418; 5,647,293; 5,657,711; 5,743,202; 5,865,135; 5,899,159; 5,915,319; 5,918,560; 5,979,345; 6,035,794; 6,055,921;
6,202,579; 6,279,869; 6,295,481; 6,494,255; 6,802,271; 6,574,815 B2; 6,834,603 B1; 6,968,794 B1
Foreign patents: 9-520,472; 0,537,323; 92,905,522.6; 96,936,922.2; 2,076,379; 2,084,055.
Other U.S. and Foreign Patents Pending. Copyright 2009 Atlanta Attachment Co.
08112010609
Atlanta Attachment Company
362 Industrial Park Drive
Lawrenceville, GA 30045
(770) 963-7369 • FAX (770) 963-7641
Laser Cutter - Cuts all Non-wovens
High Speed
Cuts all Non-wovens
3000+ Pieces per Shift*
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Round, mitered or square corners
Inner panels, foundations, single-sided
mattress bottoms and dust covers
Inventory roll goods only, up to 30” dia.
Reduce number of SKU’s
Fully automatic operation
Video Available!
Download schedule to laser
Windows XP operating system
www.atlatt.com
Touch screen interface
Or contact sales
Never run out of any panel size
to request a CD
Cuts panels continually, no lunch or breaks
Auto stacks panels
Operator can easily create and save styles from simple menu driven software
Quick and easy on-screen order set-up
All units are supplied with 1 stacker cart and 1 roll cart
1 Year Warranty
Buying Costly
Pre-cut Panels!
* Production based on 100 watt laser, queen size panels and most common non-woven material.
During the Great Depression, many people stuffed their mattresses with their life savings to
protect the family fortunes. Today, your fortunes depend on what goes into your bedding
as well. That is why Hickory Springs provides not just one, but four exceptional
foams formulated to give you and your customers the gold standard for bedding
quality and performance. The newest member of our foam family is Talalay
CertiPUR-US
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CM
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For more details about how Hickory Springs foams can help you increase your
fortune without costing you one, call (828) 328-2201 or visit www.hickorysprings.com
PO Box 128 • Hickory, NC 28603
(800) 438-5341
©2007-2009 Hickory Springs Mfg. Co.
NOV 2009
InSide
Features
14 Ticking trends
The textiles used to upholster mattresses and foundations help to improve the
comfort and performance of today’s bed sets and attract the consumer’s eye in the
store. BedTimes looks at trends in this important category.
25 Value-driven market
Mattress manufacturers were eager to tout their value products during the fall
Las Vegas Market, showing off beds with lower price points but still loaded with
features. BedTimes also found foam innovations, a continued emphasis on “green”
bedding and steady growth in accessories such as pillows and mattress pads.
Departments
7 Leadership Lessons
People won’t follow leaders they don’t
trust. Leadership guru Larry Wilson
says trusting yourself is an important
step in building the trust of others.
9 Company Profile
Natura World, a manufacturer of
organic and natural bedding based
in Canada, is in the midst of an
aggressive expansion that includes
acquisitions, new production facilities
and a broad social media marketing
campaign.
47 ISPA Industry Conference
BedTimes gives you a complete guide
to the annual event, held this year
Nov. 4-6 in Bonita Springs, Fla. You’ll
find schedules, information about
exhibitors and sponsors, plus insights
from conference speakers about consumer trends, social media marketing,
going “green” and creating an exciting
retail experience.
www.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes
5 Editor’s Note
33 Industry News
74 Newsmakers
76 Calendar
77 ISPA News
78 Advertisers Index
79 Classifieds
80 The Last Word
BedTimes | November 2009 |
3
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“
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For sales inquiries, please contact:
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SABA North America LLC
5420 Lapeer Road
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SABA, dedicated to foam bonding
Est. 1933: 76 years of strong bonds
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Julie A. Palm
336-727-1889
[email protected]
SENIOR WRITER
Barbara Nelles
336-856-8973
[email protected]
CONTRIBUTORS
Patricia Frank
Lin Grensing-Pophal
Dorothy Whitcomb
Larry Wilson
ART DIRECTOR
Stephanie Belcher
336-201-7475
[email protected]
Vice President of Sales
Kerri Bellias
336-945-0265
[email protected]
Ad Production &
CIRCULATION manager
Debbie Robbins
336-342-4217
[email protected]
COPY EDITOR
Margaret Talley-Seijn
BedTimes deadlines
Editorial deadlines for the Industry
News and Newsmakers sections
of the January issue of BedTimes are
Monday, Dec. 1.
Volume 137 Number 11
BedTimes (ISSN 0893-5556) is published
monthly by the International Sleep Products
Association. Periodicals postage paid at
Alexandria, Va., and additional mailing offices.
Editorial and advertising offices
126 Parkview Lane, Reidsville, NC 27320
Phone 703-683-8371; Fax 703-683-4503
Administrative and ISPA offices
501 Wythe St., Alexandria, Va. 22314-1917
Phone 703-683-8371; Fax 703-683-4503
Postmaster Send address changes to
BedTimes, 501 Wythe St., Alexandria, Va.
22314-1917
Contents © 2009 by the
International Sleep Products
Association. Reprint permission
obtainable through BedTimes.
Editor’sNote
Will you have the next
big idea in bedding?
I
nnovation—big idea innovation—
can transform your company. It
can create an entirely new product
category, open markets, increase your
profits or take you from a niche player
to a well-known brand name.
That’s serious business. But two researchers say that innovation starts with
a free-flowing, almost childlike mind.
In a recent post on the Harvard Business Review blog
(http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org),
Editor Bronwyn Fryer hosted a question-and-answer session with Jeff Dyer,
the Horace Beesley Professor of Strategy
at the Marriott School at Brigham
Young University, and Hal Gregersen,
affiliate professor of leadership at the
global Insead business school.
Dyer and Gregersen conducted a
six-year study of “innovators’ DNA,”
surveying 3,000 executives and following up with 500 individual interviews.
They explore the topic further in an
article in the upcoming December issue
of the Harvard Business Review.
Dyer tells HBR that they have discovered five key skills that distinguish
innovators from other executives or
managers: “The first skill is what we call
‘associating.’ It’s a cognitive skill that
allows creative people to make connections across seemingly unrelated questions, problems or ideas. The second
skill is questioning—an ability to ask
‘what if,’ ‘why’ and ‘why not’ questions
that challenge the status quo and open
up the bigger picture. The third is the
ability to closely observe details, particularly the details of people’s behavior. Another skill is the ability to experiment—
the people we studied are always trying
on new experiences and exploring new
worlds. And finally, they are really good
at networking with smart people who
have little in common with them, but
from whom they can learn.”
What do those traits have in common? They all stem from inquisitiveness.
“I spent 20 years studying great
global leaders and that was the big
common denominator. It’s the same
kind of inquisitiveness you see in small
children,” Gregersen says.
”If you look at 4-year-olds, they are
constantly asking questions and wondering how things work. But by the time
they are 6 ½ years old, they stop asking
questions because they quickly learn that
teachers value the right answers more
than provocative questions. High school
students rarely show inquisitiveness,”
Gregersen says. “And by the time they’re
grown up and are in corporate settings,
they have already had the curiosity
drummed out of them. Eighty percent of
executives spend less than 20% of their
time on discovering new ideas.”
You probably have innovators in
your company and they may not be who
you think. Dyer says there are many
“discovery-driven” people who are reluctant to ask questions, try experiments
or brainstorm ideas because they worry
about looking dumb or don’t believe
their company values such initiative.
To unleash innovative ideas, it might
be time to encourage people in your
company to discover their inner child. BT
Julie A. Palm
5
LeadershipLessons
Being a leader means building trust
It also requires
developing
a thick skin
By Larry Wilson
H
ow many times have you
awakened in a cold sweat worrying about a question that
you wanted—or maybe didn’t want—
answered? Here’s one that has kept me
up on more than one occasion: “Am I
really a good leader? Do people want
to follow me or are they just pretending to follow because they think they
have to?”
Here’s the thing: Leading isn’t for
the thin skinned. Just the opposite:
It requires the thick skin we all have,
yet might not have discovered. When
you’re really leading, you’ll constantly
discover your thick skin while learning
more about yourself.
We have to learn to trust ourselves
before we can expect others to trust us.
It’s only when others believe and trust
us that they will follow us. Earning
trust is the starting point for any leader
who expects others to be ready, willing
and able to follow him. What is trust?
There are numerous ways to define
trust. I think of trust as the glue that
keeps relationships connected or, in the
absence of trust, disconnected. Leaders can’t afford to have disconnected
relationships.
What is it about you that others
have to trust before they want to follow
you? When I was chief executive officer
of Wilson Learning Corp., we had a
group of Ph.D.s who were focused on
studying trust.
They determined that the word
“trust” is too broad to be properly defined as only one concept. They came
up with three separate beliefs people
need to have about you before they’re
ready to follow you:
➤ They need to trust your intention Do you really have their best
interests at heart? Do you really
care?
➤ They need to trust your competence Are you able or skillful enough
to do the tasks you’re responsible for
doing? Are you up for the job?
➤ They need to trust your propriety Do you behave in ways that
people expect you to behave in any
given situation? Do you portray the
values, decency and morality they
expect from any leader?
It’s here where you need that
thick skin. Are you tough enough to
answer these questions truthfully?
Can you look into a mirror and
objectively evaluate your leadership performance on a 1-to-10 scale
against these criteria? And, if you
can, are you tough enough to share
your evaluations with the people
you hope will follow you?
This means using your thick skin
to share with them your thin skin—
the mistakes, failures and behaviors
you know are holding you back from
being the leader they want you to be.
This last toughness test—objectively sharing evaluations of your
leadership—is called self-disclosure.
Self-disclosure is powerful. Being
willing to open up is one of the most
significant ways any leader can earn
trust from others, if—and it’s a big
if—you’re also willing to ask your
followers to provide their honest
feedback about you.
If you’re in a cold sweat just
thinking about asking your followers such questions, it’s time to check
your skin’s thickness.
Pinch yourself. You do have the
right stuff and deserve the title of
leader because you’re willing to
change and grow. Believe that you
do have the thick skin necessary to
do the job, because you do. You can
withstand the growing pains and
you can withstand the heat because
you are a leader. Believe in yourself
and others will follow. BT
Larry Wilson is a
pioneer in change
management, leadership development
and strategic thinking. He has founded
the Wilson Learning Corp., Pecos River
Learning and The Wilson Collaborative. Wilson works with companies to
help them “create the organization that,
if it existed, would put them out of business.” His clients include major mattress
manufacturers and retailers. He can be
reached at [email protected].
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CompanyProfile
Natura World sets itself on path for growth
Acquisition of gel company, U.S. expansion are part of plan
By Dorothy Whitcomb
N
atural and organic bedding
manufacturer Natura World
is using acquisitions, innovative marketing tools and expanded
production and distribution as part of
a strategic push to take command of
the “green” specialty bedding market
it helped to pioneer.
The 15-year-old, privately held
company says that it has had annual
double-digit growth since its founding and reports that sales of Natura
products increased 40% in 2008. This
year’s sales are on
track to meet or surpass that number,
says Ralph Rossdeutscher, president
and co-founder
of the Cambridge,
Ontario-based
company.
“Now is the
perfect time to grow
because you’re able
to get good people
and bankers (in Canada) are very supportive,” he says.
Expansion plans
Rapid growth prompted the company to more than triple its manufacturing space last year. In March
2008, all production moved from
a 42,000-square-foot factory into a
new 141,000-square-foot facility. The
move makes Natura “the largest mattress and bedding manufacturer in
Canada,” says Larry Klein, senior vice
president.
Natura sells its products, which
include foam and latex mattresses, as
well as a wide array of sleep accessories, throughout Canada and the
United States. Distribution channels
in Canada include large retailers and
(Above) Heading south Natura World’s
production is based in Cambridge, Ontario.
The company is planning to open an
additional facility in the United States.
(Left) Corporate culture The company’s new
headquarters includes a lounge to promote
informal interaction among employees.
buying groups, which provide access
to mom-and-pop stores and less
urban markets. In the United States,
products are sold primarily through
sleep shops and furniture stores.
“Forty percent of current annual
sales come from within Canada,”
Klein says. “The Canadian business
is up significantly, but shrinking
overall because business in the U.S.
(now 60% of total sales) is growing so
rapidly.”
Rapid U.S. growth propelled
Natura’s recent decision to open a
manufacturing facility in the United
States. The company has not settled
on a site, but Rossdeutscher wants it
to be located “as far from Toronto as
possible.” Sites in the Southeast and
Southwest are being considered.
Natura recently acquired the
rights to manufacture and license gel
mattresses from NexGel, a Salt Lake
City manufacturer, and will do so
under the name Gel Solutions in the
United States and Gelatex Solutions in
Canada.
The purchase, and a recently signed
licensing agreement with The Sharper
Image, has accelerated the search for
a U.S. facility, says Scott Miller, senior
vice president of U.S. sales.
Natura also is developing an international distribution network. Michael
Pino, international director of sales,
has been working for more than a year
to increase Natura’s global presence.
Prior to his arrival, the company sold
product through one retailer in Kuwait.
The company now has distribution
9
CompanyProfile
in several Caribbean countries and will
open a Natura-branded store in Kuwait
City in December. Because the organic
market as a whole is less developed
outside North America and Europe, the
company is targeting countries such as
Australia and Morocco.
‘Green’ guidelines
Natura has been a leader in industry
efforts to quantify and define terms
such as “natural,” “green” and “organic,” and Rossdeutscher has been
involved in the Specialty Sleep Association’s recent effort to define such
words.
“Consumers should be able to
compare products easily,” he says. “Every company, big or small, needs to be
measured against the same criteria.”
Natura has taken its own steps to
define what it means by natural and
organic. The company now measures
“the natural content of every mattress
by weight” and posts the data on its
Web site and point-of-purchase materials, Rossdeutscher says.
Natura mattresses and sleep accessories are now categorized into five
groups: the Organic, Natural, UltraGreen and Green collections. The
company’s memory foams are in a
collection called Mixed Greens.
Miller says the new NexGel products fit well with the Natura brand
because they use “70% food-grade
mineral oil, BioH foam and natural
ingredients.”
“It also brings leadership in an
emerging category of specialty sleep
products by providing superior pressure relief, comfort and support,”
Miller adds.
Accessories aren’t add-ons
Sales of sleep accessories such as
sheets and sound machines represent
about 45% of Natura’s annual sales.
“From the beginning of our company, we always thought everything
should work together and sold each
mattress with a duvet and a pillow,” Rossdeutscher says. Today the
company offers close to 700 SKUs of
10 | BedTimes | November 2009
‘The corporate culture
is very important
to us. We want to
be a friendly, nice
company to work
with and you have to
start that at
home with everyone
getting along.’
accessories, including comforters and
duvets, bed linens, pillows, aromatherapy sprays and pet beds.
Some of Natura’s most interesting
and profitable innovations have come
in the accessory arena. The company
recently modified encapsulation
technology used in Japan to incorporate anti-cellulite cream into women’s
stockings so that it could be used to
put aloe extract into pillow covers.
Accessories can help close the gap
in sales as consumers economize on
mattress purchases.
“If retailers can convince customers that the pillows they’re carrying
around to test the beds are an important part (of a good night’s sleep), they
can get back up to the ticket price they
need to stay in business,” Klein says.
‘Innovative informality’
Innovation and seeing sleep as a multidimensional activity are important
parts of the Natura corporate culture.
Weekly team meetings, which include
employees from all parts of the
business, focus on product development. Another morning each week is
devoted to reviewing “Don’t Screw up
Again” reports. These reports chronicle errors of every sort made throughout the company.
“If someone makes a mistake, it’s
totally forgiven the first time,” Klein
says. “The second time it’s seen as
pretty silly. We want to make sure that
all mistakes stop at the door. We build
customer loyalty by getting the product out correctly and on time.”
Employee loyalty is built by creating an atmosphere that encourages
individual contributions but also
camaraderie. A staff lounge, complete with a billiards table, promotes
relaxed interaction. Flowers are sent
to the homes of new hires to show
families that the company thinks
they’re important, too. After five years
of service, employees are sent on an
all-expenses paid tropical vacation.
“The corporate culture is very
important to us,” Rossdeutscher
says. “We want to be a friendly, nice
company to work with and you have
to start that at home with everyone
getting along.”
Innovative informality extends
to the company’s current marketing efforts. Natura has been making
extensive use of social media, including Twitter, Facebook and “mom
bloggers”—mothers who host online
support and information communities. The innovations are the work of
Julia Rosien, a communications director who was hired for her social media
expertise.
“When I first came to the company,
we were buying ads on Google and
about half of the traffic to our Web
site came from those ads. I canceled
the ads and now we can directly
correlate 60% of the traffic to social
media. That’s up from zero and we’re
not paying for it,” Rosien says.
Rossdeutscher acknowledges
that the four-employee start-up
he founded with his father, Harry
Rossdeutscher, in 1994 has come a
long way.
But if the company’s size and scope
has changed, its goals and values have
not, he insists.
Rossdeutscher says: “I’ve always
wanted to be in the forefront of technology and be the first on the block to
have the newest and best products on
the market.” BT
Dress up
Mattress fabrics
take on many roles
(Shown on this spread) Plush panels Maxime Knitting is producing thicker, heavier fabrics, including SuperStretch (left) and
bamboo (right).
W
By Barbara Nelles
hether you call them “mattress fabrics” or just
plain “ticking,” the textiles used to upholster
mattresses and foundations are a vital part of the
marketing—and the comfort and performance—
of today’s bed sets.
In the home, ticking will be covered with bed linens, but it’s
what attracts the consumer’s eye at retail.
Fabrics chosen for each mattress model tell a story on the
sales floor, suppliers say. They provide visual cues to a bed’s
price point in relation to other models in a collection. Ticking
also can tell a story of luxury or “naturalness” or, increasingly,
functional benefits such as aromatherapy and temperature
regulation. In many markets, damask mattress fabric has ceded
the floor to circular knits. And with knits, it’s easy to stitch in
words like “cashmere,” “organic cotton” or “natural,” allowing
the bed to speak directly to consumers.
While innerspring beds remain mostly white, consumers
who purchase nontraditional bedding like latex and visco-elastic want it to look different, says Adam Lava, vice president of
sales for A. Lava & Son, a cover, quilt and mattress kit supplier
based in Chicago.
“We’ve moved away from that ‘block of yellow cheese look,’ ”
Lava says. “Consumers want to look at their expensive new
mattress and see beauty. These beds look more like upholstered
furniture.”
“I had an executive in the perfume industry once tell me
that the box is the most important thing about selling perfume.
And that one damaged box in a display ruins everything—
you’ll sell nothing. I think it’s the same with mattresses, to some
extent. As much care needs to be taken with the outside of the
bed as with the inside,” says Camilla Franklin, vice president of
global sourcing and design for Blumenthal Print Works, which
is based in New Orleans.
Colorways & design trends
In the United States, most midpriced innerspring bedding is
still very much enrobed in white. But on higher end innersprings, “green” beds and specialty sleep models, you’ll find
more color and design seeping into panels, borders and trim.
“Black worked and now shades of charcoal and silver are
very popular. We are seeing little pops of color in chocolates
and berry-type colors,” says Steve Bond, vice president of
design and innovation at Culp Inc., which has headquarters
in High Point, N.C., “And dusty, silvery shades of aubergine,
lavender and lilac are up and coming.”
“Bordeaux and turquoise are the trend colors in fashion this
season,” says Apollonija Spela Honigsman, research and development manager for Bodet & Horst in Elterlein, Germany.
Color schemes of eco-friendly beds tend to be aqua blue/
green and soft sage or moss accent colors, Franklin says.
“Metal tones, such as bronze, stainless steel and a pewtery
look that is almost violet, are combining well with soft background colors and greens are getting bluer,” says Lynn Pappas,
product portfolio manager for Bekaert Textiles USA, which has
headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“Here in Canada we’re getting into new colorways,” says
Lorne Romoff, vice president of sales for Montreal-based
Maxime Knitting. “We are knitting thicker, heavier fabrics in
silvers, baby blues and other soft tones. The bedding floor is
much more colorful and visual than in the U.S.”
“On my very first trip to Scandinavia, they looked at my
samples and said, ‘Too much color!’ ” says Nebi Dogan, area
sales coordinator for Boyteks, which is based in Kayseri, Turkey.
“Then I traveled to Morocco, bringing my most colorful fabrics, and they said, ‘Where’s the color?’ ”
“Blues and greens, including turquoise, are very big in
Turkey right now. Europe remains more soft gray and modern.
In North Africa, dark red and blue jacquards with gold patterns
are popular on mattresses that are placed right on the floor in
living rooms for sleeping and as furniture. In South Africa, the
taste is very similar to the U.S., in Greece they like ecru cottons
and in Sweden, blues,” Dogan says.
“Nontraditional” is how many describe current design
motifs.
‘Consumers want to look
at their expensive new
mattress and see beauty.
These beds look more like
upholstered furniture.’
“Traditional motifs, such as medallions and scrolls, have
gotten cleaner, more minimalistic and stylized. Large-scale
patterns—we call them ‘jumbos’—are popular in Central and
South America and are starting to appear in the U.S.,” Pappas
says.
The oversized motifs have been around for a while, says
Marian Stephenson, design director at Innofa USA in Eden,
N.C. “First it was medallions and now it’s everything—flowers,
leaves, etc. In home furnishings we are seeing modern paisleys
and ethnic geometrics with sort of African inspiration. It’s
interesting to watch how and when these interior fabrics reach
tickings.”
“We are selling smaller, more delicate prints with nature
motifs—vines, leaves and smaller flowers, as well as a lot of
geometrics—in earth tones, greens, roses, silvers and golds,”
says Wade Wallace, vice president of sales for Tietex, a woven
and nonwoven textile supplier based in Spartanburg, S.C.
Honigsman sees a growing “globalization of tastes over the
last 10 years.”
“It’s quite amazing,” she says. “We are basically all connected—in Asia, Australia, Europe, the U.S. As we all tap into the
same resources, the trends are becoming very similar with just
slight modifications. Something we develop in Europe will be
very trendy in Asia, too, though maybe they will want a different color.”
15
Advancing technologies
Given the slow global economy, it’s
not surprising that one current trend
in mattress fabrics is affordability.
Suppliers say mattress makers are
buying more 100% polyester fabrics
because of cost concerns.
But that doesn’t mean mattress
manufacturers are looking only for
less expensive tickings. For higher end
beds, they are seeking luxury fabrics
containing expensive yarns, such as
silk and cashmere or trademarked,
functional yarns like Outlast, CoolMax and Celliant.
There’s also a growing market for
eco-friendly fabrics made with cellulosic fibers such as cotton, linen, rayon,
Tencel and bamboo viscose, as well as
fabrics made from polyester yarns spun
from recycled plastic bottles.
“The entire cellulosic category is
increasing because of the comfort factor
and people wanting to get away from
petroleum products,” says Laura Allred,
the design director of Continental Ticking in Alamance, N.C.
In August, Tietex introduced Pure
Earth, a collection of 100% unbleached
natural cotton woven fabrics printed
with vegetable and mineral dyes for the
mattress borders and top panel.
“When it comes to yarns, it seems
there is something new each week,”
says Eric Delaby, vice president of sales
and marketing for Deslee Textiles USA,
based in Inman, S.C. “We’ve used hemp,
kapok, linen, bamboo—all these natural
yarns—but now there is ‘milk’ and crab
shell, too.”
Introduced in Europe earlier this
year, Bekaert recently launched Purotex
in the United States, says Brandon Wells,
vice president of sales and marketing
for Bekaert Textiles USA. The fabric is
imbedded with microencapsulated probiotics to fight odors and allergens.
Some fabrics help manufacturers
simplify processes or solve problems.
Bekaert offers a Crypton finish—a
technology that provides a waterproof
barrier and stain protection.
Culp introduced a border fabric
quilted to FR material this year, says
Mike Cottonaro, senior vice president
of sales and marketing. The company
also sells a ticking with an “FR adhesive
backing” that allows manufacturers to
Large-scale design This simple, oversized pattern is shown in a zippered cover from Bodet & Horst.
reduce the amount of FR fiber needed.
Supreme Quilting, a supplier of covers, quilts and kits, offers an FR solution
in a zippered cover designed to help
small and midsized mattress producers
hold down FR costs, says Steve Holder,
vice president of sales and product development for the Etobicoke, Ontariobased company.
Zippered covers—very popular
in Europe—are gaining popularity
in North America, especially among
Internet sellers of foam and latex beds,
Holder says.
“If there is a problem with the
bed’s comfort, the customer can
literally adjust the bed themselves,”
he says. “The manufacturer can ship
a new layer of latex and the customer
can insert it into the bed—preventing
full product returns.”
Spacer fabrics are not new, but have
become very trendy on foam beds
Saving a step Culp Inc.’s textural QuiltFree
fabric requires no quilting.
Soothing tones Blumenthal Print Works is among the suppliers incorporating spalike tones into
tickings.
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Natural fibers Deslee Textiles USA sources organic cotton for its Ecofair fabric.
Major metals Bekaert Textiles USA is using
stainless steels, pewters and bronzes that
blend well with soft background colors, says
Lynn Pappas, product portfolio manager.
New hues Innofa USA is including violet hues in new collections with large-scale motifs.
because of the promise of a cooler
night’s sleep, suppliers say. The threedimensional fabrics with vertical
polypropylene fibers come in a range
of thicknesses and are used on both
borders and top panels.
Also designed for use on foam beds
are some new knit collections that have
the look and feel of being quilted—
without the need to quilt.
Culp’s QuiltFree, introduced a year
ago, is a woven border fabric with a simulated quilted design. For the top panel,
Culp offers Cumulus, a heavyweight,
quilted-look knit that also requires no
quilting.
At Innofa USA, the two most popular fabrics are a high-end 100% organic
cotton group, and a textured, heavier
group that requires no quilting.
“Some of these are so thick they look
like a pillow and they work especially
well with foam beds,” Stephenson says.
Maxime Knitting just introduced its
three-dimensional, quilted-look “blister” products.
“It’s being really well received and
has super stretch with elastic yarns,”
Romoff says.
Zoned knits are available from companies including Deslee, Innofa and Bodet & Horst. These fabrics have areas of
greater elasticity in the hip or shoulder
regions and work especially well with
zoned foam cores, suppliers say.
Knits versus wovens
Mattresses at promotional and lower
price points often are covered with inexpensive printed fabrics, such as warp
knits and nonwoven stitchbonds or with
polyester and polypropylene-blend jacquards. But knits, too, are finding their
way onto lower priced goods, suppliers
say. Previously the province of the $999and-up queen set, knit covers now can
be found on beds with suggested retail
prices as low as $399 in queen.
Once considered difficult to handle
and quilt, the industry has figured out
how to work with knits, suppliers say,
and knits’ share of the market continues to grow.
“On specialty bedding, where you
want more movement and flexibility, knits work especially well over
microcoils, air bladders and foams,”
Delaby says.
The overwhelming presence of knits
is beginning to spark some renewed
interest in high-end jacquards in both
North America and Europe, suppliers say. But gone are the stiff, scratchy
damasks of old. The influence of knits
means that jacquards need a soft hand.
“The comeback is partly due to the
vanilla nature of knits,” Cottonaro says,
“With jacquards, we can be so much
more decorative and ornate and the
hand is comparable to knits.”
“With wovens, you can achieve a separation of feel from bed to bed—we’re
getting back to that. You can soften or
firm it and change the hand, whereas
knits tend to all have the same cushiony
feel when you lie down,” Bond says.
“It’s human nature to want something different,” Allred says. “That’s
why we’re beginning to go back to Old
World damasks.”
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Bold patterns Nebi Dogan, area sales coordinator for Boyteks, says dark red and blue jacquards
with gold patterns are popular in North Africa.
Inside designers’ creative process
Textile designers say they find inspiration everywhere they go and most have a camera
in hand to record what they’re seeing. Some textile suppliers also purchase
artwork from design studios that their own team then interprets for mattress
fabrics.
“I do lots of retail research in all areas—from fashion to even thrift stores,”
says Camilla Franklin, vice president of global sourcing and design at Blumenthal Print Works in New Orleans. “I constantly take snaps, assembling them in
all different ways. It’s great fun.”
“I find inspiration in nature, fashion, architecture, at trade shows, while
shopping. And there are so many trend services, plus, of course, there is the
Internet,” says Marian Stephenson, design director at Innofa USA in Eden, N.C.
“My favorite online resources are design blogs, especially Design*Sponge
(www.designspongeonline.com) and decor8 (http://decor8blog.com).”
Depending on the customer, Franklin says the design process can involve a
little or a lot of give-and-take.
“If they’ve got a big design department—some companies have their own
interior designers—information and direction flows both ways,” she says.
“Other customers want us to lead them and that’s a service we offer. We create
coordinated stories with borders and panels for them.”
“We observe social trends, too, and marketing trends,” says Lynn Pappas,
product portfolio manager for Bekaert Textiles USA, which has headquarters
in Winston-Salem, N.C. “(Trend and marketing guru) Robyn Waters is a good
resource. You listen to the visionaries, read shelter magazines, go to design and
trend presentations. The ‘Sherwin-Williams 2010 Color Forecast’ presented at
Showtime (in High Point, N.C.) was great.”
When apparel manufacturing moved offshore, Montreal-based Maxime Knitting took its “expertise and knowledge of fashion trends and colors and brought
it into the bedding business,” says Lorne Romoff, vice president of sales.
Apollonija Spela Honigsman, research and development manager for Bodet
& Horst, based in Elterlein, Germany, says her company’s design team monitors
numerous sources, including trend books from MoOD (Meet only Original Designs, formerly Decosit Brussels); the Peclers Paris trend agency; the Heimtextil
fabric show in Frankfurt, Germany; and Dutch design firm Milou Ket.
“Many of my inspirations are in upholstery fabrics. I’m drawing on my
previous experience as an upholstery designer,” says Laura Allred, design director of Continental Ticking, based in Alamance, N.C. “Over time, I focus on
the individual customer’s tastes and markets and develop a rapport with that
customer so that often, I can intuit and fulfill customer needs before they even
verbalize it.”
major suppliers have introduced highend jacquards that use elastic yarns
and have some of the stretch and look
of knits. Conversely, there are knitted
fabrics with the look of wovens.
“In the last year or two, we have
responded to customer requests by
creating knits that have a woven look.
Some have stretch—perhaps more in
one direction than another—and some
are very stable with almost no elasticity so they cut easily and can be used in
borders,” Honigsman says.
In the United States, Africa and Asia,
traditional wovens remain on the market because of their affordability and
Dogan says he doesn’t expect that to
change anytime soon. But knits win the
popularity contest in most other parts
of the world.
Collaborating with customers
Ticking suppliers are fond of using the
gift-wrap analogy when they talk about
their products. But they are quick to
say that ticking does more than adorn
a bed and draw the eye. A line that has
been well-merchandised with mattress
fabrics transmits important visual cues
to consumers.
“Our customer may tell us they
have a six-bed collection starting at
$499 and going up to $1,999,” Bond
says. “They may say they want a
better border starting at $1,299. And
that’s our task—to come up with
price points and a common theme
so that when the beds are all lined
up together, they are cohesive yet
you get a visual step-up story.”
The covers on specialty beds do
more than just look good: “Those
dropped borders and cording visually represent on the outside what’s
on the inside,” Lava says. “The salesperson can point to the cord and
say, ‘From here up is your super-soft
memory foam layer and from the
microsuede panel down is your
firm-support foam,’ etc.”
Merchandising a bed line is a
collaborative effort between supplier
and manufacturer.
“We get the ball rolling, but it’s
very much a give-and-take with our
customers—you have to be nimble and
agile because it’s all very customized,”
Wells says. “And retailers are much more
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involved in the process, too.”
“You create visible differences. It’s a
little bit subjective, but typically the
simpler patterns are less expensive,”
Stephenson says. “It’s a meeting
of minds between customer and
designer. They look to us for ideas.
Sometimes they may have a specific
request, but most are designer-driven. We listen to what they want and
interpret it.”
The digitization of production
and design has enabled fabric suppliers to easily respond to requests
for customization and make quick
changes.
“I’ve got a lot of colors in my
paint box and the fact that the designs are all electronically controlled
means we can do really short runs
Debates along
the border
Typically, ticking suppliers offer manufacturers two grades of
fabric: border and panel.
Today, most single-sided bed sets sold in North America have a less expensive jacquard or sometimes a warp
knit on the border panels and a pricier knit or damask on
the top panel.
Suppliers say the use of less expensive border fabrics
is a cost-saving measure—the result of higher manufacturing costs associated with FR solutions, rising raw materials prices and the popularity of circular knits, which are
less stable as border fabric.
Many mattress manufacturers use a common border across entire collections—sometimes across entire
brands—which allows them to save even more money by
reducing bed bases to just a handful of SKUs.
“It’s a smart move from a manufacturing point of
view,” says Ann Weaver, vice president of sales and
marketing for Lava Textiles USA, with headquarters in
Gastonia, N.C. “You don’t have to worry about the hand
with border fabrics, so you can spend less and put more
money in the top panel of the bed, which is what the
consumer feels.”
However, the use of common border fabrics has lent a
certain “sameness” to the retail floor, some fabric suppliers say. They see a countertrend brewing.
“People are definitely beginning to spend a little more
money on borders and are jazzing them up,” says Lorne
Romoff, vice president of sales at Maxime Knitting in
Montreal.
“There is some rethinking going on about borders
because a better border fabric with some color or design
is the best way to get the consumer over to your bed on
the retail floor—it’s the first thing she sees,” says Brandon
Wells, vice president of sales and marketing for Bekaert
Textiles USA, based in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“Your first frame of reference on the bedding floor is
the border,” says Mike Cottonaro, senior vice president
of sales and marketing at Culp Inc., which has headquar-
and do work for small- to mediumsize customers. Pattern changes are
easy,” Allred says. “As long as we
have the components, we can put it
on the loom and get product out the
door in three to five days.”
“We provide a lot more exclusives
than in the past,” Bond says. “What
we sell to one customer we rarely
offer to another.” BT
ters in High Point, N.C. “Borders are finally getting the
respect they deserve—we’re seeing movement toward
better borders.”
Some mattress makers are looking at affordable knits
for borders because they want something different, says
Marian Stephenson, design director at Innofa USA, based
in Eden, N.C. “Knits are a little more difficult to work
with because of the stretch, but a contrasting textured
knit on the side will create a better match with a knit top
panel.”
“We are in the packaging business and the border
needs to be finished perfectly. It’s the final touch,” says
Eric Delaby, vice president of sales and marketing for
Deslee Textiles USA in Inman, S.C. Deslee promotes knit
borders for “an upholstery look.”
“A tightly constructed chenille, for instance, creates a
very sturdy no-slip border and a great look,” Delaby says.
“Achieving an upholstered look on the border with
stretchy knits has been done but requires revamping your
manufacturing process,” says Laura Allred, the design
director at Continental Ticking, based in Alamance, N.C.
Using some of the new upholstery-style woven tickings is
a growing trend, she adds.
“The bed as an upholstered item is a trend that started
in Europe and Asia, but it’s spreading,” Allred says. “Of
course you cover it with a sheet, but you don’t use dust
ruffles, so the foundation always stays exposed.”
For moderately priced bedding, Spartanburg, S.C.based Tietex launched its printed Edge Border Collection
about a year ago.
“Printed ticking is nothing new but we are seeing a
new trend toward printed borders using small, subtle
geometrics like herringbone and diamonds or company
logos, words and phrases,” says Wade Wallace, vice
president of sales for the woven and nonwoven textile
supplier. “The prints can be coordinated to complement
the accent colors in the top panel.”
“If you walk though a retail store, you will see that
the border is as important as the surface—if anything, it’s
more important,” says Camilla Franklin, vice president of
global sourcing and design at Blumenthal Print Works,
which has headquarters in New Orleans. “Manufacturers
need to differentiate among their products, yet I see different brands with the same borders. The border should
be part of your brand.”
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MarketReport
Exhibitors emphasize value pricing in Vegas
Foam trends, adjustables and top-of-bed also make news
By Barbara Nelles
T
raffic at the fall Las Vegas Market
wasn’t overwhelming and major
introductions were few. But bedding manufacturers managed to turn
retailer heads with a selection of new
products that combine deluxe features
with value pricing. The “green” story of
the winter market took a back seat to
special price promotions. But green was
not gone—it was much in evidence in
natural latex, polyurethane foams with
bio-based content, sustainable wood
frames and organic fibers.
The overall mood among manufacturers was one of resolve and cautious
optimism.
“We saw it as a very positive sign that
so many licensees had a good Labor
Day,” said Ron Passaglia, president and
chief executive officer of mattress licensing group Restonic. “I foresee jagged improvements throughout 2010 and expect
to see solid improvement by 2011.”
“I believe consumers with means are
finally coming out of their shells,” said
Earl Kluft, president of E.S. Kluft & Co.,
a high-end bed maker with headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. “They
are finally beginning to spend again.”
Interestingly, several mattress makers
announced that—in addition to their
fall appearance in Las Vegas—they
would be showing at the High Point
Market in High Point, N.C., in October.
Some are finding that the Las Vegas
Market attracts West Coast, Midwestern
and international customers, but fewer
from the East and Southeast.
Good buys greet market-goers
Mattress makers put significant emphasis on building more value into their
lineups to help retailers jump-start
sluggish sales. Suggested retail pricing
on what was once considered ultrapremium bedding was often in the prewww.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes
Focused on the top Latex International
unveiled Pillows for the Body, a line of luxury
mattress toppers in latex and the company’s
temperature-regulating Celsion latex.
Advancing adjustables Leggett & Platt’s
Consumer Products Group introduced
ShipShape, a shippable, easy-to-assemble
adjustable base aimed at Internet retailers.
mium range and so on down the line.
The new Spring Air International
made its Las Vegas debut, presenting
retailers with special market-only pricing on its reformulated flagship brands:
Back Supporter and Chattam & Wells.
“We are positioning ourselves as ‘the
value S brand’, ” said Rick Robinson,
president of the Boston-based licensing
group. “Without the debt burden of the
old company, our individual licensees
are able to offer retailers fine craftsmanship at incredible values.”
The Back Supporter Value Collection with LFK innerspring and foam
comfort layers has suggested retail prices
of $399 to $599* for a queen set. The
step-up foam-encased Total Balance
collection features damask or knit covers. The Four Seasons has a pocket-coil
spring unit and premium comfort layers, including cashmere.
Spring Air’s ultra-premium Chattam
& Wells line has been repositioned as
“more affordable luxury.” Its suggested
opening retail price point is $1,599 instead of its former $2,100. The line tops
out at $2,999 instead of $4,999.
At Eclipse, Perfection Rest offered
the look of luxury with an opening
price point of $599 retail for a queen
set. Its Zoned Quilt Technology features
a 20-inch wide, memory foam-quilted
lumbar region that “visibly reinforces
the patented Spinal Sleep Zone System
and reduces any chance of body impressions,” said Stuart Carlitz, president of
the mattress manufacturer and licensing
group, which has headquarters in North
Brunswick, N.J.
Affordable luxury was the message
behind Serta’s rollout of its Trump
Home mattress collection. Inspired by
the over-the-top lifestyle of billionaire
developer Donald Trump, the beds offer
ultra-premium gilt and damask eye appeal at retail prices from $799 to $1,499.
“There are unique components in
every model and the price hits a sweet
spot,” said Bob Sherman, president of
the Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based mattress
maker. “Consumers we interviewed
can’t believe these beds are not more
expensive.”
Organic Mattresses Inc., which
made its Las Vegas debut in February,
introduced the OrganicPedic Sierra
bed, an 8-inch thick, two-sided natural
latex mattress retailing for $1,595 for the
queen mattress or $1,995 for the set.
“It’s $800 less than any other natural
* Unless otherwise noted, all mattress
prices are suggested retail.
25
MarketReport
At the upper end Sealy added three Heritage
Series beds to the Stearns & Foster brand.
Mark Delahanty, vice president of Sealy
brands, shows off one of the beds, which
have suggested retail prices from $2,999 to
$3,999.
latex mattress out there,” said Walt
Bader, president and chief executive
officer of the Yuba City, Calif.-based
mattress manufacturer. “We like to say
we’re the purest organic mattress in the
Milky Way.”
Simmons added three new beds with
suggested retail prices from $1,599 to
$1,999 to its Beautyrest Exceptionale
collection.
Each bed features “lots of little
deluxe touches, tactile borders, suedes
and beautiful color palettes,” said Rolf
Sannes, brand director for the Atlantabased mattress maker. “We also reduced
30% of the weight of our coil-on-coil
construction.”
Princeton, N.J.-headquartered licensing group Therapedic International
introduced Innergy 2, a group of six
two-sided innerspring beds with retail
price points from $699 to $1,199 queen.
The company also launched a highvalue import program from China, the
six-bed Comfort Touch by Therapedic.
The hybrid beds feature spacer fabrics,
pressure-relieving foams and micropocket coils over foam cores. Retail prices
range from $599 to $1,099.
Gold Bond, which has headquarters
in Hartford, Conn., added new models
to its Anniversary Series of two-sided
mattresses, which are covered with
Belgian damask fabrics. Retail prices in
queen range from $599 to $999.
“One of the benefits of having a
company founder—my dad—who
grew up during the Depression is we’ve
always understood the importance of
operating debt-free and offering strong
value,” said Bob Naboichek, Gold Bond
president. “Our two-sided mattresses hit
the right price point and consumers get
twice as much bedding for their money.”
Restonic’s new 7th Heaven Bed—
named in honor of Restonic’s seventh
Consumers Digest Best Buy award—offers “true luxury” at a value price point,
Passaglia said. The three euro-top beds
in the collection are foam-encased and
have a microcoil comfort layer. Suggested retail prices for a queen set are
$1,299 and $1,499.
Sealy, which redesigned and repriced
its Stearns & Foster brand in February,
went against the tide of lower priced
offerings by introducing three Heritage
Series beds at upper price points. The
new beds from the Archdale, N.C.based mattress maker feature New
Zealand and Dutch wool, hand-tufting,
woven jacquard ticking and embossed
metal corner guards, at suggested retails
of $2,999, $3,499 and $3,999 in queen.
Overall, there was a noticeable move
away from ubiquitous knit covers and
back toward the classic look of woven
damask ticking, especially at the upper
end. And mattress edge treatments were
sporting new variations. Box-tops morphed into “waterfall” tops and “droptop pillow-tops.” E.S. Kluft’s Aireloom
beds sported a new “Streamline” edge
detail—a euro-top without the extra
tape-edge.
Dual-comfort floor models were
shown in several lines, including Serta’s
Trump Home collection, Simmons’
ComforPedic Loft and some E.S. Kluft
beds. The models allow retailers to
display fewer SKUs and make it easier
for consumers to compare different
comfort levels, manufacturers said.
Foam beds with a new bounce
Many mattress makers touted their
next-generation memory foams, said to
offer improved air flow and faster recovery. A good number of manufacturers
also said they are using visco-elastic
foams with a portion of eco-friendly,
‘Best Buy’ Restonic’s 7th Heaven Bed was
named in honor of the company’s seventh
Consumers Digest Best Buy award, said
Ron Passaglia, Restonic president and chief
executive officer. The three beds in the
collection are foam-encased and have a
microcoil comfort layer.
bio-based content.
Simmons put the spotlight on ComforPedic Loft, a value-priced extension
of its ComforPedic foam bed, featuring
trademarked NxG Memory Foam. The
four beds are adjustable-base compatible, feature channel quilting and
retail for between $1,000 and $2,000.
A “mobile showroom” with pop-out
sides and loft decor was scheduled to set
out from the Las Vegas market to travel
10,000 miles and visit 31 cities in the
United States and Canada, in order to
spread the word about the new mattress
collection.
Also new in foam beds was Dormia’s
Natural Mattress, a latex core with wool
and an organic cotton cover. At $1,995
for a queen set, its retail price is slightly
higher than the rest of the brand’s beds.
“You lose sales if you don’t have an
affordable foam line to step up consumers from an innerspring,” said Mike
Zippelli, chief executive officer of Jessup,
Md.-based Classic Sleep Products,
which manufactures the Dormia brand.
Ecomfort Mattress, an Anatomic
Global brand, rolled out a nextgeneration memory foam called
EcoMemoryFoam, with five beds at suggested retails of $999 to $1,999 in queen.
The new foam is an “extreme open-cell”
formula that “does not retain heat,”
said David Farley, president and chief
executive officer of the Corona, Calif.based mattress maker. Each bed features
convolutions and “cleaves” to maximize
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Las Vegas debut Pure LatexBLISS, a new
company founded by industry veterans Kurt
Ling (pictured) and Joe Hunt, showed its line
of mattresses made of latex cores and latex
plus foam-encased pocket coils, for the first
time at the Las Vegas Market.
Brand extension Simmons added lower priced
beds to its ComforPedic brand with the
introduction of ComforPedic Loft. The four
beds are adjustable-base compatible and
retail for between $1,000 and $2,000, said
Anne Kozel, director of the brand.
elasticity and temperature regulation.
Tempur-Pedic, which has headquarters in Lexington, Ky., introduced a
plusher version of its memory foam—
called Tempur ES—in its new TempurCloud Supreme bed. It retails for $2,399
in queen. The less expensive TempurCloud bed is slated for introduction
at the February Las Vegas Market and
will retail for $1,899; other Tempur ES
models will follow.
Mike Mason, director of brand
development and integration, said the
Tempur-Cloud collection will help
the company reach a new audience—
sleepers who prefer a plusher surface.
The product rollout is being supported
with a broad-based traditional and social
media marketing campaign that features
actual Tempur-Pedic mattress owners.
New mattress company Pure Latex
BLISS founded by industry veterans
Kurt Ling and Joe Hunt, made its Las
Vegas debut with four collections of
mattresses with Talalay latex cores and
latex plus foam-encased pocket coils.
The one-sided beds have 6-inch to 11inch cores and zippered knit covers.
Ling, who is chief executive officer of
the Atlanta-based company, describes
the new venture as a “virtual mattress
company”—it has no corporate offices
or manufacturing facilities and outsources assembly functions to contractors. Its
mission is to deliver excellent value in
ultra-premium latex beds, Ling said.
“We don’t offer suggested retail
prices—our proposition to retailers is
that ‘threestone’ is the new keystone.”
South Bay International, which is
based in Pomona, Calif., unveiled a
three-bed Jane Seymour Designs collection. The Hollywood star, known for
her role as TV’s “Dr. Quinn, Medicine
Woman,” was at market for the debut.
The memory foam and latex beds top
out at $1,999 in queen.
Sedona Comfort, which is headquartered in Phoenix, made its first
appearance in Las Vegas. The new
mattress maker, which has been in the
foam-pouring business for more than
30 years, uses proprietary visco-elastic
foams with bio-based content called
“PUR memory material,” incorporating
a plant-based polyol, said Guy Sasso,
director of sales. Beds retail for $1,100 to
$3,300 in queen sizes.
At the Zedbed showroom the spotlight was on the mattress manufacturer’s ZCloud series introduced earlier this
year. The beds are made in Canada with
proprietary ZX pressure-relief material, a visco-elastic foam with bio-based
content that “reacts like latex,” said Josée
Lebel, customer service representative for the company, which is based in
Grand-Mere, Quebec. Suggested retails
are $1,799 to $2,199 in queen.
Mattress maker Magniflex, with
headquarters in Prato, Italy, turned to
color and playful imagery in its new
Lamborghini bed.
“Every person buys first with their
eyes,” said Mario Magni, Magniflex
sales director. Despite the luxury images
associated with the Lamborghini brand,
the queen-sized foam mattress retails
for $1,300.
Magniflex also introduced a lavender-scented memory foam mattress
with a different comfort level on each
side. The zippered cover, infused with
essential oil, is guaranteed to retain its
lavender scent for up to 20 machine
washings. The mattress retails for
$1,100 in queen and can be vacuum
packed for shipping.
Glideaway Sleep Products, which is
based in St. Louis, added three innerspring beds with latex to its year-old
Sleep Harmony mattress collection.
Natural Rest by Sleep Harmony retails
for $799, $1,199 and $1,499 in queen.
Mattress maker Hollandia International has expanded its 3D Collection,
introduced at the last market, with a new
frame upholstered in three-dimensional
fabric. It retails for $2,600 in queen. The
beds feature a Talalay latex mattress core
with a breathable, dimensional comfort
layer and a spacer-fabric cover. Both
comfort layer and mattress cover are
washable with soap and water, said Maya
Ben, vice president of operations for the
company, based in Sderot, Israel.
Cranking down adjustable bed prices
To help retailers step consumers up to
an adjustable bed, a number of manufacturers introduced more affordable
motion bases.
An adjustable base should be part of
every sales pitch when selling an adjustable-compatible bed such as ComforPedic Loft, said Anne Kozel, director of
Simmons’ ComforPedic, Natural Care
and Simmons Kids brands.
Targeting Internet merchants,
Leggett & Platt’s Consumer Products
Group, which is based in Carthage, Mo.,
launched ShipShape, a shippable, lightweight and easy-to-assemble base with a
price point of $800 in queen.
“In the last few years, we’ve seen a
shift toward younger people buying
adjustable beds—60% of purchasers
are under 65,” said Herman Tam, group
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vice president of sales and marketing. “People spend more time in the
bedroom—they’re bonding with their
families there, talking, working, watching television.”
Reverie, a Silver Creek, N.Y.-based
company that imports private-label and
Reverie-branded goods from Taiwan,
introduced a U.S.-made, head-only adjustable base called The Wizard. It retails
for $499 in a twin.
“Our hope is to put an adjustable
base under every mattress,” said Patti
Ark, U.S. general manager. “Our tag line
is ‘The World’s First Adjustable Base at a
Flat Foundation Price’. ”
Ergomotion, which has headquarters
in Santa Barbara, Calif., also unveiled
a more affordable adjustable base. The
Series 100 twin bed base retails for
about $499. Company President Kelly
Clenet said it has the visual appeal and
functionality of more expensive bases.
“Set-up time is minimal and no
tools are needed, which really resonates
well with retailers,” Clenet said.
Touting top-of-bed
Top-of-bed accessories introductions and
line expansions were headliners in Las
Vegas, with pillows in the starring role.
At licensing group Englander, which
is partnering with T3 Recovery Products to manufacture and market the
three-model Ironman mattress line,
the spotlight was on the companion T3
pillow line. The pillows are filled with
extruded latex “oodles” mixed with
fiber. They are manufactured by pillow
maker Perfect Fit and, like the T3 mattresses, are covered with trademarked
Celliant fabric, which is said to improve
blood oxygen levels.
South Bay International paired its
new Jane Seymour Designs mattress
collection with matching pillows in two
styles. Featuring ventilated and perforated 5-pound visco-elastic, they carry a
suggested retail of about $70.
Glideaway added nine new pillows
to its Sleep Harmony brand. Offerings
include a value visco-elastic contour
pillow, a high-loft fiber pillow and a
ventilated memory-foam pillow with a
bamboo knit cover, at a wide range of
retails from $9.95 to $99.95.
Sedona Comfort showed three pillow profiles, including the contoured
Synergy3 Zone Pillow which “satisfies
every sleep position,” Sasso said. Retail
prices range from $75 to $120.
A $2,000 pillow order from Dormia
qualifies retailers for a free display unit
created to help them sell more pillows.
“When a consumer leaves with a pillow under their arm, there is less buyer’s
remorse and fewer order cancellations,”
Zippelli said.
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pillow supplier Latex International introduced its Pillows for the Body, a line
of luxury mattress toppers in latex and
temperature-regulating Celsion latex,
with retails between $299 and $499 in
queen and king sizes. The toppers are
available in 2-inch and 3-inch thicknesses and two levels of firmness.
Pure LatexBLISS paired its new latex
bed line with an “outboarded pillowtop,” a separate mattress topper available
in five densities.
“These are all the rage in Europe,”
Ling said. “You can buy one and use it
with our beds, or not. It’s a firmer bed
without it.”
The growing bed bug problem in
parts of the United States is proving a
boon for mattress protection sales—already a growing category in the wake of
concerns about avoiding allergens and
maintaining mattress warranties.
“For the last two years our main
Next-generation foam Ecomfort
Mattress, an Anatomic Global brand, rolled
out EcoMemoryFoam in five beds. The foam
is an open-cell formula that doesn’t retain
heat, said David Farley (left), Anatomic Global
president and chief executive officer, and Jeff
Scorziell, Ecomfort Mattress president.
push has been on our bed bug product,”
said Sidney Stern, vice president of Haverford, Pa.-based Protect-A-Bed. “We
consider ourselves a health-solution
company.”
The mattress protection company’s
AllerZip, with a patented zipper locking
system, retails for $129 in a queen cover.
It’s selling well at the big retail chains, as
well as pest control companies that use
the encasement after treating a home for
bed bugs, the company said.
FabricTech International has taken
its operations to “the next level,” increasing its sales force and redesigning its
point-of-purchase and packaging to
open more than 1,000 retail doors, said
Arnold Hershbain, chairman and chief
executive officer of the Cedar Grove,
N.J.-headquartered company.
In addition to its bed bug-proof
Total Encasement mattress and pillow
protectors, the company now offers an
organic cotton line that retails for $149
in a queen cover; pillow covers are $39.
Also new are StainGuard quilted mattress and pillow covers, retailing for $59
and $19, respectively. BT
31
IndustryNews
Simmons selling to Serta’s owners, plans bankruptcy
A
tlanta-based mattress maker
Simmons has agreed to be sold
to an investment group led by Ares
Management LLC and the Ontario
Teachers’ Pension Plan, which also
own National Bedding Co., the largest manufacturer of bedding under
the Serta brand name.
The deal, valued at $760 million,
caps a lengthy financial restructuring process at Simmons that began
last fall.
Simmons announced that the
restructuring and sale will reduce
its total debt from approximately
$1 billion to approximately $450
million and said it will emerge from
the process with a stronger balance
sheet and increased financial flexibility.
Under the restructuring plan, all
vendors, suppliers, employees and
senior lenders will be paid in full,
the company said, while holders of
Simmons’ senior subordinated notes
will be entitled to receive their pro
rata share of $190 million in cash.
Holders of Simmons’ discount notes
will be entitled to receive their pro
rata share of $15 million in cash.
The company said a significant
majority of its senior subordinated
and discount note holders are in
support of the plan.
Simmons began formally soliciting votes from its creditors on Oct.
14. The process will end Nov. 12 and
the company will then begin Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to
confirm the prepackaged plan. The
bankruptcy filings will not include
Simmons subsidiaries in Canada
and Puerto Rico, but they are included in the purchase agreement. “The purchase agreement we
have executed and the support we
have secured from our note holders
for this restructuring plan underscore the strength of the Simmons
brand, our strong performance
in the marketplace and the value
of the strategic and operational
investments we have made in our
business, people and processes over
the past several years,” said Steve
Fendrich, Simmons president and
chief operating officer. Simmons said it will continue to
conduct business as usual during
the restructuring and has arranged
$35 million in debtor-in-possession
financing, administered by Deutsche
Bank Trust Co.
The equity firms said they plan to
run Simmons and Serta as “separate
and distinct” companies.
The Simmons purchase is “a
complementary investment to our
existing holding in Serta. We believe
that the resiliency Simmons Bedding
has shown during these turbulent
times is a sign of its strength,” said
Bennett Rosenthal, senior partner at
Ares Management.
Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Serta
released a tandem statement saying that is does not anticipate any
changes to its day-to-day business
as a result of the deal and reiterated
that the agreement “clearly states”
that the owners intend to “keep
Serta and Simmons separate and
distinct, and to continue to have
them compete in the market and
execute on their business plans with
their existing management teams.”
The deal is under review by the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission and
is subject to customary terms and
conditions, as well as confirmation
of the plan by the bankruptcy court.
Select Comfort, Sterling reach agreement
On Oct. 5, air bed maker and retailer Select Comfort reached a new agreement
with Sterling Partners that allows the private equity firm to invest about
$10 million in exchange for ownership of about 9% of the Minneapolisbased company’s common stock.
Under terms of the agreement, Sterling Partners, which has offices in
Baltimore and Chicago, has the right through June 2010 to invest $10
million in exchange for 2.5 million shares of the company’s common
stock priced at $4 per share and warrants to purchase 2 million shares of
the company’s common stock at an exercise price of $0.01 per share. Select Comfort can require the investment upon securing an acceptable
extended credit agreement from its lenders.
The new agreement terminates and releases all claims to a previous purchase agreement that was rejected in August by Select Comfort
shareholders, the company said. That deal would have allowed Sterling
Partners to purchase 52% of the company’s stock at a price of $0.70 per
share.
“This agreement positions us to pursue additional capital, which,
combined with the Sterling investment, will strengthen our financial position and increase our financial flexibility,” said Bill McLaughlin, Select
Comfort president and chief executive officer. “In addition to exploring
additional financing alternatives for the company, we continue to negotiate with our lenders to secure a permanent financing agreement.”
33
IndustryNews
Sealy reports third-quarter income rises, sales dip
M
attress major Sealy announced
that net sales for its fiscal third
quarter were $349.6 million compared
to $405 million for the same period in
2008, a decrease of 13.7%. Operating income at the Archdale, N.C.-based company rose to $39.2 million, an increase
of $7 million or 21.6% over the same
quarter of the previous year. Thirdquarter net income rose to $12.1 million
versus net income of $10.9 million for
the comparable period a year ago.
“While the global macroeconomic
and retail environments remain challenging, we believe our focus on the
aspects of our business that we can
control is paying off,” said Larry Rogers,
Sealy president and chief executive officer. “One prominent example of this
is the success that we are seeing in the
luxury bedding market with our new
Stearns & Foster line.”
Rogers continued: “We were pleased
with the results from the continued
execution of our 2009 strategic initiatives to grow profitable market share,
improve our gross margins, permanently reduce our operating cost structure
and maximize our financial flexibility.
These actions have all contributed to the
year-over-year and sequentially improving results that we are reporting.”
Total U.S. net sales were $256.8 million, a decrease of 13.3% from the third
quarter of fiscal 2008. Wholesale domestic net sales, which exclude third-party
sales from Sealy’s component plants,
were $251.8 million, compared to $289
million in the third quarter of 2008.
A weak retail environment nega-
tively impacted domestic revenue
performance, the company said. In the
United States, wholesale average unit
selling price increased 0.1% while unit
volume declined 12.9% on a yearover-year basis.
International net sales decreased
$16 million, or 14.7%, from the third
quarter of 2008 to $92.8 million.
Excluding the effects of currency
fluctuation, international net sales declined 4.3% from the third quarter of
2008. The drop was primarily due to
declines in finished goods sales in Europe and, to a lesser extent, the weak
retail environment in Latin America,
the company said.
Gross profits decreased 10.9% to
$146.1 million, compared to $164.1
for the same period a year ago.
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IndustryNews
Basofil Solutions now called Alessandra Yarns
A
s part of its new direction, Basofil
Solutions has changed its name to
Alessandra Yarns LLC.
The Hickory, N.C.-based supplier
began as a converter selling finished
sleeves and covers to the bedding industry and others, but now its core business
and primary focus is the spinning and
marketing of FR and other yarns utilizing the patented Alessandra technology,
the company said.
“With our complete focus on Alessandra yarns, we can concentrate on
exposing the entire flame-resistant
market to the products that have been
successfully manufactured and sold
using the Alessandra systems and yarns,”
said Nathan Dry, president and chief executive officer. “Efforts are under way to
broaden the use of Alessandra FR yarns
in bedding and top-of-bed, as well as in
upholstery, protective apparel, filtration
and transportation.”
Dry said that Alessandra Yarns is
“separate and distinct” from Basofil
Fibers, the manufacturer of Basofil
FR fiber used by a range of FR suppliers, including Alessandra, which
uses it in some yarns.
Shorts
Mattress sales dip again
The number of bedding units
shipped in the United States
fell 7.6% in August over the
previous year, continuing a long
string of declines that dates back
to mid-2008. But the single-digit
drop was less than in recent
months. The International Sleep
Products Association’s monthly
Bedding Barometer showed that
the dollar value of shipments fell
13.4% in August and the average
unit selling price dropped 6.3%.
The Bedding Barometer reports
the sales activity of 18 U.S.
mattress producers representing
45.5% of unit shipments.
CPSC updates testing lab list
The U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission has updated
its list of testing laboratories that
offer the open-flame mattress
testing that manufacturers and
importers use to test for compliance with the federal 16 CFR
Part 1633 standard. The list can
be found at www.cpsc.gov/
businfo/mattress.aspx. A list of
testing labs also is available on
the International Sleep Products
Association’s Web site,
www.sleepproducts.org.
Englander signs licensee in Australia
M
attress licensing group Englander has inked a deal with
Englander Australia, a co-op of four
Australian mattress producers that
have united to manufacture and
market the Englander brand across
the continent of Australia. The new
licensee group has manufacturing fa-
cilities in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth
and Sydney.
Talks with Australian mattress
manufacturers began at the February Las Vegas Market and the deal was
finalized at the September market, said
Kevin Toman, Englander president.
“We are aggressively seeking new
international licensees to partner with
the second-oldest brand in the U.S.,”
Toman said. “With Australia now, as
well as Canada, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the
Middle East, we are well on our way
to establishing Englander in the global
bedding arena.”
Shorts
McRoskey hosts B&B stay
San Francisco-based mattress
maker McRoskey Mattress Co.
recently offered a complimentary
two-night stay at two bed-andbreakfasts in the area with
every mattress purchase. Both
inns—Dancing Coyote Beach
Cottages and The Parsonage Bed
and Breakfast—are outfitted with
McRoskey mattresses, a fact that
inspires many guests to add a
visit to the McRoskey showroom
to their San Francisco itinerary,
said Joan Hull, co-owner of The
Parsonage. The promotion ran
Sept. 15-Oct. 11.
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SLEEP IN AN IDEAL ROOM CLIMATE
OrganicPedic wins award
THERMIC™ is a patented temperature regulation
solution applied in mattress fabrics. THERMIC™
ensures that the ideal climate between 82-86°F
(28-30°C) is maintained in the sleeping environment.
The Terra OrganicPedic mattress
by Organic Mattresses Inc. won
a “best in the bedding category”
award at the Innovative Green
Design Awards competition
sponsored by New York House
magazine. The Terra mattress has
a natural Talalay latex core and
comfort layers. The bed’s fabric
and fiber components include
U.S.-grown certified organic
cotton and California-produced
“cruelty-free” Eco-Wool. Winners
were chosen based on the use of
“green” components, sustainable
manufacturing methods, reduced
carbon footprint, innovation and
design. OMI is based in Yuba
City, Calif.
ENHANCE YOUR LIFE.
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improve overall wellness. Celliant™ fiber is
specially formulated to be knit or woven
into a wide range of apparel and bedding
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2009
| 37
IndustryNews
Jamison moves into China with partnership
M
attress manufacturer Jamison,
with headquarters in Brentwood,
Tenn., has launched an export program
to China in partnership with a Chinese
distributor and retailer, Jiang Su Sunshine Textiles Co. Ltd., based in Jiangsu
province.
The exclusive partnership enables
Jamison and Sunshine Textiles to
provide Jamison-brand sleep products
to China’s growing hospitality and retail
sectors, said Frank Gorrell III, Jamison
president.
“The explosive growth China is now
experiencing, coupled with projections
for the country’s increasing tourism and
consumerism, provide tremendous opportunities to grow our business overseas in both the contract and residential
segments,” he said.
Jamison is exporting five of its
best-selling luxury beds in its Hospitality collection, plus the top-of-the-line
Diplomat model in its retail Crest collection. The contract products include
three innerspring and two all-foam
models with 6- and 8-inch cores. The
beds feature layers of high-density foams,
damask covers and a hardwood grid-top
base. The Diplomat—aimed at presidential suite-level rooms—uses encased coils,
foam encasement, Talalay latex, cashmere
and a low-profile box spring.
Sunshine Textiles is a textile and apparel producer with 25,000 employees,
additional manufacturing in Indonesia
and Bangladesh and retail outlets that
sell home products and accessories.
Short
Sleep Country USA honored
Seattle-based retailer Sleep Country USA was named Top Corporate Philanthropist and Healthy Community Corporate Champion by the Puget
Sound Business Journal and The Seattle Foundation. The awards were
given in recognition of the Sleep Country Foster Kids program, which
conducts ongoing drives and events through its 70 stores that benefit
more than 26,000 foster children in Washington and Oregon states.
Innovation resurfaces
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For licensing opportunities, contact: Stu Carlitz toll free: 800.634.8434 tel: 215.715.9677
Las Vegas Market Showroom: Building C, Space 1350
UNITED STATES KOREA TAIWAN CHINA AUSTRALIA NEW ZEALAND UNITED KINGDOM IRELAND SOUTH AFRICA MALAYSIA INDONESIA U.A.E. SINGAPORE PHILIPPINES
IndustryNews
Shorts
Wickline Bedding files Chapter 7 bankruptcy
Mattress manufacturer Wickline Bedding, based in Escondido, Calif., filed for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation on Aug. 27 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court
in San Diego. The company was owned and operated by the Malkiewicz
family for 30 years. Principal owner and founder, Ray Malkiewicz; his
three sons, Mike, Jim and Mark; and son-in-law Tony Colantono were all
involved in managing the business.
The company manufactured the Sleep Therapy, Sleep Care, Back
Therapy and Simply Kids brands at its 60,000-square-foot facility in San
Diego County. Major retail customers in 13 states included Jerome’s, Sit ’n
Sleep, Sleep America and FAMSA. At its peak of operations in 2004, the
company’s sales were $14 million.
All assets are scheduled for liquidation at auction on Nov. 10. But, as
Jim Malkiewicz told BedTimes, the trustee would prefer to sell the assets
as a single purchase and a number of parties have expressed an interest in
doing so.
“This has been a sad, stressful and humbling experience and, while it
is a not a good situation for our suppliers, perhaps something good can
come of this if a buyer will fire up the business again, put our employees
back to work and takes advantage of our 30 years of building strong customer relationships,” Malkiewicz said.
Novo Sleep revamps Web site
Novo Sleep Systems, a mattress and
sleep accessories manufacturer with
headquarters in Surrey, British Columbia, has launched a redesigned
Web site promoting its seven product
lines—Novobasics, Novopure, Novotex, Novolux, Novosuite, Novoshield
and Novokids. The site,
www.novosleep.com, includes a
“Customize Your Sleep” feature that
recommends products based on
consumers’ answers to an online
questionnaire, a printable shopping
list and a dealer locator. Novo Sleep
Systems is a privately owned sister
company of mattress maker Restwell
Sleep Products and sleep accessories
supplier Novo Textiles.
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NEW!
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ly look
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We
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for sal
• Selection of novelty materials: bamboo, cashmere,
silk, cotton, Coolmax, recycled polyester and more!
• Different fabric weights: 220g to 400g.
• High-end blister fabrics.
• Customized design services.
• Personalized colours.
• In-house quality control and inspection labs.
• Lightning fast delivery.
Maxime Knitting Mills is a North American custom
manufacturer of circular knits, serving major mattress
manufacturers on a global scale. For the last 25 years,
Maxime Knitting Mills has produced a variety of knit
solutions for manufacturers and strives to offer a wide
selection of knitted fabrics that reflect our highest
standards of quality and innovation.Through great
design and top quality materials, we proudly present
to you our complete collection of mattress ticking which
includes various styles, colors and materials.
V.P. Sales and Marketing | Lorne Romoff
[email protected] | Cell: 514-265-8782
828 Deslauriers Street | Montreal, Quebec | H4N 1X1 (Canada)
Tel: 514-336-0445 | Fax: 514-336-7458 | www.maximeknitting.com
Porter adds CinchLoc to gusset machine
GBS offers bed bug protection
Mattress and pillow
protection supplier
GBS Enterprises
announced results
from product
testing by Snell
Scientifics Entomological Laboratory in Barnesville, Ga., showing its
Allergy Sentry Mattress Encasement
is an effective bed bug barrier. Bed
bugs inside an encased mattress are
unable to escape or feed through the
mattress cover’s fabric, seams or zipper, meaning that following bed bug
treatment, mattress owners can keep
their mattresses without worrying
about re-infestion, according to the
Sutton, Neb.-based company.
P
orter International, part
of Leggett & Platt’s Global
Systems Group, has developed a
machine that applies CinchLoc
drawstring to the center line of a
pillow-top gusset while creating
the mattress border. The drawstring material can be quickly
pulled tight during the build-up
process to form ruffled gusset
corners.
Drawstring doings Porter International uses CinchLoc
The patent-pending process
drawstring from Mätrex with its PCL-1000 automated
adds CinchLoc drawstring from
gusset machine to form ruffles at a bed’s corners.
Mätrex, another division of
Carthage, Mo.-based L&P, to the center line of a gusset using the PCL-1000 automated gusset machine.
An operator can quickly build a “bucket” consisting of the single-sided bed base
and mattress border without the time-consuming effort of marking corners and
adding sewn ruffle pleats, the company said. Pulling the drawstring tight forms
ruffles only in the corners of the bed gusset with no additional stitching, measuring or positioning, according to the company.
41
IndustryNews
Vegas poker event aids charity
P
oker enthusiasts raised more
than $6,000 for Autism Speaks
during the September Las Vegas
Market. Organizers plan to make the
fund-raiser an annual event. Autism
Speaks is a New York-based advocacy
group that raises awareness about
autism spectrum disorders and funds
research into causes, prevention and
treatment.
The event’s co-hosts and organizers were Doug Krinsky of Restonic;
Stuart Carlitz, Eclipse International
and Eastman House; Joe Amato, Mattress Matters; and Randy Coconis,
Coconis Furniture. Karl Glassman of
Leggett & Platt and David Wachendorfer of Tempur-Pedic also made
donations and supported the event,
organizers said. Money was raised through entry
fees, donations and in-kind donations. Jeff Hosking and Jason Armetta, both of PMD Furniture Direct,
were the night’s big winners. Each
donated his winnings to the charity.
Shorts
Mattress Firm selects ad agency
Houston-based retailer Mattress
Firm has chosen advertising agency
FKM as its agency of record. Selected after a six-month review of
more than 100 agencies, FKM was
awarded creative and broadcast
media responsibilities for the bedding chain, which has 525 locations
in 21 states.
Select Comfort adds more Outlast
Outlast Technologies, a creator of
phase-changing fabrics, fibers and
coatings based in Boulder, Colo.,
announced that Minneapolis-based
mattress manufacturer and retailer
Select Comfort has added a temperature-regulating In Balance sheet set
and lightweight blanket to its line of
products featuring Outlast technology.
Pacific Spring Inc.
An American company
importing springs
from Cambodia
6.5” H 312 Bonnel units
7” H 336 Bonnel units
8” H pocket units
Pacific Spring Inc.
Victor Nguyen, VP of Marketing & Sales
6418 E. Washington Blvd.
Commerce Ca. 90040
Tel: (626) 272-8882 • Fax: (626) 226-4166
..
Baumer of America
shows off products
A
lbrecht Bäumer, a manufacturer of machinery
and equipment for the foam industry, recently
held an open house and Oktoberfest at is U.S. subsidiary, Bäumer of America, in Towaco, N.J.
The company displayed its latest machinery,
including the OFS-H Twincut, a high-performance
horizontal contour cutting machine that can be run
with either a circulating or oscillating knife. Bäumer
of America also showed the OFS-VW Eco, a vertical
contour cutter that uses wire. It was developed for
the American market to cut materials such as polyester nonwovens. Machinery specialists presented the
company’s latest software solutions for automating
cutting lines and complete plants, as well as ideas for
more efficient foam processing.
The event, Oct. 15-16, included an Oktoberfest with German food, beer and music on the first
evening.
Therapedic inks
India licensee
Therapedic International, a licensing group headquartered in
Princeton, N.J., has signed an agreement with Restolex to
represent the Therapedic brand throughout India. Restolex is
based in Bangalore.
“We are pleased to have an outstanding manufacturer
with a heritage of quality production represent our brand
in such an important part of the world,” said Gerry Borreggine, Therapedic president and chief executive officer. “We
are looking to increase the brand stature of Therapedic by
engaging critical partners like Restolex in every corner of the
world, but especially in key countries like India.”
Pradeep Kuruvilla, Restolex managing director, said:
“We are pleased to have not only joined a brand with a
great international history, but also to become part of a
brand that has a very compelling marketing plan in place
for today.”
43
March 3-6, 2010
Charlotte Convention
Center, Charlotte
North Carolina, USA
Shift into high gear!
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See the latest machinery,
products, services, and
supplies to give you the
competitive edge
Make and maintain
important business
connections from
around the world
Wednesday, March 3, 5:00pm-6:30pm
Welcome Reception
“The Carolinas, From the Mountains to the Coast”
Be sure to attend this fun, interactive kick-off event! Enjoy food, drinks,
and fun. Test your skills against your friends and colleagues in Nascar
remote control racing, basketball hoops, Wii™ games and more.
Back by popular demand, the Insomniaczzz,
the ISPA Industry Band, will also be on hand
to entertain!
Stay updated with
quality, industry-specific
educational programming
Friday, March 5, 7:45am-10:00am
Get the inside track on
important trends and
industry news
A blend of mystery, humor, psychology and
intuition, Craig Kargas dazzles the mind and
challenges you to question what is real and
what is unreal, what is possible and impossible.
...don’t miss it!
ISPA Industry Breakfast
Featuring Illusionist Craig Kargas
www.sleepproducts.org/ISPAEXPO
Exhibiting companies scheduled to participate
(as of October 1, 2009)
REGISTER
TODAY!
ISPA EXPO is the only
trade show in the world
devoted exclusively
to the mattress industry!
TO RESERVE yOUR BOOTH:
Contact Kerri Bellias:
336-945-0265
[email protected]
A. Lava & Son Co.
Advance Fiber Tech. Corp. (AFT)
American & Efird, Inc.
American Nonwovens Inc
Arch Chemicals, Inc.
Ateja Tritunggal
Atlanta Attachment Co., Inc.
Avery Dennison Corporation –
Fastener Division
BarretteWood
Baumer of America, Inc.
Bechik Products, Inc.
Bekaert Textiles USA Inc.
Black Bros. Company
Bo-Buck Mills, Inc.
BoMei-Changfu Ltd.
BRK Group LLC
Bruin Plastics Co., Inc.
C.J. Hodder Lumber Company
Carpenter Company
Chamay Mattress Ticking
Manufacture
(Foshan) Co., LTD.
Chem-Tick Coated Fabrics, Inc.
Coats North America
Costa International
Creative Ticking
CT Nassau Tape – Ticking
CTL
Deslee Textiles USA Inc.
Diamond Needle Corp.
Diamond Spring Company – USA
Dunlap Sunbrand International
Eclipse International/Eastman
House
Edge-Sweets Company
Edgewater Machine Co., Inc.
Enkev Group
Enriquez Materials & Quilting Inc.
Entex Textil S.L
Fecken-Kirfel America Inc.
Feutre National Felt Inc.
First Film Extruding, LLC/Balcan
Plastics Ltd.
Flexible Foam Products, Inc.
FMA Trading LLC
FXI Foamex Innovations
Global Systems Group
Harvard Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.
Henkel Corporation
Herculite Products, Inc.
Hickory Springs Mfg. Co., Inc.
Ideal Quilting Limited
Innofa
Integrity Software Solutions
Jacquard Textile
James Cash Machine Co., Inc.
Jomel Industries, Inc.
Jones Fiber Products, Inc.
Knickerbocker Bed Co., Inc.
Komar Alliance
Lady Americana
Lampe USA Inc.
Latex International
Latexco
Lava USA
Leggett & Platt, Inc.
Leigh Fibers Inc.
Liberty Threads N.A. Inc.
Luen Tai Group (HK) Limited
Maxime Knitting Inc.
Milliken & Company
N.V. Monks International S. A.
Nantong Healthcare Foam
Natura World Inc.
Performance Fabrics & Fibers
Plastic Monofil Co. Ltd.
Precision Custom Coatings
Precision Fabrics Group, Inc.
Response Computer Group, Inc.
Restonic Mattress Corp.
SABA North America, L.L.C.
Shanghai Latex Industrial Co. Ltd.
Simalfa
Soltex, Inc.
Springs Creative Products Group LLC
Spuhl AG
Stork Twin City Testing
Sunkist Chemical Machinery Ltd
Tai Wa Hong (Macau)
Tekscan Inc.
The Govmark Organization, Inc.
Tietex International, Ltd.
Uni-Source Textile
Vita Nonwovens
William T. Burnett & Co., Inc.
Wright of Thomasville, Inc.
Zhejiang Huajian Mattress Machinery Limited
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2009
ISPA
Hyatt Regency
Coconut Point
Resort & Spa
Bonita Springs, FL
Nov. 4-6, 2009
2009
ISPA
Wednesday, Nov. 4
3-6:30 p.m.
Registration Open
Sponsored by Latex International
5-7 p.m.
Welcome Reception
Enjoy cocktails and hors d’oeuvres
while you catch up with old friends and
make new connections at this fun-filled
conference opener.
Sponsored by FXI Foamex Innovations
Thursday, Nov. 5
7:30-5 p.m.
Registration Open
7:30-9 a.m.
Networking Breakfast and Exhibits
Sponsored by Carpenter Co.
9-10:30 a.m.
ISPA Welcome and Keynote
“Redefining the American Consumer:
New Research Introduces You to the
‘Grounded’ Consumer”
Has the current recession permanently
altered consumers’ spending patterns?
Provocative new research from ContextBased Research Group and Carton
Donofrio Partners suggests fundamental changes in the way Americans think
of themselves and the purchases they
make. How might these changes affect
the products we make, how they are
marketed and the retailer’s opportunities and risks in this new environment?
Join us for an in-depth, interactive presentation about this thought-provoking
research.
Speakers
Robbie Blinkoff, managing partner and
principal anthropologist, Context-Based
Research Group
Jamie Rice, chief strategy officer, Carton
Donofrio Partners
Sponsored by Leggett & Platt
10:30-11 a.m.
Break and Exhibits
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Business Session
“Marketing Through Social Media:
Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore the
Social Networking Explosion”
Social networking has forever changed
the way people use technology to interact with others. Innovative companies
are listening closely and delivering
products and services based on these
two-way conversations. How can you
tap into these opportunities to engage
current customers and reach new ones?
This discussion by experts in the field
will help you understand how social
networking is changing the landscape
and how you can use it to grow your
business.
Moderator
Lissa Coffey, 2009 Better Sleep Council
spokeswoman
Panelists
Erik Qualman, global vice president for
online marketing, EF Education
Jonathan Ressler, social media expert
12:15-1:30 p.m.
Networking Lunch and Exhibits
1:30-2:45 p.m.
Business Session
“Tapping the ‘Green’ Market: Who are
Green Consumers and What Do They
Really Want?”
The green movement is clearly here
to stay as more and more consumers
base their purchasing decisions on how
eco-friendly a product is or how committed a company is to environmental
responsibility. Who are these consumers
and how can you respond to their wants
and needs? Join us for a lively panel
discussion covering these questions and
more, as well as how this movement
is permanently affecting the mattress
marketplace.
Moderator
Will Ander, senior partner,
McMillan Doolittle
Panelists
Roger Cunningham, president,
The Bed Store
Joe Paviglianti of SOLinc.
John Zapata, senior vice president
of distribution, Rooms To Go
Sponsored by Flexible Foam Products
2:45-3:15 p.m.
Break and Exhibits
3:15-5 p.m.
‘Defining’ ISPA Roundtable
Discussions
As we refine our mission, voice your
opinion and let us know how ISPA can
best serve your needs.
5:30-7 p.m.
Poolside Networking Reception
After a busy day, join us for a festive
reception under the stars!
Sponsored by Natura World
Friday, Nov. 6
7:30-9:30 a.m.
Registration Open
8-9:30 a.m.
Networking Breakfast and Exhibits
9:30-11 a.m.
Business Session
“Meeting Customer Expectations:
Selling the Experience is What
will Keep Her Shopping”
Mattress retailing is at a point in the
industry’s lifecycle where selling the
experience is becoming as important
as the product assortment offered,
says retail marketing and merchandising expert Marty Walker. The former
vice president of visual merchandising
and store design for Pier 1 challenges
mattress retailers and their manufacturer partners to move beyond a
traditional preoccupation with products
and features to focus on what is truly
important to the female customer: benefits, personal preferences, the process,
choice, genuine service and celebrated
purchase decisions. These are what will
make the sale.
Speaker
Marty Walker, vice president of business
development, Ermcar Inc.
Sponsored by American & Efird Inc.
Noon-5:30 p.m.
ISPA Annual Golf Tournament
(includes lunch)
Conference Session Gifts
Sponsored by Intertek
* Program subject to change
Create a great first impression, NOT a body impression
Reduce comfort returns and bring the luxury
of latex right to surface of any mattress.
• Resists body impressions up to 29% better than fiber and polyurethane
• 20% more pressure relief than conventional quilting materials
®
1-800-LATEX-US x347
www.LatexIntl.com
2009
ISPA
SPONSORS & EXHIBITORS
2009 ISPA Industry Conference and Exhibition Sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Rosetree Corporate Center II
1400 N. Providence Road, Suite 2000
Media, PA 19063-2076
U.S.
Phone: 610-744-2300
Fax: 610-744-2185
www.fxi.com
Contact: Maria Borromeo
FXI, headquartered in
Media, Pa., is the world’s
leading producer of
polyurethane foam-based
solutions and specialty
comfort products. The company
services the bedding, furniture, carpet
cushion and automotive markets and
also manufactures high-performance
polymers for diverse applications in
the industrial, aerospace, defense,
electronics and computer industries. For
more information, visit the FXI Web site
at www.fxi.com.
Natura World
One Natura Way
Cambridge, Ontario N3C 0A4
Canada
Phone: 519-651-2006
Fax: 519-651-1891
www.naturaworld.com
Contact: Julia Rosien
Founded in 1994 by
the Rossdeutscher
family, Natura is
committed to nurturing healthy bodies,
souls and the planet. By providing
a nourishing night’s sleep through
sustainable, earth-friendly materials and
manufacturing, Natura truly is where
nature meets nurture. It’s not a trend.
It’s about aligning personal values with
everyday actions. A good night’s sleep
makes for happier, healthier people and,
ultimately, a better planet. One source
for all your specialty bedding: baby,
juvenile, natural, organic, latex, memory
foam, wool, cotton, mattresses, pillows,
comforters, mattress pads and toppers,
adjustable beds, relaxation essentials
and pets. Please visit
www.naturaworld.com for more
information.
Silver Sponsors
American & Efird Inc.
P.O. Box 507
Mount Holly, NC 28120
U.S.
Phone: 704-951-2246
Fax: 740-820-2857
www.amefird.com
Contact: Al Irvine
Every customer’s
challenge is different.
Fortunately, we’re
a different kind of
company. A&E is a quality producer
of high-performance sewing threads,
embroidery threads and specialty
engineered yarns. A&E is a global
company located in 63 countries
around the world. What sets A&E apart
from our competitors is our focus on
satisfying our customers. Our company
goal is “to be the preferred supplier of
threads and yarns by providing worldclass products and services to our
customers.” Please visit our company
Web site, www.amefird.com, where
you can find more information on
A&E including our “Global Code of
Conduct” and our “Environmental
Policy.”
Carpenter Co.
5016 Monument Ave.
Richmond, VA 23230-3620
U.S.
Phone: 800-288-3830
Fax: 270-726-4147
www.carpenter.com
Contact: Bob Steelman
Carpenter Co. is the largest
manufacturer of comfort cushioning in
the world.
Since 1948,
our focus
has been on quality, technology and
comfort. We manufacture a wide variety
of polyurethane foam and polyester
fiber comfort cushioning and often
develop unique products to enhance
your business. We are the world’s
leader in research and development
and continually strive to develop new
products that meet our high standards,
as well as those of our customers.
You come in contact with Carpenter Co.
every day. We make the carpet padding
you walk on, the cushions you sit on
and the bedding you sleep on.
Flexible Foam Products Inc.
P.O. Box 126
Spencerville, OH 45887
U.S.
Phone: 419-647-4191
Fax: 419-647-4202
www.flexiblefoam.com
Contact: Michael Crowell
Flexible Foam
Products Inc. is a
leading polyurethane
foam manufacturer
that places strategic
emphasis on solution technology
and product development. Flexible
Foam produces a full line of products
for the furniture, carpet cushion,
packaging and automotive industries
with a concentrated focus on bedding
products. We are one of the world’s
largest suppliers of polyurethane
foam, always on the cutting edge of
technology and innovation. Through
supply chain management, we work
with our partners to supply the best
products at the best price. Our sales and
manufacturing facilities span the United
States. This national presence provides
quality assurance and timely service.
Company, product and service descriptions were provided by the companies.
BedTimes does not endorse products or services.
2009
Intertek
70 Codman Hill Road
Boxborough, MA 01719
U.S.
Phone: 1-800-WORLDLAB
800-967-5352
www.intertek.com
Contact: Jeannette Emmons
Intertek is the leading
international provider
of quality and safety
services to a wide range of global and
local industries, including furniture
and sleep products. Intertek is an
OSHA Nationally Recognized Testing
Laboratory (NRTL), an American
National Standards Institute (ANSI)
Accredited Certification Body and
U.S. Coast Guard approved, among
others. We offer ANSI/BIFMA furniture
testing, as well as UL, ASTM, NFPA,
British Standards and IMO fire testing.
Throughout our network of accredited
labs, we provide a variety of product
testing and technical services, including
safety testing and certification,
flammability testing and performance
testing, just to name a few.
Latex International
510 River Road
Shelton, CT 06484
U.S.
Phone: 203-924-0700
Fax: 203-924-0699
www.latexintl.com
Contact: Kevin Stein
Latex International
(LI) is
the world’s only producer of both
molded Talalay latex pillows and
mattress cores and continuous process
latex. LI presents its patent-pending
ISPA
CelsionTM temperature-regulating Talalay
latex, which helps sleepers maintain a
consistent body temperature throughout
the night. This exclusive material absorbs
heat energy released from the body,
even under mattress quilting material.
It re-uses this energy to help cool down
a warm sleeper and warm up a cool
sleeper. The company also offers classic
Talatech® latex in eight firmness levels,
as well as a 100% natural formulation,
EverCloud® continuous process quiltable
latex and NuFORM® slow recovery latex.
Leggett & Platt
1 Leggett Road
Carthage, MO 64836
U.S.
Phone: 417-358-8131, Ext. 2706
Fax: 417-358-6257
www.leggett.com
Contact: Heather Carlton
IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE THAT COUNTS.
Get all your bedding supplies from
one source, Hickory Springs.
As one of the nation’s leading suppliers to the furniture and
bedding industries, Hickory Springs built its reputation on
being THE source for all the bedding products you need.
Every bedding component is constructed from top-quality
materials in state-of the-art production facilities throughout
the United States; Rigorously tested for superior quality and
performance under the most demanding conditions, then
shipped to you quickly and accurately through our nationwide
distribution network. No matter what bedding product you’re
looking for, it all comes together at Hickory Springs.
PO Box 819 • Hickory, NC 28603
(828) 328-2201 www.hickorysprings.com
51
2009
ISPA
Headquartered
in Carthage,
Mo., Leggett
& Platt is a diversified manufacturer
that conceives, designs and produces
a broad variety of engineered
components and products for
customers worldwide. You may sleep
on a Leggett innerspring or shop
in a store that uses L&P shelving.
Leggett & Platt products are all
around you, making the products
you use every day more comfortable,
durable and life-enhancing. The
company serves a broad suite of
customers that comprise a Who’s
Who of U.S. manufacturers and
retailers. The 126-year-old firm is
made up of 19 business units, 19,000
employee-partners and more than 160
manufacturing facilities located in 18
countries.
Bronze Sponsors/
Exhibitors
Atlanta Attachment Co.
U.S.
Phone: 770-963-7369
Fax: 770-277-4199
www.atlatt.com
Contact: Hank Little or Pat Feagan
Atlanta Attachment
Co. is a manufacturer
of industrial sewing
equipment for
the sleep products
industry. Our
products range from quilting to
packaging and include: one-piece
border system, pillow-top rufflers, tapeedge workstations, flangers, tufting,
embroidery machines, FR tracking and
Know
the
score
When you use SABA
water-based adhesives,
you can make sure
the savings
beat expenses
with every unit
shop floor control systems.
Eastman House/Eclipse International
1375 Jersey Ave.
North Brunswick, NJ 08902
U.S.A
Phone: 732-628-0800
Fax: 732-628-0803
www.eastmanhousemattress.com
Contact: Matthew Connolly or
Stuart Carlitz
Eastman
House and
Eclipse
International are bedding manufacturers and licensors of each
brand, functioning as marketing and
manufacturing consultants to its
licensees to help members reach new
markets with scientifically advanced
bedding systems. Eclipse, founded in
SABA’s adhesive monitoring system
allows you to take control & track usage
Make sure that every mattress you produce is a winner.
SABA’s monitoring technology ensures sustainability and
control over your adhesive application.This technology
allows you to track real time adhesive consumption, along
with production counts, so you always know the exact cost
of the adhesive on a per unit basis.
Join our winning, cost-effective team. Hit a grand slam of
savings when you use SABA.
See for yourself first hand how the SABA foam bonding
adhesive system can save you money!
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Enjoy 20 to 50% reduction in adhesive costs
All application equipment provided at no cost to you
Highest performing water-based adhesive
Cleaner and safer working environment
Monitor and control adhesive usage
Contact SABA today for a risk-free 30 day testing period.
Call us at 810 824 4964
Email us at [email protected]
www.saba-adhesives.com
5420 Lapeer Road
Kimball MI 48074 USA
SABA, dedicated to foam bonding
Est. 1933: 76 years of strong bonds
1905 in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Eastman
House in 1866, have licensed the brands
around the world. Eclipse, with over
200 trademarks worldwide, holds many
patents for its sleep systems (Spinal
Zone, Allergy Free, Zoned Technology,
etc.) Eastman House is known for
its ultra-premium product line. Our
mission is to provide ongoing research,
development and marketing innovation
to produce unparalleled sleep products
for “Healthy Sleep.”
Enkev Group BV
De Toek 2; P.O. Box 3
Volendam, 1130 AA
The Netherlands
Phone: 31-299-364355
Fax: 31-299-368409
www.enkev.com
Contact: Marc Dokter
We are Enkev
and we
make quality
products
from natural
fibers. Since our founding, we have
become the leading processor of natural
fibers. We make 100% natural filling
materials for the mattress industry. We
use the best natural sources to make our
products. Nature constantly replenishes
these raw materials, which are
unsurpassed in resilience, durability and
ventilation. Enkev supplies the complete
environmentally friendly alternative to
synthetic materials. These all-natural
products go well with the skin; they are
extremely comfortable. Our products
therefore deliver excellent benefits to
both your customer and the world we
live in. We’re looking forward to meeting
you at the ISPA Industry Conference and
Exhibition in Bonita Springs, Fla.
2009
ISPA
Estes Forwarding Worldwide
3901 W Broad St.
Richmond, VA 23230-3962
U.S.
Phone: 888-378-3724, Ext. 2924
Fax: 804-233-8520
Email: forwardinginfo@
estesforwarding.com
www.estesforwarding.com
Contact: Debbie Brown
Estes Forwarding
Worldwide offers
a wide portfolio
of services,
including
domestic air, domestic ground,
international air, international ocean and
customs brokerage to fulfill ISPA member
transportation and shipping needs. To
learn more about the discounted program
for ISPA members, call Debbie Brown at 888378-3724, Ext. 2924 and mention that you are
an ISPA member.
53
2009
ISPA
Henkel Corp.
10 Finderne Ave.
Bridgewater, NJ 08807
U.S.
Phone: 800-797-4992
Fax: 847-289-2493
www.henkelna.com/industrial
Contact: Tim Brown
Henkel is
a global
leader in the
development
of adhesive,
sealant and surface-treatment
technologies. Our products are used
daily in the manufacturing of durable,
consumer and industrial goods. Our
unique ability to create solutionoriented adhesive technologies provides
multiple options for their use in the
mattress and sleep products industry.
Such technologies include water-based
contact and hot-melt adhesive products,
which are environmentally and
workplace friendly.
Hickory Springs Mfg. Co.
P.O. Box 128
Hickory, NC 28603
U.S.
Phone: 828-328-2201
Fax: 828-328-2103
www.hickorysprings.com
Contact: Rick Anthony
As one of
the nation’s
leading
suppliers
to the
furniture and bedding industries,
Hickory Springs has built its reputation
on quality, service and variety. From
more than 160 flexible polyurethane
foam formulations to thousands of
construction fabrics, Hickory Springs
is one of the largest producers of foam
and distributors of nonwovens in the
United States. In a state-of-the-art
production facility, Hickory Springs
draws its own tempered spring wire
in a wide variety of gauges. From
our manufacturing plants in North
Carolina, Wisconsin and Michigan, we
engineer each innerspring construction
for superior performance. Remember:
“It’s What’s Inside that Counts.”
Intertek
(See Silver Sponsor listing on Page 51.)
The Israeli Processing Co. Ltd.
P.O. Box 33
Yavne 81100
Israel
Phone: 972-8-9439021, Ext. 203
Fax: 972-8-9438738
2009
www.ipc-yarns.co.il.
Contact: I. Oron
The Israeli Processing Co.
(IPC) was established in
1925 and is the largest
manufacturer in Israel of
various types of sewing
threads and synthetic weaving yarns,
dominating the domestic market
and exporting to about 40 countries
around the globe. We pride ourselves
on continuously maintaining high
quality standards and pursuing the
development of new and innovative
products. We have developed a
unique 100% PES FR sewing thread,
patent pending in the United States,
and have added it to the basket of
threads we offer the mattress industry
worldwide. Please access our Web site at
www.ipc-yarns.co.il.
Jones Fiber Products Inc.
P.O. Box 13212
Memphis, TN 38113
U.S.
Phone: 901-948-4469
Fax: 901-948-4123
www.jonesfiber.com
Contact: Alan Posner
Jones Fiber
Products has
been in the
fiber business
for over 50 years. Our management
team has over 100 years of experience in
the mattress and fiber industries. With
four locations across the United States,
we can supply all your fiber needs. We
offer a line of bonded, nonbonded,
needle-punched and organic battings.
We produce a wide range of fire
barriers, including inherent and
The
Sudden Service™ Company
ISPA
topically treated, to meet all mattress
manufacturing needs. Our products
are cellulose based, which means they
are natural and durable. Contact us
today at 877-685-5788 or email at
[email protected].
Latex International
(See Silver Sponsor on Page 51.)
Latexco LLC
975 Gerrard Road
Lavonia, GA 30553
U.S.
Phone: 866-528-3926
Fax: 706-356-8444
www.latexco.com
Contact: Kevin Callinan
Latexco is a
green, ecofriendly,
family-owned company, offering a
09084091509
55
2009
ISPA
complete line of the highest quality (no
fillers or glue seams!) latex bedding
components made with 50-plus
years of latex production experience.
Latexco latex is the most durable,
most consistent and the highest
density/quality domestically made
latex available, leaving a small carbon
footprint due to its high natural content
and low energy processing technology.
Latexco utilizes the exclusive LatexcoBelgium Latex Manufacturing Process.
Exclusive components with more
features and benefits are available to
all mattress manufacturers. Latexco
is the world’s largest latex bedding
components manufacturer with six
facilities on three continents.
OHM Systems
10250 Chester Road
Cincinnati, OH 45215
U.S.
Phone: 513-771-0008
Fax: 513-771-0101
www.ohmworld.com
Contact: Catherine Anbil
OHM Bedding
Software Application
is a complete turnkey
solution: accounting,
operations, bill of
material, scheduling, sales analysis,
complete 16 CFR Part 1633 compliance
integrated, report writer, executive
dashboard, 24-7 Internet module
and point of sales for retail extension.
Completely Web-centric environment.
OHM has been providing mattress
manufacturers a total bedding software
solutions since 1992. Clients include
Serta, Spring Air, Sealy NZ, Comfort
Solutions, Lady Americana, Restonic
and many more worldwide. Inventory
turns from 12 to 52 a year. Easy, quick
installation with proven, fast ROI.
Special ISPA promotional offers at this
year’s conference. Be sure to drop by
OHM’s booth for full details.
Radium Foam BV
Fort Willemweg 61
Maastricht 6219 PA
The Netherlands
Phone: 31-433-288-729
Fax: 31-433-256-016
www.radiumfoam.nl
Contact: Hanco van Hoeve
Radium Foam
has nearly
60 years experience in the production
and marketing of Talalay latex. Our
Talalay has a superior performance
in terms of durability and comfort.
It is our mission to supply top-end
mattress manufacturers with the best
Talalay latex for their top-of-the-range
mattresses, toppers and pillows. Radium
Foam has an exclusive distributor
agreement with Carpenter Co. for the
United States. We aim to be an excellent
business partner and supplier with an
outstanding track record of reliability,
quality, design, product development and
delivery. Features and benefits that make
Talalay the best: open-cell structure,
perfect body support, durable, hygienic.
SABA North America
5420 Lapeer Road
Kimdall, MI 48074
U.S.
Phone: 810-824-4964
Fax: 810-824-4986
Contact: Jim Turner
SABA is much more than just a supplier
of water-based adhesives. SABA is a
“know-how” center focusing on all direct
and indirect aspects
of your foam
bonding processes.
By adding this
specialty knowledge to your expertise
and experience, we guarantee you the
best possible results in terms of efficiency,
quality and safety. The integration of
adhesive and application technology, along
with engineering and consulting services, is
the SABA approach. Maximum customer
satisfaction is our drive and an optimal
foam bonding process is what we deliver!
SGS U.S. Testing Co. Inc.
1325 North 108th East Ave.
Tulsa, OK 74012
U.S.
Phone: 918-437-8333
Fax: 918-437-8487
www.sgs.com
Contact: Brian McDonald
2009
ISPA
SGS Consumer
Testing Services,
a division of the
SGS Group, is the
world’s leading verification, testing and
certification company. The company’s
comprehensive testing, product
inspection, process assessment and
technical services cover the entire supply
chain from product development to
retailing for electrical products, wireless
products, soft-line products, hard-line
products and food products. SGS Group
has more than 50,000 employees and
more than 1,000 offices and laboratories
in 140 countries. Let SGS’s ISO
17025-accredited laboratories assist you
in all matters of flammability testing for
virtually any product line.
57
2009
ISPA
Simalfa
15 Lincoln St.
Hawthorne, NJ 07506
U.S.
Phone: 973-423-9266
Fax: 973-423-9264
www.simalfa.com
Contact: Harry Bajckian
Simalfa
water-based
adhesives are
specifically
designed for the bedding industry
and offer the greatest value on the
planet. Period. Our cutting-edge green
technology increases profitability, and
instantly bonds foam encased, foam
core and pillow-top mattresses. The
patented Free Flowing System renders
complicated delivery methods such as
pressurized systems and pumps useless,
clearing valuable floor space for what’s
intended: production! No matter
what your needs, from automation to
efficiency controls, we can show you
how to maximize production speed
while minimizing costs. Ask us about
our Cost Monitoring System (CMS)
and SIMALFA 357. GREENGUARD
Certified.
Springs Creative-Firegard
300 Chatham Ave., Suite 100
Rock Hill, SC 29730
U.S.
Phone: 803-324-6513
Fax: 803-324-6950
www.firegard.com
Contact: George Booth
Springs Creative Products Group
presents Firegard®—a comprehensive
line of flame-barrier solutions made
without topical chemical treatments. We
feature knitted and woven interliners
and quiltable barriers in
various widths and weights
for virtually any mattress
configuration. We also
offer printed tickings and
our Integrated Barrier System™ that
combines a decorative cover fabric with
a built-in flame barrier for a one-step
manufacturing process. Our knits are
ideal for foam mattress constructions,
providing excellent responsiveness to
body temperature with stretch and
recovery to match the contour of the
foam. And there’s much more to come.
Firegard: It’s What’s Next. Now.™
662 Cromwell Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55114
U.S.
Phone: 888-645-TEST
Fax: 651-659-7348
www.storksmt.com
NOW IS NOT THE TIME...
TO THINK ABOUT FLAMMABILITY TESTING
Quality expectations and regulatory requirements become more complex and stringent everyday. Failure to comply could result
in unexpected cost’s, create an unfavorable brand image and most important, harm end users. SGS maintains accredited labs
across the country and our experienced technical experts can help you meet your flammability testing needs.
SGS is the world’s leading Inspection, Verification, Testing and Certification Company.
So when you need to be sure, trust the experts.
For more information visit www.us.sgs.com or call 800-777-TEST
2009
Contact: Brent Larson
Stork Twin
City Testing
operates the
only complete and independent bedding
evaluation laboratory in the world. Our
mattress testing capabilities include
ASTM F1566 durability tests: Cornell
evaluation, Rollator testing, firmness and
impact. Our experts conduct advanced
XSENSOR interface pressure imaging
with live subjects. Large and small
flammability tests available include the
federal open-flame 16 CFR Part 1633
test, 16 CFR Part 1632 cigarette testing,
Boston IX-11, several California TB
tests, among others, as well as material
properties and performance tests on
foam, fabric, metals, wood and advanced
material composites. Stork engineers will
work with you to develop a customized
testing program.
Therapedic International
103 College Road East
Princeton, NJ 08540
U.S.
Phone: 800-314-4433
Fax: 609-720-0797
www.therapedic.com
Contact: Gerry Borreggine
Therapedic
International
is a company
of over 50 bedding manufacturers
throughout the world that make,
market and sell bedding products under
the Therapedic brand. Since 1957,
Therapedic-branded products have
been synonymous with quality, value,
and innovation in the sleep industry.
In 2005, the company began a brand
partnership with Kathy Ireland Home.
Today, that brand partnership continues
to grow stronger as the Kathy Ireland
hello
feel natural
ISPA
Home product assortment is expanded
with new lines and items added this
year. Therapedic has been called the
fastest growing bedding brand in
2009. The company looks to repeat its
extraordinary performance in 2010 and
beyond.
Tietex
3010 N. Blackstock Road
Spartanburg, SC 29301
U.S.
Phone: 864-595-7778
Fax: 864-574-9440
www.tietex.com
Contact: Wade Wallace
Tietex is a
global manufacturer and
marketer of nonwoven and traditional
textiles. Our technologies in fiber and
fabric forming enable us to develop
We are Enkev, and we make quality products
from natural fibres. Since our foundation we have
become the leading processor of natural fibres.
We make 100% natural filling materials for the
mattress industry. We use the best natural sources
to make our products. Nature constantly replenishes
these raw materials, which are unsurpassed in
resilience, durability and ventilation. Enkev supplies
the complete environmentally friendly alternative
to synthetic materials.
These all natural products go well with our skin;
they are extremely comfortable. Our products
therefore deliver excellent benefits to both your
customer and the world we live in.
We’re looking forward to meeting you in Bonita Springs.
natural fibres
ENKEV_Ad_177,8 x 123,8mm.indd 1
23-09-2009 12:39:13
BedTimes | November 2009 | 59
2009
ISPA
unique solutions for the bedding
industry. Our Mattress Solutions group
is the leader in FR performance fabrics
and consulting for 16 CFR Part 1633
compliance. Our SleepFree family
of FR solutions includes filler cloths,
prints, knit socks and comprehensive
consulting and quality assurance
assistance. In addition to the bedding
industry, our advanced fabric products
are used in athletic footwear, roofing,
home furnishings and various technical
end-uses.
Underwriters Laboratories
333 Pfingsten Road
Northbrook, IL 60062
U.S.
Phone: 847-272-8800
www.ul.com
Contact: Kathy Fakas
Underwriters
Laboratories
(UL) is an
independent, not-for-profit, thirdparty testing and certification
organization with more than 110
years of product testing expertise.
Today, we remain at the forefront of
fire protection and testing technology.
UL provides flammability testing
services, as well as surveillance
services, that manufacturers, suppliers,
retailers and consumers need to feel
confident that mattresses sold into the
marketplace are compliant with current
requirements. UL offers programs for
both manufacturers and suppliers. UL’s
Mark is highly recognized by authorities
and consumers. We welcome the
opportunity to assist you in testing and
demonstrating ongoing compliance to
state and federal regulations.
Wright of Thomasville
P.O. Box 1069
Thomasville, NC 27361
U.S.
Phone: 800-678-9019
Fax: 336-476-8554
www.wrightlabels.com
Contact: Don Wright
Wright of
Thomasville
has been
supplying
the mattress industry for over 45
years with large-format in-store
signage, window clings, floor graphics,
woven labels, law and flammability
tags, top-of-bed pillows, shams and
foot protectors. From design to
distribution, we’ve got your graphics
covered.
A new day is dawning
for comfort and
the environment...
...and BioFlex Hybrid foams are leading the way.
It’s your world.
It’s your choice.
Choose BioFlex™ Hybrid
Foam made by Flexible Foam
Products, Inc; it supports
the American farmer, meets
consumers concern for “greener”
products and helps you make
the responsible choice for our
environment, while reducing
the need for foreign crude oil.
BioFlex Hybrid Foam is made
with a patented process called EnviroFlex
Technology that improves the foam’s core
structure, thus creating a more supportive,
resilient and comfortable cushion. EnviroFlex
is an award winning environmental process
with independent lab testing to confirm its
superior performance over conventionally
produced foam cushion.
419.647.4191
2009
ISPA
GROUNDED CONSUMERS
Research: Consumers grounded by bad economy
Changes to spending habits will be long term
By Patricia Frank
O
ur culture and economy are
going through a rite of passage. From anthropology, we
know that no true rite of passage comes
without pain, but we also know great
opportunities emerge from these moments of transformation,” says Robbie
Blinkoff, managing partner and principal anthropologist of Context-Based
Research Group in Baltimore.
Blinkoff’s firm and its marketing
arm, Carton Donofrio Partners, recently
conducted consumer research to document how consumer mindsets, behaviors and buying habits have changed
since the economy tanked in fall 2008.
They are using the findings to help businesses plan and implement strategies to
respond at this critical juncture.
The research took place in the urban
centers and suburbs of five U.S. cities:
Baltimore; Lexington, Ky.; Miami; New
York; and San Antonio.
In-depth interviews were conducted
in coffee shops and homes, as well as
where the rubber meets the road—inside neighborhood stores and shopping
centers. The discoveries are eye-opening.
“
Implications for future behavior
Companies, faced with declining sales,
want to know when things will be “back
to normal.” Indications are that they
won’t—if normal is defined as the years
right before the deep recession began.
“From our research, it is clear that
the consumer today is not the same as
the consumer just a few short months
ago,” says Jamie Rice, chief strategy officer for Carton Donofrio Partners. “We
also believe that this new dream and this
new ‘Grounded Consumer’ are here to
stay. This is not just a temporary shift,
but a significant psychological shift
that has made consumers re-examine
how they live their lives. These new
consumer mindsets and behaviors are
much closer to a permanent change
than a transitory trend. Companies and
industries must change, too.”
Who are ‘Grounded Consumers’?
When housing prices began to fall,
investment accounts started to shrink
and businesses began to fail, many
people’s first reaction was denial: Surely
the economy would soon rebound.
Today, they’ve realized there is no quick
turnaround.
“Right now, consumers are trying to
figure out what exactly is the American
Dream and how do they fit into it,” Rice
says. “They’re going through a process
of grounding their buying and spending
behavior. No longer are they defining
themselves by what they can buy, but
rather who they are.”
Grounded Consumers have shifted
their buying patterns and motivations.
Defining and then learning to live within their means has become common.
Many consumers have discovered that
being frugal can be freeing and simple
living pleasurable. This transformation
is a process that the researchers have
found takes place in five distinct stages:
Stage 1 “The Realization: Goodbye
Homo economicus”
Stage 2 “How Did I Get Here? My Life is
Not a Loan”
Stage 3 “Creating a New Value Equation: Moving from a ‘Me’ to a ‘We’
Economy”
Stage 4 “unSTUFFing My Life: Building
a New Consumer Toolkit”
Stage 5 “Walking the Talk: Putting New
Skills Into Action”
Because not all consumers are at the
same stage of the process, marketers
must craft messages and sales techniques
appropriate for people at each stage.
Selling to the new consumer
Despite changing attitudes and behaviors, consumerism is still very much alive.
“It’s not that people still don’t want
things—they do,” Rice says. “But now
‘It’s not that
people still don’t
want things—they
do. But now they’re
thinking, “Where’s
the balance
for me?” ’
they’re thinking, ‘Where’s the balance
for me?’ This shift goes all the way
back to product development. Now we
have to think about how people live
their lives rather than how much they
consume.”
Electronics and appliance retailer
Best Buy is one company that has been
proactive in creating effective sales
and marketing strategies to reach the
Grounded Consumer, Rice says.
“Best Buy has changed the way it
presents the buying experience,” he says.
“Their advertising features personal
experiences of how a purchase positively
impacted their lives. It’s no longer about
buying just to have the biggest, the fastest or the coolest stuff.”
One Best Buy ad shows how purchasing webcams enabled a family to
talk to their son in Iraq.
“This personal, firsthand benefit of a
Best Buy product really touched a chord
with people,” Rice says.
How to market mattresses
Grounded Consumers have changed
how they view their homes. Because
of decreasing values and lower equity,
2009
GROUNDED CONSUMERS
people no longer regard their house
as a growing part of an investment
portfolio. Grounded Consumers now
see their homes as places to live—and
they’re willing to invest in products that
make those lives more comfortable and
enjoyable.
Rice suggests one possible way to
position a new mattress to consumers:
“We’re giving you a better price so you
can have a better living experience.”
With people spending more time
at home, showing bed sets in real-life
situations and people using them for
real activities (resting, romancing, snuggling with pets and kids, eating meals,
reading, watching TV) may resonate
more strongly now than messages about
insomnia and sore backs. Feature beds
and bedrooms as a place of connection
and a place of comfort, Rice suggests.
Many companies are dealing with
the changed economy by slashing prices
is a
and shouting about it in their advertising. But that’s not effective, the researchers say.
“After Stage 2, people are thinking
about value,” Blinkoff explains. “In the
age of Internet searches and shopping,
consumers know what’s a fair price.
What they’re looking for are good deals
Want to learn more?
R
obbie Blinkoff, managing partner and principal
anthropologist of Context-Based
Research Group, and Jamie Rice,
chief strategy officer for Carton
Donofrio Partners, are scheduled
to speak about “Redefining the
American Consumer” at 9 a.m.
Thursday, Nov. 5 at the ISPA Industry Conference and Exhibition
in Bonita Springs, Fla.
ISPA
at a fair price—and they know what that
price is.” A too-good-to-be-true deal is
likely to be viewed as just that by a wellinformed and more cynical buyer.
A message of joy
“We’re now well past the ‘sky is falling’
stage,” Blinkoff says. For many consumers, a new sense of joy is emerging as
they begin to see themselves as separate
from their consumerism. Given that, an
interesting tactic to consider is creating
marketing messages based on simple
lifestyles—and joy—rather than fear.
To reach the new Ground Consumer,
remember that “misery is not mandatory, fear is a choice and joy is an option,”
Blinkoff says. Hard-sell and fear-based
marketing are out; consultative selling
is in. Companies need to take the long
view and establish relationships with
consumers. BT
for mattress manufacturers
Why? Our readers say BedTimes
is their source for
➤ New & innovative equipment
➤ The latest research on
consumers needs & wants
➤ Classified & product
advertising
➤ Up-to-date news
about the industry
➤ FR & regulatory
information
➤ Coverage of suppliers
& new products
➤ Mattress disposal
& recycling
➤ Ideas & industry trends
63
2009
ISPA
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media: Join in the conversation
New outlets require companies to interact with consumers
By Lin Grensing-Pophal
D
o you Twitter? Are you
LinkedIn? Have you been
tagged or viewed?
These days social media sites like
Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are
the hot marketing vehicles, with major
companies and niche players alike getting into the fray.
Mattress manufacturers and retailers are not yet embracing these new
communication tools as much as some
companies in other industries, but
they should be, says Jonathan Ressler, a
widely recognized marketing guru. With
a background that includes stints as a
nightclub manager/owner, marketing
executive and business owner, Ressler
has embraced social media and is passionate about its possibilities.
“This is not a fad,” Ressler says. “It’s
a truly fundamental shift in the way
people communicate.”
In late September, there were more
than 1.7 million blogs that talked about
mattresses and the number continues
to grow. At that same time, there were
more than nearly 14,000 videos on YouTube that involve mattresses. Some of
these are relevant to the mattress industry and consumers who are shopping
for a new bed set; some are not. The
point is that—at a minimum—bedding
companies need to start looking at what
people are saying in the social media
universe, Ressler says.
Getting involved in social media not
only allows companies to monitor what
consumers are saying about them—and
their competitors—it also offers new
opportunities to share your message
with consumers. Old marketing media
like newspapers and television simply
aren’t as effective as they used to be.
“It’s no longer good enough to put
your ad out there and hope that people
will find it,” Ressler says. Savvy marketers know they need to become actively
engaged with consumers and the marketplace.
Increasing word-of-mouth
“Everyone says that word-of-mouth is
the most powerful thing in the world,”
Ressler says. “Social media is just wordof-mouth on the computer or mobile
device. The power of social media really
is getting other people to do your marketing work for you. Social media provides a framework for people to talk.”
But when using social media, companies need to think differently.
“You can’t take all of your old ads
and your old thinking and try to jam it
into the social media space and think it
will work,” Ressler says. “It won’t.”
With traditional advertising, communication is one-way. With social
media, communication is two-way; it’s
a conversation. Companies may post
information through social media, but
they should expect feedback—inquisitive, positive, negative and sometimes
downright brutal.
The possibility of negative feedback,
Ressler says, is a big reason that many
companies are hesitant about jumping
into social media.
“In some sense, they’re afraid of it,”
he says. But you need to move beyond
that fear because all of the conversations
are taking place already—whether your
company is participating or not.
Consider this scenario: Before
social media gave both consumers
and companies such a broad, immediate platform through which to share
information, if a company felt it needed
to defend itself or its products, it would
do something like run an open letter
in The Wall Street Journal, Ressler says.
Today, by the time anybody reads a letter like that, it’s too late—consumers are
already talking about the problems in
blogs and tweets.
Getting started
Given that people are probably
already talking about your company,
the question becomes, “Do you
know what they are saying?”
“It used to be that a company
would provide the information.
They would provide their experts,”
Ressler says. “Now you have real
people who have nothing to lose
or gain by giving you their honest
opinions.”
Whether somebody makes a negative or a positive comment about
your company or product, it spreads
almost instantaneously, Ressler says.
The Domino’s Pizza chain
learned this the hard way when
employees at one of its locations
decided to make a “funny” video of
themselves doing disgusting things
to the food and then posted it on
YouTube. By the next day, more
than 250,000 people had viewed the
video. While the incident turned
out to be a hoax and no customer’s
food was ruined, Domino’s had to
do significant damage control using
social media—a tool with which it
had limited experience.
A good first step in marketing through social media, is to
visit the most popular social media
tools—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn,
YouTube—and search for your company or product name. You may be
amazed, perhaps even horrified, by
what you find.
Ressler offers an example: A recent search on Twitter for the word
“mattress” revealed a tweet from a
woman who says: “Loving our new
Sealy Posturepedic mattress set.” Not
a bad product endorsement and it
cost Sealy nothing. That’s the good
news. The bad news? In another
recent search, this one for “Sealy
Posturepedic” on YouTube, the first
ISPA
2009
SOCIAL MEDIA
video that popped up was titled “Sealy
Posturepedic Ratings & Reviews.” It was
produced and posted by Nick Robinson
at his Sleep Like the Dead Web site,
www.sleeplikethedead.com,which
rates sleep products. The site also accepts advertising from bedding and
related companies. The video highlights
what Robinson refers to as the “major problem” with Sealy Posturepedic
mattresses—sagging. In late September,
the video had more than 4,200 views.
If you’re not part of the conversation, not only will you not know
what’s being said about your company
and its products, you won’t have the
opportunity to respond to, support or
counter anything that is being said.
Rich opportunities
Companies in the bedding industry
have an opportunity to become not
“You need to find those people
who are passionate about your
products and engage those people,”
Ressler says. “You can reach out and
meet your customers in ways that
you never could—not to mention
the millions of sales opportunities
that are out there in social media.”
Ressler points to Target as a company that is doing this well.
“They’ve done some phenomenal
things on Facebook,” he says. “They
have more than 500,000 fans. That
means that with one click of the
mouse they can reach more than
500,000 people. You can’t buy that.”
The opportunities for the mattress industry are “endless,” Ressler
concludes. “If you have a computer,
I’m guessing you can afford a bed.
It’s just a land of opportunity.” BT
Want to learn more?
J
onathan Ressler, a social media
expert, is scheduled to participate in the “Marketing Through
Social Media: Why You Can’t Afford to Ignore the Social Networking Explosion” panel discussion
at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, at
the ISPA Industry Conference
and Exhibition in Bonita Springs,
Fla. Also scheduled to participate
are Lissa Coffey, the 2009 Better
Sleep Council spokeswoman,
and Erik Qualman, author of
Socialnomics: How Social Media
Transforms the Way We Live and
Do Business.
only a part of the discussion, but
one of its directors.
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65
2009
ISPA
GOING GREEN
Going green: How to create your strategy
Knowing what consumers want is a place to start
By Patricia Frank
getting married, setting up households—and shopping for furniture.
It’s a perfect time to market green
bedding products to them.” Ander
points out that another large portion
of the green consumer pie belongs to
“consumers with higher educations
and incomes—the ‘mass middle 50%’
are now on the bandwagon, too.”
So maybe the smart question to ask
is not should you go green, but how
fast can you do it?
I
f you’re going “green,” you’ll be
in good company.
Target’s doing it. REI’s been doing it for a while. Staples is doing it.
Timberland’s doing it, and doing it
well. Giant Walmart is doing it in
a big, big way. Even Pizza Fusion,
a growing pizza franchiser based
in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is doing it
with hybrid delivery cars and a marketing tag line: “Saving the Earth,
One Pizza at a Time.”
“Get on the green bandwagon, or
get hurt by it,” says Will Ander, senior partner at McMillan Doolittle,
a Chicago-based retail consulting
firm. In their 2008 book Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retailing, Ander and co-author Neil Stern
define “greentailing” broadly. It includes environmentally sustainable,
socially responsible and economically profitable business practices.
Greentailing starts at the beginning of the supply chain and ends
where the environmentally friendly
products are sold. “Greentailers”
generally carry products that are
sourced from sustainable or organic
materials and manufactured in facilities that use “best green business
practices,” Ander says. Such business practices include those related
to manufacturing processes, energy
sources, packaging, product storage, recycling and transportation
to retail dealers. To close the green
loop, the retailers themselves may
be following their own, similar best
green business practices.
Where altruism meets ROI
So what about you? Should you be going green? The statistics say yes.
“We’ve been tracking the consumer
and retail side for 20 years,” Ander
says. “Before 2007, there was a steady
10% to 12% (of consumers) who
were green-committed. In 2007, this
switched.”
And it switched dramatically.
“Now we’re seeing 50% to 70%
of consumers who want to buy and
support green. And this continues to
grow, even in the face of the economic
downturn,” Ander says.
According to Ander’s research, in
2008, 72% of consumers either actively considered or occasionally considered and purchased green products.
They are increasingly interested in
supporting green businesses and prefer to spend their buying dollars with
businesses that have “greened” their
products and operations. They’re voting with their dollars: 78% are willing
to pay extra for green products.
Who are these new green consumers? They’re not just crunchy “granola” types anymore.
“The Y Generation (born in the
late 1970s to early 1990s) is very much
into green,” Ander says. “They’re
What’s propelling the trend
Ander credits the documentary An
Inconvenient Truth as a strong driving force. It increased awareness of
global climate change. This and other
triggers fostered growing demand for
change.
Savvy retailers, including Walmart, have been proactive in following the green wave. Ander points to
Walmart Chief Executive Officer Lee
Scott’s 2005 “21st-Century Leadership” speech outlining the company’s
sustainability goals. They included: to
“make zero waste,” “use 100% renewable energy,” and “sell sustainable
products.” Implementing these goals
has had more than a trickle-down
effect—it’s created a wave. Walmart
spends $400 billion with its suppliers,
who have to go green to meet Walmart’s demands.
“Walmart has even told one of
their vendors, a bible supplier, to
remove the plastic from the bible covers,” Ander says.
Walmart’s not going green just to
save the planet. The changes bring
a strong return on investment. Going green means less packaging to
dispose of, lower transportation and
utility costs, etc. Ander notes that
“some of the costs of sustainableenergy installations pay back in two
or three years.” This means suppliwww.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes
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09-09-2009 09:05:32
2009
ISPA
GOING GREEN
ers, manufacturers and retailers can
reduce their carbon footprints and
realize lower operating costs.
How to do it
OK. The ROI is compelling, you see
how the market’s changing and you’re
ready to take the leap into green. How
do you roll out a successful strategy?
Ander says consumers want to know
the total story of an authentic green
commitment—including internal
commitment at the plant, headquarters
or retail space, as well as the external
commitment to sourcing and using
sustainable materials, packaging and
transportation.
It’s not enough to say products
are sourced sustainably. Stretching or
exaggerating green claims is seen by
customers as “greenwashing” and it’s
harmful to your company, Ander says.
Want to learn more?
W
ill Ander is senior partner at the consulting firm
McMillan Doolittle and co-author
of Greentailing and Other Revolutions in Retailing. He will speak
on “Tapping the ‘Green’ Market:
Who are Green Consumers and
What Do They Really Want?” at
1:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5 at the
ISPA Industry Conference and
You don’t want consumers thinking
you’re just trying to make a buck off the
green movement.
Ander’s consulting firm, McMillan
Doolittle, has developed a simple fourpart model it calls TASC. The strategy
represents the four key elements of the
greentailing movement. Companies are
encouraged to explore these:
● Think green Incorporate green into
the mission statement of your company
and appoint people responsible for
looking at the business comprehensively.
● Act green Build green practices into
how the company is operated—from
the way buildings are built to the way
supply chains are managed to how fleets
are run.
● Sell green Natural products, organic
products, fair trade products, energy
efficient and environmentally friendly
products are all elements of selling
green products to consumers.
● Convey green Work to educate
consumers about green practices—
from how the company is run to how
green-based charities play a role in the
company’s mission. BT
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2009
ISPA
CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
Shopping: It’s all about the experience
Mattress retailers could do more to entice consumers
By Lin Grensing-Pophal
P
icture the typical mattressshopping excursion. Maybe
it’s a newly married couple
shopping for their first mattress.
They might do a little research on
the Internet and then head out to a
few retailers near their home. They
enter the first store and are greeted
by a sales associate eager to tell
them about the benefits of various
brands in the store. The newlyweds
look around and see row upon row
of white mattresses under harsh
lighting. They leave, go to the next
store on their list and see more of the
same, says Marty Walker, vice president of business development for
Ermcar Inc., a Marietta, Ga.-based
firm that works with clients to develop unique, appealing design concepts
and merchandising strategies.
The mattress industry is almost
entirely driven by manufacturers’
brands rather than by retail or store
brands, Walker points out. This is in
contrast to other types of consumer
experiences, where the retailer develops a brand identity that consumers
seek out when shopping.
For instance, take apparel. When
shopping for clothes, consumers often will pick a retailer—Nordstrom,
Gap, Stein Mart, even Walmart—and,
at that outlet, choose from brands
that are there. The brand doesn’t
drive them to the store. The store is
the destination.
“Mattress retailers aren’t necessarily doing as much as I would expect
or would like them to do to develop their own brands a la Neiman
Marcus or The Limited or Gap—or
anybody else,” Walker says.
The challenge for any retailer
is “to take command of their own
brand and create the differentiation that separates them from other
retailers,” Walker says. Retailers need
to focus on the consumer’s retail
experience—the total sensory and
social experience a consumer has
once she enters the store.
“The challenge—or opportunity—for the retailer is to create
a brand that differentiates them
regardless of the product brand assortment that they may have,” Walker
says. He contends that there’s not
much of this being done by bedding
retailers.
“There is a certain amount of
monotony and lack of identity out
there,” he says. That’s the opposite
of what consumers are looking for.
They want an experience that stands
out.
Creating the right retail experience can impact not only the
amount of traffic in a store, but also
price points. Consumers will pay
more for an experience that’s special
or different. When all of the shopping environments and experiences
are virtually the same, purchasing
decisions tend to be based on price,
Walker says.
Enhancing the retail experience
There are ample opportunities for
mattress retailers to create unique environments designed to delight their
consumers.
The first step is developing a clear
understanding of the target consumer.
In many product categories, and
certainly in bedding, that’s women.
And women, Walker says, have certain
shopping expectations that mattress
retailers aren’t meeting. He describes
the mattress shopping environment,
in general, as being “high-pressure
sales” and “script driven.”
“It’s very, very product-focused
and highly technical.” Walker says. “It’s
cold. It’s boring.” And, he adds, “that’s
being kind.”
Mattress retailers need to recognize
that when it comes to the shopping
experience, they aren’t just competing with other mattress retailers: They
are competing with retailers in all
categories. Consumers who shop at
a mattress store also shop at grocery
stores, clothing boutiques, gift shops,
sporting goods stores, etc. Their shopping experiences across a broad range
of product categories affect their expectations when they enter a mattress
store. And they want more than they
are getting.
At the minimum, consumers seeking mattresses and bedding products
are looking for “an interesting, wellkept, comfortable, pleasing kind of
environment,” Walker says.
“Consumers don’t want harsh
lighting. They don’t want bland
colors. They don’t want to see a lot of
mattresses lined up like soldiers in a
row,” he says.
Walker urges retailers to shake
things up.
“Create an environment that will
contribute to helping the consumer
remember who you are as the retailer,”
he says. “I’ll remember you more if
you don’t look like the guy down the
street and the guy down the street and
the guy down the street.”
Listen more than you talk
The retail experience is about more
than product displays and store decor. It also includes interacting with
consumers. The key to understanding consumers and their shopping
preferences is listening, Walker says.
He notes that few consumers
want to be educated about detailed
product features or manufacturing
processes at the expense of having
their personal preferences addressed.
That’s not to say that consumers
don’t want to be educated—they do.
“But they want that education
integrated into listening to them
and helping them find out how that
product knowledge relates to what
they’re looking for,” Walker says.
“Instead of talking about product
features and technical issues and
how products are made, talk more
about benefits. You talk about
personal preferences. You really put
your emphasis more on process and
service than on simply regurgitating
Want to learn more?
M
arty Walker, vice president
of business development for
Ermcar Inc., is scheduled to speak
about “Meeting Customer Expectations: Selling the Experience Is
What Will Keep Her Shopping”
at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 6 at the
ISPA Industry Conference and
2009
CONSUMER EXPERIENCE
ISPA
product information.”
In most industries, Walker says,
there is a tendency to become insulated. It can be difficult for people to
step outside what they firmly know
to gain perspective from another
side—in this case, the consumer
side.
“I try to get people out of their
comfort zone and start looking at
their business from the outside in,”
he says. The good news for the mattress
business, Walker says, is that there
is a lot of room for improvement in
retail—a lot of chances to create a
unique, memorable and consumeroriented shopping experience.
“There’s a great opportunity to
have people walk away going ‘Wow.
That was a lot better than I thought
it would be.’ ” BT
71
2009
ISPA
EXHIBITORS BY PRODUCT
Exhibitors show off products & services
FR Components
Carpenter Co.
Leggett & Platt
Tietex
Labels
Licensing Opportunities
A
n important part of the
International Sleep Products
Association’s annual Industry
Conference and Exhibition are the
exhibits from bedding industry suppliers offering their newest products
and services. Plan to stop by and visit
with representatives of these companies. For more information, you
can find to links to their Web sites at
www.sleepproducts.org/industryconference.
Accessories
Latex International
Adhesives
Henkel Corp.
SABA North America
Simalfa
Computer Software
OHM Systems
Consultants, Business
OHM Systems
Engineering Services & Consultants
Intertek
Fabrics, Knit
Tietex
Fabrics, Nonwoven
Leggett & Platt
Tietex
Fabrics, Woven
Fibers
Carpenter Co.
Enkev Group BV
Leggett & Platt
Flammability Testing Services
Intertek
Underwriters Laboratories
Foam, Latex
Enkev Group BV
Latex International
Latexco LLC
Natura World
Radium Foam BV
Foam, Polyurethane (including
visco-elastic)
Carpenter Co.
Natura World
Machinery & Fixtures
Leggett & Platt
Mattress Manufacturing
Natura World
Mattress Materials, Hard Goods
Leggett & Platt
Parts, Supplies & Tools
Pillows
Carpenter Co.
Latexco LLC
Thread
The Israeli Processing Co. Ltd.
Ticking
Springs Creative–Firegard
Tietex
Transportation & Logistics Services
Estes Forwarding Worldwide
Wool
Carpenter Co.
Enkev Group BV
NewsMakers
Springs Creative hires sales manager
Springs Creative Products Group LLC has
hired Scott Frisch as sales and merchandising manager for its Specialty
Fabrics Division. He is responsible for
overseeing all sales and operations for
the division, as well as developing new
specialty products.
Frisch previously was president of
Scott Frisch
Frisch Enterprises, a textile and mattress industry consultancy. He has more than 10 years of
experience with fabric development and also 10 years of
experience selling capital equipment to the textile industry.
He studied at Leicester Polytechnic in Leicester, England,
and received a bachelor’s degree in textile management from
North Carolina State University.
“Scott’s international expertise, as well as his extensive experience in the specialty fabrics industry, will prove to be a great
asset,” said Derick Close, chief executive officer and owner of
the company, which has headquarters in Rock Hill, S.C.
Sealy names new CMO
J
odi Allen has joined mattress maker
Sealy as senior vice president and
chief marketing officer, replacing Philip
Dobbs.
Previously, Allen spent 14 years at
Whirlpool Corp. where she held several
posts, most recently general manager
for the company’s dishwasher business
Jodi Allen
in North America. In this role, she was
responsible for marketing, product development, supply chain,
pricing and forecasting for the Amana, Jenn-Air, KitchenAid,
Maytag and Whirlpool brands.
Prior to that, she held various marketing, financial and
general management positions, both internationally and domestically at Whirlpool, including working as a liaison in Brazil
leading the integration of Brastemp, Embraco and Multibras
companies into the Whirlpool financial structure. Allen has an
MBA from the University of Dayton and a bachelor’s degree in
business administration from Ohio State University.
“Jodi brings the right mix to the senior marketing role,”
said Larry Rogers, president and chief executive officer of Sealy,
which has headquarters in Archdale, N.C. “We were looking
for someone with not only a brand marketing background, but
someone who understands the key role our retailers play in our
business. Jodi fit the bill perfectly.”
Shorts
Borreggine named ISPA vice chair
Gerry Borreggine, president of licensing group Therapedic International in Princeton, N.J., has been appointed
to serve as vice chairman of the board of the International Sleep Products Association. Borreggine fills a vacancy that occurred when Don Wright, vice president of
Thomasville, N.C.-based supplier Wright of Thomasville,
became ISPA chairman in August. Borreggine served on
ISPA’s Better Sleep Council for more than 10 years and
was its chairman for seven years. In 2002, he received
one of the Robert MacMorran Memorial Award.
Ray Malkiewicz recovers from stroke
Industry veteran Ray Malkiewicz, principal owner of
Wickline Bedding—an Escondido, Calif.-based mattress
manufacturer that filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in August—continues his recovery from a stroke he
suffered in June that paralyzed his left side. His speech
and mental faculties were unaffected. He is 77. Malkiewicz’s condition has improved steadily through intensive
physical therapy, his son, Jim Malkiewicz, said.
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Calendar
November
➤ Nov. 4-6
ISPA Industry
Conference &
Exhibition
Hyatt Regency Coconut
Point Resort & Spa
Bonita Springs, Fla., U.S.
Phone 703-683-8371
Fax 703-683-4503
www.sleepproducts.org
2010
January
Jan. 24-27
Interiors Birmingham
National Exhibition
Centre
Birmingham, England
Phone 44-121-780-4141
Fax 44-121-767-3825
www.interiors
birmingham.com
February
Feb. 1-5
Las Vegas Market
World Market Center
Las Vegas, U.S.
Phone 888-416-8600
Fax 702-599-9622
www.lasvegas
market.com
Feb. 2-6
Istanbul Furniture Fair
CNR EXPO Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey
Phone 90-212-465-74-75
Fax 90-212-465-74-76
www.itf-imob.com
Feb. 3-5
Australian International
Furniture Fair
Sydney Exhibition
Centre
Sydney, Australia
Phone 61-3-9654-7773
Fax 61-3-9654-5596
www.aiff.net.au
March
➤ March 3-6
ISPA EXPO
Charlotte Convention
Center
Charlotte, N.C., U.S.
Phone 703-683-8371
Fax 703-683-4503
www.sleepproducts.org
March 9-12
International Furniture
Fair Singapore/
ASEAN Furniture Show
Singapore Expo
Singapore
Phone 65-6569-6988
Fax 65-6569-9939
www.iffs.com.sg
March 19-22
ZOW Shenzhen
Shenzhen Convention &
Exhibition Center
Shenzhen, China
Phone 60-3-2094-2880
Fax 60-3-2094-2881
www.zow-shenzhen.cn
March 27-30
Interzum Guangzhou/
China International
Furniture Fair
China Import & Export
Fair Pazhou Complex
Guangzhou, China
Phone 86-20-8755-2468
Fax 86-20-8755-2970
www.interzumguangzhou.com
www.ciff-gz.com
April
April 17-22
High Point Market
International Home
Furnishings Center &
other locations
High Point, N.C., U.S.
Phone 336-869-1000
www.highpoint
market.org
ISPANews
New chairman assesses ISPA & its future
Association seeking input on priorities, goals
D
uring the ISPA
➤ How can ISPA best
Industry Conference
serve the industry, esand Exhibition Nov.
pecially during difficult
4-6 in Bonita Springs, Fla.,
economic times?
members of the mattress in“I think one of our major
dustry will have a chance to
missions and key initiatives
express their opinions about
is on the advocacy side—
the International Sleep
keeping the government
Products Association and
from increasing the cost of
how it can best serve their
doing business. Advocacy
needs. The “Defining ISPA
means dealing with WashDon Wright
Roundtable Discussions”
ington—it’s not fast; it’s not
will be at 3:15 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5.
sexy; it’s not a Ferrari. The governIn advance of those discussions,
ment is a clunker. But it’s critical that
BedTimes talked with ISPA Chairman
we defend our interests there. That’s
Don Wright, vice president of sales and
a place where ISPA needs to keep its
marketing for Wright of Thomasville in
energy—that and the Better Sleep
Thomasville, N.C., for his assessment of
Council’s mission of raising awareness
the association and its future.
of the entire product category.”
➤ ISPA has undergone several
changes in recent months. What are
the association’s goals and priorities
going forward?
“Our priorities are being defined as we
speak. We’re going grassroots. We’re
surveying the members and nonmembers and the survey response has been
pretty good. So we’re listening and then
we’ll take the information we learn to
create a concrete plan of action—a plan
of action that will be compelling and
valuable, and unify the association and
the industry.”
Wright continues: “The changes
we’ve gone through obviously have
elevated everybody’s awareness of the
association. We have a great opportunity
to change things. But let me be clear: I
don’t think we’re far off base. We have
some great initiatives in place. We just
need to make sure we’re not straying
from our focus. That’s why I keep saying
we need a ‘refocused’ effort. We need to
decide what things are most crucial to
our mission and focus on those.”
➤ What are your primary goals
as ISPA chairman in 2010?
“The bedding industry is a wonderful business and we have a good
association that is filled with caring,
dedicated, bright, hard-working
people. I believe in this industry.
The industry employs a lot of people
and is a tremendous manufacturing base in the United States. It’s an
asset to the country. The strength
of the association is an indicator of
the strength of the industry and the
association is strongest when the
membership is unified and moving
in the same direction.”
➤ What kind of changes would
you, personally, like to see in
ISPA in the future?
“One of the biggest changes I’d like to
see is for us to be more timely in our
responses. All of our members run
businesses. When we make a decision,
it tends to be implemented quickly.
But as an association, we operate
more slowly. There can be long time
gaps between an idea and its execution. I’d like to see us implement our
initiatives more quickly.”
➤ ISPA has surveyed the industry
and is seeking input on the association’s goals, priorities and future
at the ISPA Industry Conference
and Exhibition. If people haven’t
already, how can they best share
their thoughts?
“If you haven’t filled out survey
and aren’t going to be at the conference, call me, call Ryan Trainer
(ISPA executive vice president), call
Debi Sutton (ISPA vice president of
membership and marketing). Call the
staff in Alexandria, Va. (Main phone:
703-683-8371.) We are ready and willing to hear from you. Don’t hesitate to
contact us. Our expectation is to get
a lot of guidance from the industry—
from the surveys, from face-to-face
meetings. Collective input is best.
I love nothing better than getting
people around the table, exchanging
and tweaking ideas.”
➤ What is the timetable for hiring
a new president/chief executive
officer?
“We don’t have a timetable in that
we don’t have a date set when we
want to have a president in place. A
search committee has been formed
but the direction of the search will
come from the membership and their
involvement top-to-bottom. Their
involvement is crucial. The staff we
have in place is capable of running the
organization until we put a president
in place. I think determining the mission of the association will determine
the person who will fulfill the role (of
president). The direction we go has
tobe membership-driven. The key to
the association is not the president;
the key to the association is the membership.” BT
77
AdvertisersIndex
AFT Corp.
Rick Brumfield
800-631-1930
19
39
75
Eclipse International/Eastman House
Stuart Carlitz
800-634-8434
www.eastmanhousemattress.com
Matsushita Industrial Co.
Yosuke Takeuchi
81-6-6774-6002
www.tecmic.co.jp
27
A. Lava & Son Co.
Steve Appelbaum
800-777-5282
(800-777-LAVA)
www.alavason.com
31
Edgewater Machine Co. Inc.
Roy Schlegel
718-539-8200
www.edgewatermachine.com
59
Amelco Industries Ltd.
Costas Georgallis
82-43-877-1881
www.amelco.com
17
Enkev
Marc Dokter
31-299-364355
www.enkev.com
Kevin Boye
704-951-2246
www.amefird.com
73
Enriquez Materials & Quilting Inc.
Silvia Enriquez
323-725-4955
www.enriquezquilting.com
Atlanta Attachment Co. Inc. C2-1, 46, 55
Hank Little
770-963-7369
www.atlatt.com
Baron Styles
Dave Williams
262-473-7331
www.baronstyles.com
79
Bekaert Textiles USA Brandon Wells
336-769-4300
www.bekaerttextiles.com
21
Bloomingburg Spring & Wire Form
Vickie Schwarm
740-437-7614
www.bloomingburgspring.com
43
BLR
Martin Leroux
819-877-2092
www.blrlumber.com
35
Lava USA Ann Weaver
864-998-4892
www.lavatextiles.com
23
Matsushita Industrial Co.
Yosuke Takeuchi
81-6-6774-6002
www.tecmic.co.jp
75
Maxime Knitting
Lorne Romoff
514-336-0445, Ext. 27
514-265-8782
www.maximeknitting.com
40
11
New England Needles Inc.
Thomas Lees
800-243-3158
www.newenglandneedles.com
38
Michael Crowell
419-647-4191
61
OHM Systems Catherine Anbil
513-771-0008
www.ohmworld.com
53
Global Systems Group
Russ Bowman
954-846-0300
www.gsgcompanies.com
C3
Pacific Spring Inc.
Victor Nguyen
626-272-8882
42
Hengchang Machinery Factory
Belinda Lau
769-83307931
www.hcjixie.com
34
Plastic Monofil
Calvert Kogan
802-893-1543
www.plasticmonofil.com
30
2, 51
P.T. RubberFoam Indonesia
Andreas Janssen
62-21-53662190
www.rubberfoam.co.id
41
76
Rick Anthony
828-328-2201
www.hickorysprings.com
Intertek
Jeannette Emmons
210-635-8100
www.intertek-etlsemko.com
69
Quilting Inc.
Mark Gibney
800-358-0153
www.quiltinginc.com
The Israeli Processing Co.
Israel Oron
972-8-9439021, Ext. 203
68
Jim Turner
810-824-4964
Boycelik
Erol Boydak
90-532-274-3193
www.boycelik.com
6
John Marshall & Co. Ltd.
Peter Crone
64-3-341-2004
www.joma.co.nz
32
SGS Consumer Testing Services
Brian McDonald
918-437-8333
www.us.sgs.com
Boyteks Tekstil AS
M. Nebi Dogan
90-533-685-6041
www.boyteks.com
12-13
Kenny Oliver
901-948-4469
www.jonesfiber.com
56
Simalfa
Darren Gilmore
973-423-9266
www.simalfa.com
4, 52
58
8
Costa International
Manuel Vazquez
305-885-9761
www.costa-international.com
42
Kenn Spinrad Inc.
Randy Weinstock
800-373-0944
www.spinrad.net
74
Springs Creative Products Group
George Booth
803-324-6505
www.springscreative.com
36
CT Nassau John Bauman
617-661-0970
www.ctnassau.com
24
Keynor Spring Mfg.
Raymond Shao
604-267-1307
www.keynor.com
79
Ari McKee
651-659-7327
www.storksmt.com/tct
60
Deslee Textiles USA Bart Dehaerne
864-472-2180, Ext. 108
www.desleeclama.com
37
Latex International
Kevin Stein
203-924-0700, Ext. 347
www.latexintl.com
49
Tietex International Ltd.
Wade Wallace
800-843-8390
www.tietex.com
C4, 54
Diamond Needle Corp.
Abe Silberstein
800-221-5818
www.diamondneedle.com
43
Latex Systems Kitti Charoenpornpanichkul
66-2-326-0886, Ext. 204
www.latexsystem.com
29
Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
Mariola Zamecka
847-664-3200
www.ul.com
65
Latexco U.S. LLC
Kevin Callinan
866-528-3926
www.latexco.us
67
Area Account Executive
800-678-9019
www.wrightlabels.com
57
Classifieds
For Sale
TAPE-EDGE MACHINES, MULTINEEDLE AND SINGLENEEDLE QUILTERS, long-arm label machines, sergers, etc.
Contact Victor LeBron, American Plant and Equipment.
Phone 864-574-0404; Fax 864-576-7204;
Cell 864-590-1700; Email [email protected];
Web www.americanplantandequipment.com.
REBUILT AND RECONDITIONED MULTINEEDLE
QUILTING MACHINES. Specializing in PATHE precision
parts and service. Technical consultants. SEDCO.
Phone 201-567-7141; Fax 201-567-5515.
TAPE-EDGE MACHINES, QUILTERS & MISCELLANEOUS
SEWING MACHINES.
Contact Frank Carlino, U.S. Mattress Machinery.
Phone 815-795-6942; Fax 815-795-2178;
Email [email protected].
EMCO Compustitch Quilter with Quilt Rack and
Catwalk and Gribetz cutter; National serger and Table 1; Union
Special serger and Table 2; Porter 1000 serger and table; Porter
tape-edge. Many other miscellaneous items available. Call Troy
at 815-343-9984 for more details.
For Sale
We manufacture wooden box-spring flat
frames and foundations custom sized to your specifications.
Foundation kit options available. Wood components for flat
frames, foundations, pallets or packaging, including grooved
stock cut to the size you need. Assembly available for most
items. Foundations can be covered and bagged to be ready
to sell. Ask about your specific needs. Email inquiries to
[email protected].
Chandler long-arm repair machine
Various overlock machines, Singer 300W with 1½-inch binder
capping, 2 Union special capping machines, Hartco clip gun
with a half pallet of clips, canvas carts, chairs, miscellaneous
items, staple and nail guns, Wolf knife, etc. $7,500 for the entire
lot or best offer. Call 407-455-4817.
Innovative new mattress company based
in Atlanta is looking for a sales director. Established
relationships with key retail accounts is crucial. Initial focus
on the Southeast. Great opportunity to join a small and
dynamic team with great potential for growth. Send resume in
confidence to [email protected] or fax to 770-964-4660.
Baron Styles, Inc
Custom Quilting & Sewing
We do it all . . .
Call Today for a Quote!!
◆ All Natural - Mattress Kits - 1633 Certified
◆ All Natural - Mattress Pads
◆ Mattress Quilting - Tack & Jump Available
◆ Sheet Sets - Custom Sizes & Shapes
◆ Magnetic Mattress Pads and Accessories
◆ International Shipping Available
71/2” H Continuous Units
8” H Pocket Units
Reliable & Creditable Canadian
Professional Manufacture
Bonnells and Edge guards 4” H to 8” H
Wires, Border-rods, Grids, etc.
Giving Our Customers More
Worldwide
Baron Styles, Inc
621 Gateway Drive • Milton, WI 53563
Phone (608) 868-3430 • Fax (608) 868-3481
visit our website
www.baronstyles.com
Peter Jensen, VP/ Marketing & Sales
(604) 351-3613 • [email protected]
Canada: T(604)267-1307 • F(604)267-1327
[email protected]
China: T86-21-13901616782 F86-21-55128718
[email protected]
79
TheLastWord
Survey: Sleep nudging out sex in the bedroom
I
n the past 10 years, men
and women’s desire for
sleep has become stronger
than their desire for sex,
according to a survey from
Westin Hotels.
More than half (51%)
of respondents in the
United States said they
would prefer “a great night’s sleep”
to “great sex.” Only 31% chose sleep
over sex a decade ago.
“Contrary to conventional wisdom, it is men who are more likely
than women to take sleep over sex,
with the majority of women saying
they prefer sex to snoozing,” the
hotel and resort chain says. “And
Americans are not alone. In nine of
10 countries surveyed,
sleep beats sex. Only the
Canadians prefer seduction versus slumber.”
The survey of 12,500
frequent travelers was a
follow-up to one Westin
Hotels conducted a decade
ago when it launched its
Heavenly Bed program.
There’s other good news for the
mattress industry in the survey. Some
43% of survey respondents said their
quality of sleep while traveling has
improved in the past 10 years, 25%
say they’d pay $100 more for a hotel
with a great bed and more than half
would go out of their way to stay in a
hotel with their favorite bed.
Government takes over mattress
industry? Satirists say it’s so
After dealing with a recession for nearly two years, we can all use a laugh.
We were amused by a recent posting on The Spoof, a satirical Web site
(www.thespoof.com) that pokes fun at news, sports and pop culture. A
Spoof story datelined “Soft Springs, Iowa” begins: “In a shocking move,
President Barack Obama ordered Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) to move in and take control of the
nation’s faltering mattress manufacturing industry. Millions of taxpayers, at
least those still working, had come to rely on their mattresses as the last safe
haven for their life savings after bank accounts, 401ks, and stocks and bonds
plunged and banks failed as Obamanomics continued its assault on Free
Enterprise and the Capitalistic System.”
The faux story continues: “Manny Levine, CEO and founder of Snooze Inc.,
the nation’s largest mattress manufacturing company, said the move was ‘nothing more than a power play by the current administration to get in bed with our
customers and control how they handle their money!’ White House spokesman
Robert Gibbs said the move was an emergency measure to combat ‘hoarding’
on behalf of American taxpayers, ‘who are not doing their part to bring back the
sagging economy!’ Gibbs said people, as well as corporations, were holding on
to a large portion of recent stimulus checks and not putting the handouts back
into the economy.”
It’s true that the mattress industry would like the government to encourage
home furnishings purchases and has been lobbying for a bill that would provide
tax breaks to consumers and retailers to boost sales of mattresses, furniture and
home improvement products. But a takeover of the entire industry to shake
money loose from consumers? Let’s hope that idea stays with The Spoof.
Sleep Shorts
Sleep staves off colds
Yet another study has shown
that a lack of sleep increases
the risk of catching a cold.
Researchers writing in The
Archives of Internal Medicine
studied more than 150 men and
women, tracking the quality
and length of their sleep for two
weeks. The participants were
then quarantined and exposed
to cold viruses. The loss of just
one hour of sleep lowered immunity: People who slept fewer
than seven hours each night
were three times more likely to
catch a cold as those who slept
eight hours or more.
A link to Alzheimer’s
Lack of sleep may be a cause
of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study in the journal
Science. Researchers at BarnesJewish Hospital and Washington
University School of Medicine
in St. Louis studied amyloid
beta levels in mice genetically
engineered to have a disease
similar to Alzheimer’s. As it
accumulates, the amyloid beta
protein creates plaques in the
brains of people with Alzheimer’s. When studying mice, the
researchers found that amyloid
beta levels increased when the
mice were awake and fell when
they were asleep.
The PFM-4000 Heavy Duty Flanger has proven
its worth in nearly every mattress market around
the world. You can trust it for safe, fast work day in
and day out.
Your GSG rep is on duty now Ask him to put a PFM-4000 to work in
your factory today.
800-326-4742
GRIBETZ INTERNATIONAL
PORTER INTERNATIONAL
954-846-0300
SYD-REN
SPUHL ANDERSON
www.gsgcompanies.com
GATEWAY SYSTEMS
GSG PARTNERS: TEKNOMAC
KSM
NÄHTEC
MERELLO

Mattress fabrics play many roles

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