— Furniture Today, August 3, 2015
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Simmons is once again going to great heights to tout its bedding lines at this bedding-rich market. This banner is on Building A on the World Market Center campus, and refers to the new Beautyrest national advertising campaign that promotes the energy consumers get from sleeping on a Simmons Beautyrest.LAS VEGAS — Buoyed by an industry report of booming business in June, this bedding-rich Las Vegas Market kicked off on a positive note. Adjustable beds and hybrids were key topics of conversation as retailers began visiting the more than 100 bedding exhibitors here.Mattress retailers are experiencing growth this year and are looking to fine-tune their lineups this summer and fall, bedding exhibitors said.
Early action in bedding showrooms was modest, some producers reported, but several others said they had full slates of appointments. “It’s not the quantity that matters, it’s the quality,” one leading producer noted. He expects to see several key customers and prospects this market.
The industry report was issued by the International Sleep Products Assn., whose Bedding Barometer report noted surging business in June, with units up 8% and the wholesale value of bedding shipments up an even stronger 12.2% that month.
The ISPA report noted double-digit unit and dollar gains for innerspring bedding in June, an indication of the vitality of hybrids — beds that combine springs and specialty foams, bedding observers said. Innerspring bedding is significantly outperforming specialty bedding so far this year, the bedding industry’s trade association reported.
The reports of robust bedding business in June kicked the bedding market here off on a high note.
“Business is up,” said Don Wright, senior vice president of business development at Wright Global Graphics, an industry supplier. “Consumer confidence is up. There is a good feeling about things.”
Adjustable beds are in the spotlight in several showrooms.
Klaussner’s Enso Sleep division reported strong success with its new adjustable bed program, designed to hit velocity price points. Mark Akerman, Enso’s president, said adjustable beds are leading the growth surge at Enso.
“Our mattress business continues to grow,” he said, “but our adjustables are becoming a major part of our mix. We have opened customers who are just buying our adjustable beds.”
Customatic Adjustable Bedz is seeing strong interest in its new high-tech iFit sleep sensor products, one of more than a half-dozen products it is introducing this market.
“We think every market, it is important to introduce new products to help our retailers grow their business,” said Phil Sherman, a partner in the company. “That’s why we are introducing many new items designed to add excitement to mattress showrooms.”
Symbol is doing well with its Unite hybrid line, which moves that producer into higher-quality models at competitive price points, company officials said.
“Our Unite line is designed by us, created by us and produced by us,” said Mike McQuiston, executive vice president. “It is 100% made in the U.S. Anything we can do in-house keeps our prices at competitive levels and gives our retailers a better opportunity to build their profits.”
Restonic President Ron Passaglia was among the executives citing the popularity of hybrids with boosting bedding sales in the innerspring segment.
“The innerspring resurgence has taken hold with the onset of hybrids,” he said. “But that phenomenon has also spread to other innerspring constructions. All of our innerspring products are doing well.”
Passaglia said the strong report of June shipments bodes well for the rest of the key summer selling season. “We are going into the summer months with more optimism than we have had in the last several years,” he said.