As expected, the summer Las Vegas Market at the World Market Center July 29-Aug. 2 was lighter than the winter show in terms of both visitors and new product launches, but most mattress industry exhibitors reported at least one or two days of good foot traffic.
“For a summer market, we’ve had a very strong opening day—two of our top 100 accounts were in before noon, and we expect many more,” said Ron Passaglia, president and chief executive officer of mattress licensing group Restonic Mattress Corp.
“This market is on par with most summer markets,” said Kelly Ellis, director of integrated marketing for Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Serta. “And we see them as a great opportunity to get feedback from our retailers on our recently launched products and programs.”
There were bits of intriguing news in mattress showrooms, as manufacturers brought out line extensions at both ends of the price spectrum. This included gel foam mattresses and head-up only adjustable bases at ever-lower price points, countered by deluxe latex and latex hybrid beds that pushed the price envelope. Poured gels and gel foams continue to preoccupy U.S. manufacturers. It seems gel is a trend that is nowhere near to fading.
Another pronounced trend is the use of intricate tailoring and better fabrics. There also is a fascination with upholstery-style fabrics, now more readily available to mattress makers in the widths they need. Indeed, U.S. manufacturers have managed to give even moderately priced traditional mattresses and foundations the look of European divan-style bedding—with choice of leg included.
* Unless otherwise noted, all prices are suggested retail for queen-size sets.
Sealy The Trinity, N.C.-based mattress brand added latex models to its specialty Optimum collection for a total of 10 beds retailing from $1,299 to $2,999 in queen size. Four latex beds have varying amounts of Opticool gel latex with each price step up. Sealy officially introduced new Stearns & Foster Estate innerspring beds with ClimaSense gel memory foam. The group had a soft launch at the High Point Market in April. The company updated its Sealy-branded opening price-point innerspring group with Gel OrthoZone II Comfort Foam and new aesthetics. The beds retail from $499 to $799. A glittering display attracted attention to the half-foam/half-innerspring Posturepedic Hybrid (pictured), which debuted in January. “We wanted to take a leadership role in hybrid bedding, and our retailers are going crazy with this collection. It also will be the focus of a Labor Day buy,” said Jamie Piper, senior director of marketing and communications.
Therapedic International Princeton, N.J.-based mattress licensing group Therapedic International launched Buoyancy, a four-bed, all-foam group that features poured gel over latex in the top comfort layers. The gel is applied to the latex layer in the company’s signature hourglass silhouette. The sewn cover uses fashionable shades of lavender, gray and white in the panel and border, as well as in coordinating throws and sashes. Buoyancy retails from $1,499 to $2,999.
Simmons Bedding Co. The mood at Simmons was upbeat, with the Atlanta-based mattress manufacturer reporting its biggest dollar quarter in company history. Comforpedic played a large part in the sales increase, said Michelle Montgomery, vice president of marketing communications. The new Simmons Curv (pictured), a three-model memory foam collection, is designed to up those sales figures even more. It targets Millennials—“an 80 million-strong generation who have a preference for memory foam but find it cost-prohibitive,” Montgomery said. Curv retails for less than $999 and begins shipping later this year. The beds’ memory foam has wavy contours for better airflow. The two top beds have gel memory foam.
King Koil Licensing group King Koil, which recently reverted from Comfort Solutions back to its original global brand name, rolled out line extensions and a redesigned Laura Ashley collection. The Willowbrook, Ill.-based company added the iMattress2 collection (pictured), retailing from $799 to $2,999. The beds have an “anatomically correct” Perfect Response engineered foam core designed to provide pressure relief and support, the company said. The supportive base foam’s contours are reflected in the bed’s cut-and-sewn border fabric. King Koil added three beds with latex comfort layers to the top of the Perfect Contour collection, which now retails from $799 to $2,399.
Leggett & Platt Inc. The company’s Adjustable Bed Group launched several affordable adjustable bases, including a new opening price point. The Comfort Select base (pictured) retails for about $699 and is head-up only. The Carthage, Mo.-based company also introduced Brio, a group of three adjustable bases—two basic head-up and foot-up models with wired remote and one with wireless remote. Brio retails for less than $1,200 and offers fewer customizations than L&P’s higher-end adjustables. The Consumer Products Group introduced the Clean Shield mattress protector made with Crypton Super Fabric and retailing for about $139. L&P Fashion Bed rolled out a host of decorative beds with a new emphasis on “master bedroom” looks and full-bed construction, said Herman Tam, vice president of sales and marketing of the Consumer Products Group.
Carolina Mattress Guild Cool Flex mattress
Carolina Mattress Guild Thomasville, N.C.-based Carolina Mattress Guild updated the feel of its latex offering with the plusher Cool Flex collection (pictured). Three Cool Flex beds retail from $1,499 to $1,899 and feature contemporary covers with AirVent technology that improves airflow through the bed. The mattress maker targeted Internet retailers with its new E-Z Sleep compressed mattresses and an easy-to-assemble upholstered foundation. Three foam-core Resilience beds have latex and memory foam comfort layers. Three Renew beds have a 660-count pocket spring core layered with memory foam. The memory foam and polyurethane foam used in the beds contain soy-based ingredients. E-Z Sleep beds are covered with ticking containing very soft Repreve yarns made from recycled plastic bottles. Pricing for the new line is not yet available.
Glideaway The St. Louis-based sleep products supplier added four new price points to the redesigned Intuition memory foam collection (pictured here on a new T9 heavy-duty steel bed frame with chrome sliders). Intuition retails from $699 to $1,499 and is upholstered in a graphic, textural knit with contrasting cut-and-sewn borders. Accompanying point-of-sale materials include framed posters that repeat the attractive knit panel’s design motif. The company launched the Revive Performance series, a better visco-elastic group that includes U.S.-manufactured CertiPUR-US foams. Layers of “performance foams” are paired with a mesh border fabric for improved airflow. The three-bed collection retails from $999 to $1,799.
Boyd Specialty Sleep At the Boyd showroom, four new Broyhill- and Thomasville-branded specialty bed collections, with coordinating accessories, filled the floor. The St. Louis-based company said the new lines are targeted to full-line furniture dealers and cover all specialty categories from air to latex to memory foam. The seven-model Broyhill Sensura gel and memory foam collection retails from $399 to $1,499 and features Boyd’s patented FoamSpring support base topped with varying combinations of gel memory foam and memory foam. Eight latex beds under the Thomasville Natural Flex Ultra (pictured) and Thomasville Natural Flex Supreme labels have either Talalay or Dunlop latex and retail from $999 to $3,999. The Thomasville Synchrony airbed collection retails from $1,399 to $3,999. The seven-model series includes four two-chamber core models and three beds with patent-pending, six-chamber cores.
Englander Sleep Products Mattress licensing group Englander Sleep Products, which is based in Olive Branch, Miss., has added Posture Support Plus, an innerspring collection with bold plaid borders that is designed and built for large-size sleepers. The beds are marketed as “The Big Sleep Solution” that is “Big on Comfort; Big on Support.” Three models offer two comfort choices and retail from $1,599 to $1,999. They have layers of specialty foams, which include gel memory foam and latex, over a coil-on-coil design with Englander’s patent-pending three-zone, fabric-encased coil unit over a heavy-gauge innerspring.
Spring Air International The new Back Supporter Sleep Sense hybrid collection was a focal point of the Boston-based licensing group’s showroom. Billed as “The Ultimate Back Supporter,” the beds have varying combinations of latex, gel memory foam and premium polyurethane foams in the recessed zones of the proprietary coil cores. Each Sleep Sense model also uses a gel memory foam layer near the surface of the bed for a cooler sleep. The beds leverage Wright Global Graphic Solutions’ RetaiLive program, which uses image-recognition technology to enable consumers to download a producer’s interactive message to their smartphone or tablet. The group retails from $799 to $1,799 and includes five models with wrapped coils that feature the company’s multilevel-unit design.
XSENSOR Technology Corp. Pressure-mapping technology company XSENSOR, which has headquarters in Calgary, Alberta, introduced its Reveal Compare software for manufacturers and retailers, as well as a Reveal Test Mattress and Reveal Lite Kiosk. Users can rebrand the hardware, software and test bed, which offer an “exceptionally accurate pressure-imaging system to display a dynamic, high-resolution body pressure image to assist with mattress recommendations.” The “Reveal experience” is intuitive and easy to operate, according to the company. Reveal enables retailers to “increase closing ratios and decrease product returns,” said Stephen Anstey, director of market development. Reveal Educate software for manufacturers makes it easier to recommend specific product lines to customers.
ZZZest The new gel mattress manufacturer based in Alpine, Utah, made its market debut with the Tribrid series, which combines poured Breathe gel over a combination of specialty foams and latex and a zoned wrapped-coil core. The beds retail from about $1,499 to $1,899 and can be paired with ZZZest Gel pillows. Four pillows retail for $99 and less.
Eclipse International/Eastman House Mattress Development Co., the parent of Eclipse International and Eastman House, with headquarters in North Brunswick, N.J., added new models to the Eclipse Perfection Rest lineup that use patented comfort and cooling technologies, including Ultra-Cell Gel foam and Surface Modular foam. Three new beds have cream-colored fabrics with knit panels, and a five-zoned, pocket spring core that is foam encased. The new beds retail from $599 to $999, with the opening price point for an Eclipse 100th anniversary special promotion.
Sleep Inc. Mattress maker Sleep Inc., which has headquarters in Corsicana, Texas, introduced two collections. The three-model promotionally priced Anniversary Limited Edition IV series retails for $499 and $599 (for the “super pillow top”). The beds have a high-end look and premium components, including gel foam and a wrapped coil core. Body Contours (pictured) is a new three-bed program with between various layers of microcoils. The beds retail from $1,899 to $2,999 and have a textural stretch knit panel with waterfall edge and wavy, colorful fabric insets on the border.
Kingsdown Inc. Mebane, N.C.-based Kingsdown held the official launch of Sleep Smart, after tweaking the bed’s comfort and adding a more affordable version of the feature-packed, high-tech bed. The new Sleep Smart Progeny retails for $4,500, while the original model—Sleep Smart Intuitive—retails for $8,500. The beds have the manufacturer’s Scientific Measurement and Response Technology sensors that trigger air cylinders to slowly expand or contract for individualized comfort. The beds provide users with a nightly sleep report that includes hours slept, sleep movements and quality of sleep. Kingsdown also extended the models and price points in its Passions collection (pictured). Eighteen beds retail from $599 to $1,999. The collection boasts handsome tailoring and “hits battlefield price points with very high-quality components, including gel foam and fiber, higher coil counts and zoned, wrapped coils,” said Kevin Damewood, executive vice president of sales and marketing.
WorldBed Studio The Chino Hills, Calif., company, which makes a charitable bedding donation for every bed sold to a consumer, has refined and redesigned its product lineup since its January debut. Four mattress types in shades of green, blue, purple and gold each come in three profile heights and comfort levels. Comfort layers in each bed are either open-cell memory foam, gel-infused foam, gel foam with phase-change material or synthetic latex with phase-change material. Every bed has the company’s unique ComfortTop seat edge and uses upholstery-style fabrics. The beds retail from $1,799 to $3,399. “We’re not a ‘brand company’,” said David Farley, WorldBed founder. “Our value proposition is about ‘being relevant.’ We offer retailers another basis for closing a mattress sale. Instead of a warranty card, we give consumers a ‘You Choose’ card, where consumers choose one of five channels for their donation.”
Pure LatexBLISS Atlanta-based Pure LatexBLISS added a new top collection to its lineup. The all-latex Prestige collection has four models, each with graphite-infused latex, an ingredient that the company says improves the bed’s comfort and durability. The top panel is quilted with a ¾-inch layer of Talalay latex. The beds contain horsehair, cotton and wool fills and are priced from $4,999 to $5,999.
E.S. Kluft & Co. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based manufacturer of high-end mattresses unveiled a proprietary “ultra-flexible” wrapped coil unit designed to allow coils to bend more easily on adjustable bases (pictured), without sacrificing the mattress’ sturdy edge support. The new coils now are used in all Aireloom mattresses. The company said the new coil has 50% more flexibility than other units. Kluft also redesigned its adjustable-friendly Aireloom Latex Luxury collection. The beds have contemporary European styling and are constructed with layers of Talalay latex over high-density foam. The collection retails from $2,499 to $3,999.
UPCOMING SHOWS
High Point Market
Oct. 19-24
International Home Furnishings Center & other locations
High Point, N.C.
Las Vegas Market
Jan. 26-30, 2014
World Market Center
Las Vegas
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