BY BARBARA T. NELLES
While the summer Las Vegas Market July 27-31 was one of the slowest in terms of retailer traffic that editors of Sleep Savvy can recall, we saw more product introductions than at previous mid-year markets. King Koil, Sealy, Blu Sleep, Englander and others launched new collections, while Boyd, Glideaway, Paramount, Serta, Simmons Beautyrest, Spring Air and Therapedic were among those who brought out line extensions or product redesigns.
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In a class all its own, King Koil’s Duck Dynasty collection with large, hirsute point-of-purchase pulled in gaping spectators and—per the Willowbrook, Illinois-based mattress licensing group—lots of placements. Sporting duck-hunting-camouflage borders, the beds open at $399 and top out at more than $1,000.
Other mattress introductions had budget-conscious consumers in mind. A new Sealy-branded promotional, innerspring collection from Lexington, Kentucky-based Tempur Sealy features comfort layers of memory foam and gel foam and pricing from $299 to $699.
Mattress licensing group Spring Air, with headquarters in Boston, tested a new Back Supporter group priced from $499 to $799, with traditional and contemporary covers.
“Retailers are looking for more options. They recognize the tremendous value inherent in consumer brands like ours, which have a healthy recognition level among shoppers,” said Spring Air President Rick Robinson. “We wanted to test these flagship models and get feedback from retailers—‘which of these do you see on your floor?’ ”
Some of the biggest news in Las Vegas broke under the bed—and on top of it. We saw metal bed frames with new twists, adjustable bases with new functionality, and pillows and protectors that were cool looking or cool to the touch—or both.
Addressing the needs of larger consumers appeared to be a priority among base suppliers, who served up adjustable beds with stronger motors and platform bases designed to handle more pounds. Forever Foundations launched the Foundation Max Plus metal platform base ($550 retail). In testing, the base supported a 2-ton John Deere tractor without collapsing, the Irvine, California-based company said. Unfortunately, the tractor didn’t fit into the World Market Center elevator, so a large poster illustrating the test had to suffice.
There was news in adjustable bases, including a sleek, wireless remote with backlit display offered by Leggett & Platt Adjustable Base Group with the Carthage, Missouri-based company’s S-Cape and Signature models. The S-Cape+ now has nifty under-bed lighting, or “nightlighting,” too.
Vendors deconstructed their pillows before our eyes, hoping to repeat the success of three-part PureCare One, a customizable pillow for all sleepers. Pillow makers layered multiple fills in unique ways, and dressed up pillows with contrasting piping, pretty gussets and handsome fabrics.
Pillows were the centerpiece at always-colorful Comfort Revolution, the specialty sleep and accessories manufacturer based in West Long Branch, New Jersey, where a round display of lavender-, coconut- and citrus-scented pillows showed off their colored-satin gussets.
Certainly, the influence of digital technology continues to evolve in the bedding segment. Kingsdown said its intelligent Sleep Smart System, a sensor-filled, high-tech bed, is appealing to every type of bedding retailer. The company also pioneered the “digital rest-test” with its bedMATCH Diagnostic System.
“Our research shows that 60% of consumers who use bedMATCH will purchase a bed set priced between $2,200 to $2,400, reflecting an average-unit-selling-price increase of $315 per piece,” said Kevin Damewood, the Mebane, North Carolina-based company’s executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Damewood said the bedMATCH database has more than 9 million consumer profiles, offering retailers myriad opportunities to dig deep into the data and gain insights into their markets and their consumers.
In addition to adding a $1,999 opening price point to the ComforPedic iQ lineup, Simmons made waves with new technology designed to assist retail sales associates. The Atlanta-based mattress major launched an “augmented-reality” app called the Simulator. It gives RSAs Superman-like X-ray vision inside of beds, via their iPads. Yes, it’s fun to use as a sales tool; smartphone versions will launch in January. The company also implemented Thomasville, North Carolina-based Wright Global Graphic Solutions’ RetaiLive, which uses image-recognition software at the point of sale to deliver information to shoppers.
Sleep-products vendors numbered more than 100 at this show and we visited many of them. The following photo album is just a sample of some of the more interesting product news we spotted. Find additional market coverage online at www.sleepsavvymagazine.com.
* Unless otherwise noted, all prices are suggested retail for queen-size sets.
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- Laval, Quebec-based Blu Sleep Products had it all, adding adjustable bases and mattress protection to its lineup of mattresses and pillows. New was a memory-foam starter collection, American Comfort, made with CertiPUR-US foams and designed to appeal to American tastes at affordable price points, ranging from $599 to $999. Blu also introduced the four-bed Island Dreams (pictured), a handsome Dunlop latex line priced from $2,499 to $3,999.
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- St. Louis-based Boyd Specialty Sleep sought to satisfy the demand for customization with the unique Broyhill Cube bed—as President Denny Boyd demonstrates—with prices from $999 to $1,999. Much like a jigsaw puzzle, the foam bed unzips to expose 12 to 18 reversible, upholstered cubes that can be flipped and rearranged to create custom comfort. Cube components include memory foam, gel foam and synthetic latex, depending on the model.
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- The elegant, two-sided E Hotel line from Englander, the mattress licensing group based in Olive Branch, Mississippi, uses high-end foams, gel and wrapped coils designed to deliver the kind of luxury found at fine hotels, but at moderate prices that range from $799 to $1,499.
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- Mattress licensing group King Koil, with headquarters in Willowbrook, Illinois, gave retailers an eyeful in a much-expanded showroom. Among the many introductions were the spa-themed Natural Response collection with high-end foams, gel and latex and an opening price of $2,499; a beautifully redesigned Laura Ashley collection (pictured); as well as the nine-bed Duck Dynasty branded mattress line, inspired by the reality TV show.
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- Mark Aramli, inventor, engineer and founder of Newport, Rhode Island-based BedJet LLC, said he incorporated thinking and technology from the aerospace, automotive and medical fields to create “an air-breathing engine for the bed.” The single-zone BedJet unit retails for $499 and will heat or cool any king mattress, using its patent-pending DirectConnect air technology. The unit operates with an app you download to a smartphone or tablet.
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- Todd Youngblood, president of Mooresville, North Carolina-based Chili Technology (pictured), touted the company’s new Cube control unit. Seven years in the making, it works faster, more quietly and is international-friendly—no adapters needed. Also new, the unit light shuts off automatically, keeping the bedroom dark for better sleep.
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- CleanBrands LLC, headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, added CleanRest Signature pillows and protectors. Protectors have a good-better-best and temperature-regulation story. They retail from $79 to $199. The pillows (retailing from $99 to $129) use proprietary BeBetter Foam which, company founder Gary Goldberg (pictured) said, is VOC-free, resilient and has a feel that combines memory foam and latex. All fabric covers have updated Blue MicronOne shield technology.
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- St. Louis-based Glideaway debuted new protectors for Sleepharmony and for youth beds, and launched a promotional, juvenile memory-foam group, Wink-ZZZ. The beds open at $179 and “have the same durability and comfort as the Jubilee collection … but offer retailers greater flexibility and the ability to operate at higher margins,” said Dan Baker, vice president of national sales.
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- Hollywood Bed Frame Co., headquartered in Commerce, California, offered a sturdy new frame for Internet and cash-and-carry retailers. The patented E3 Premium Bed Frame ships compactly and unfolds for easy assembly. “It’s the only bed frame to meet the requirements of the International Safe Transit Association Procedure 3A test protocol,” said Jon Mullinax (pictured), vice president of sales and marketing.
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- King Koil’s Duck Dynasty collection has a hunting motif.
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- At E.S. Kluft & Co., the focus was on the Rancho Cucamonga, California-based company’s 75-year-old Aireloom brand (pictured, Aireloom Synchronized Support bed) for the U.S. market and new Kluft models for international retailers. “We want to export American luxury bedding and will show at IMM Cologne in January,” said Earl Kluft, president and chief executive officer. “Our new Vi-Spring partners have opened many doors.”
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- Walton Hills, Ohio-based Mantua Mfg. Co. introduced a new take on the metal bed frame. The Express Yourself series retails for $149 and has customizable, side-rail valances to hide the hardware, and a choice of wood or stainless steel legs. Retailers and manufacturers also can use the customizable valances for branding purposes.
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- At Toronto-based Rev Sleep, the emphasis was on Natura-branded infant and juvenile products—kid’s pillows with shredded-latex fill, new crib mattresses with a firmer side for newborns and a three-bed Natura Kidz youth mattress group, retailing from $499 to $999 in twin sizes. Components include natural cotton covers, natural latex and polyurethane foam with bio-based content.
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- The maker of independently certified organic mattresses and accessories, Naturepedic, with headquarters in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, rolled out the Trio three-part pillow (pictured) with an organic latex core (three sizes, $139-$179) and the updated, five-piece, innerspring EOS Customizable Mattress Sleep System that allows sleep partners to adjust their side of the bed ($2,499).
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- Yuba City, California-based Organic Mattresses Inc. welcomed new Chief Executive Officer Kurt Ling who, along with Walt Bader, president and founder, proclaimed their goal is to become “thought leaders” in the organic mattress category. The company added five third-party-certified organic toppers to the OMI line, retailing from $575 to $1,175, and featuring organic wool, cotton and GOLS-certified latex.
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- Paramount Sleep, based in Norfolk, Virginia, showed off its reupholstered, specialty Back Performance MX Gel with a cool, curvy, one-piece, stretch-knit cover that fits like a glove. The three beds retail for $999, $1,299 and $1,599. Also new, the Spa “H” Series is a “true hybrid” that combines wrapped coils with a number of high-end cushion materials—from silk and wool fiber to natural latex. It retails from $1,199 to $1,999.
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- Fairfield, New Jersey-based PureCare has rebranded all its products from Fabrictech to PureCare, and launched PureCare Frio protectors with “Rapid Chill Cooling Fibers.” The cooling factor is not an application, but is inherent in the protectors’ “mineral-infused” fabric construction, the company said. The five-sided mattress protector retails for $119.99; pillow protectors are $28.99.
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- Bedding distributor Salem Sleep Products, with headquarters in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, revamped its Refresh washable-pillow brand with a new logo and point-of-sale materials, and added the contoured Dual Comfort pillow, designed for both back and side sleepers. Three memory-foam pillows retail for $99 and have covers containing Tencel anti-bacterial silver yarns.
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- Atlanta-based Simmons Beautyrest said 2015 will be the year of the retail sales associate, as the mattress major focuses on providing new selling tools that distill product information, placing it at the RSA’s fingertips. The Simulator, currently in beta testing on iPads, rolls out nationally in January for all mobile devices. The app allows RSAs to show all the inside layers of a mattress with the swipe of a finger.
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- Waterford, New York-based Soft-Tex Mfg. presented new SensorPedic-branded Super Cool accessories, including pillows, toppers and protectors. The pillows retail from $49 to $99 and have gel-infused, memory-foam cores covered with a cool-to-the-touch fabric. Soft-Tex also introduced “Pillowise” to fit consumers for an ergonomically correct pillow.
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- At Lexington, Kentucky-based Sealy, a new selection of Stearns & Foster pillows that coordinate with the hybrid Lux Estate collection feature a down-filled, cotton jacquard cover wrapped around a molded memory-foam core. Prices range from $150 to $220.
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- Tempur-Pedic added three softer-pillow profiles in traditional shapes. Retailing for $99 to $199 in queen, the Tempur-Cloud pillows use a new foam formulation, have woven covers and are designed for all sleep positions, said Terry Brophey (pictured), vice president of integrated marketing for Lexington, Kentucky-based Tempur Sealy.
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- Mattress licensing group Therapedic International, which is based in Princeton, New Jersey, redesigned the look and enhanced the componentry of the hybrid Agility group. The new AgilityAir has mesh-wrapped microcoils and convoluted, reticulated foam for better airflow. Prices for the group range from $1,200 to $2,000.
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- Devon, England-based Vi-Spring featured the Signatory Superb, redesigned specifically for the American market and retailing for about $17,000. It announced it will spend $1.3 million this year on marketing, rebranding and a revamped website. “We don’t sell mattresses, we sell a lifestyle,” said Terence Bachor, Vi-Spring North American director.
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- In addition to updating the iComfort pillow program with new fabrics, mattress major Serta, based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, offered retailers an opportunity to increase tickets with three new iComfort models slotted in the line’s upper end. The beds retail from $2,499 to $2,799.
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- Adjustable-base importer Customatic Adjustable Bedz launched an Edge-to-Edge lumbar feature, as well as patent-pending Custom Clips (pictured), an adjustable-base bracket system that does a better job of holding the mattress in place and assembles without tools.