In addition to education sessions and discussions, conference attendees enjoyed Arizona’s majestic setting.
Mattress industry gathers to discuss marketing, e-commerce and more.
About 330 members of the mattress industry—including International Sleep Products Association President Ryan Trainer and BedTimes staff members Kerri Bellias and Mary Best—gathered May 10-12 for the 2016 Bedding Conference at the Weston La Paloma Resort and Spa in Tucson, Arizona.
Themed “Masters of Marketing,” the 10th annual event sponsored by Furniture/Today, a publication of Progressive Business Media, focused on significant shifts the mattress industry is facing, including changing demographics and buying preferences, and how suppliers, manufacturers and retailers can address a rapidly changing consumer and business environment.
Highlights included:
- Generational marketer Ken Gronbach, who kicked off the educational sessions as keynote speaker challenged attendees to broaden their understanding of and relationship with the world’s changing demographics—especially with millennials.
- Other sessions addressed the emergence of the e-commerce mattress phenomenon, including a panel discussion with online retailers Dan Dietz of Mattress Firm, John-Thomas Marino and Daehee Park of Tuft & Needle, and Tim Oakhill of Yogabed.
- Three retailers—Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Gardner-White; Best Mattress, with headquarters in Las Vegas; and US-Mattress, based in Brighton, Michigan—were honored as Retail Giants of Bedding at a gala awards dinner.
“The Bedding Conference focused on key issues facing the industry, including the importance of strong marketing programs, the rise of online mattress retailers and the vital role that retail sales associates play in the mattress sales process,” said David Perry, executive editor of Furniture/Today and host of the conference. “Our attendees gave the conference excellent reviews and said it provided them with relevant content that will help them improve their businesses.”
