Two-sided beds, fancy fabrics and lots of boxed product for grab-and-go shoppers
While the Fall High Point Market Oct. 14-18 in High Point, North Carolina, was a quiet one in bedding halls, the editors of BedTimes uncovered a healthy amount of new product news to share. Take a look at these showroom vignettes to see what the High Point faithful had to offer when it came to mattresses, sleep accessories and sleep technology.
Unless otherwise stated, all prices are suggested retail for queen-size sets.
Protect-A-Bed spreads out in enlarged showroom
Protect-A-Bed, a supplier of mattresses, protection products and sleep accessories, swam against the bedding current in High Point by enlarging its showroom to 5,000 square feet. The spacious layout enabled the Chicago-based company to display its wide array of products and services in a series of individual vignettes. A gallery of posters at the showroom entry illustrated what the company considers its core strengths—marketing, product display, training, service and trust.
Roomy Chicago-based Protect-A-Bed opened an expansive new showroom, enabling it to create discrete displays that covered its entire product line, including this REM-Fit ‘brand store’ that the company says allows brick-and-mortar retailers to better compete with online mattress brands.
Spring Air Mattress Corp. retools Sleep Sense
Spring Air International licensee Spring Air Mattress Corp. had a better-than-average Fall High Point Market, according to President John Grove Jr. “The dealers who came in were buying, and they were looking for better, more upscale product.”
Retailers found what they were looking for in the manufacturer’s large showroom adjacent to its corporate offices and manufacturing plant in nearby Greensboro, North Carolina. The completely redesigned Sleep Sense all-foam line and Sleep Sense Hybrid collection, under the Spring Air Back Supporter brand umbrella, offered impeccable tailoring; fashion-forward fabrics in white, navy and gray; and premium interior components.
The three-model Sleep Sense Foam group is unusual in that it’s two-sided with latex on both sleep surfaces. Priced from $1,499 to $3,499, the first two beds use Talalay latex in the cushion and have a polyurethane foam core, as well as other premium foam and gel foam layers. The core foam contains a percentage of bio-based content made from soy. The top bed in the line is all latex, with different densities of Talalay in the core and comfort layers. The bed’s textural white knit panel is quilted with Joma wool.
Sleep Sense Hybrid is a four-bed collection priced from $1,099 to $1,499. Mattresses contain a zoned, multilevel encased-coil core that is topped with different cushion components, depending on the model. Comfort layers include microcoils, latex, Nu-Temp cooling foam and gel foam.
On the border, Sleep Sense Foam has an attractive windowpane check ticking in blue and gray accented with a solid navy tape-edge. Sleep Sense Hybrid pairs the same woven ticking with a circular stitch pattern and a navy accent fabric, which is used to finish the company’s unique Ergo Handles.
Four’s company Pictured are marketing coordinator Meredith Chilton with (clockwise from left) David Grove, vice president; Bill Ellington, director of sales; and President John Grove Jr. all of Spring Air Mattress Corp. in Greensboro, North Carolina. They got comfortable on this redesigned, two-sided Sleep Sense Foam group.
Therapedic’s Tommy Bahama hides coils in the quilt
Therapedic International’s redesigned Tommy Bahama collection that launched at the Summer Las Vegas Market has grown to 12 models, said Gerry Borreggine, president and chief executive officer of the Princeton, New Jersey-based mattress licensing group.
The line is priced from $799 to $1,799. The higher-end beds have a smooth top and include Therapedic’s unusual iFlex Inside quilted panel that incorporates mini microcoils into the mattress cover.
Comfort and durability Princeton, New Jersey-based Therapedic International uses the proprietary iFlex Inside mattress quilt with mini microcoils to step up its popular Tommy Bahama collection.
Shifman celebrates Masters collection
Luxury bed maker Shifman Mattress Co., with headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, updated and enhanced its signature Masters collection, which turns 20 this year.
“We gave the Masters, a collection that is a driving force for us, a dramatic visual upgrade with a more modern color palette and a slightly higher profile,” said Bill Hammer, Shifman president. “And it was gratifying to hear the reactions of retailers who came in and said, ‘Wow!’ ”
Priced from $4,200 to $10,000, the nine-bed Masters collection has plush white panels that glitter with silver motifs and are complemented by silver and white tape-edges. While the panel fabric is a woven, it has the exceptionally plush look and feel of a knit. The beds’ simplified borders have less stitching, vertical channel quilting and gunmetal corner guards. Inside, cushion layers include natural materials such as cotton fiber, Joma wool, angora fiber and natural latex over an innerspring core.
“Over the past 20 years, the Masters collection has become extremely important to Shifman, its dealers and consumers,” Hammer said. “The fact that we do almost 50% of our total dollar business in our high-end collections … exemplifies the tremendous value built into every product. However, the other 50% of the business is done on other product collections that feature more popular price points starting at $799. The combination makes for a successful retail mattress program with an average unit sale that is three times the industry average.”
Well-received Bill Hammer, president of Newark, New Jersey-based Shifman Mattress Co., was pleased with retailer reaction to the redesigned, luxurious Masters collection.
Sleepwell flips over latex
Landover, Maryland-based AW Industries Inc., a Serta licensee that makes the proprietary Sleepwell brand, launched two-sided hybrid and all-foam mattresses that feature latex in its new, 3,500-square-foot Sleepwell showroom.
With 100% Talalay latex in the cushion layers, combined with 725 individually wrapped 6-inch coils at its core, the adjustable-friendly hybrid version of the beds comes in pillow-top, plush and firm. The design of the knit panel features an oversized leaf in a gray-and-white color scheme. Two-sided, all-foam models use a combination of latex and other premium foams. Prices for the group range from $1,499 to $1,999.
Two-sided comfort Landover, Maryland-based AW Industries Inc. debuted a two-sided latex line under its Sleepwell brand.
Paramount gives Hypnos an ultra-premium makeover
Paramount Sleep, which in 2014 obtained the exclusive license to manufacture the luxury U.K. bed brand Hypnos for the U.S. market, held a soft launch of a Hypnos line redesign.
The innerspring beds now are manufactured to British brand standards, right down to the fabrics, said Richard Fleck, president of the Norfolk, Virginia-based mattress manufacturer. The group has a more elegant look with smooth, clean lines and no distracting labels. Divan bases also were redesigned with new fabrics, profiles and custom leg options.
At $25,000 for a queen set, the new, top-of-the-line Hypnos Royal Grandeur represents a much higher price point for the collection and is meant to place Hypnos on a par with Hastens and Vispring, Fleck said.
Royal Grandeur’s cushion layers include microcoils, natural latex and a wide range of exotic fibers, from camel hair to crimped horsehair. Its damask panel is adorned with an image of Hypnos, the Greek god of sleep.
Beds in the Hypnos Natural Haven group open at $1,999. At the core is Q Spring, a pocketed coil system with nested center coils, while the comfort layers are comprised of natural latex, microcoils and natural fibers such as cotton, cashmere and New Zealand wool.
All beds have toppers that are sold separately and come rolled in compact boxes. Toppers open at $300 for Natural Haven and reach $1,500 for Royal Grandeur. They’re available in different thicknesses and are filled with a range of the brand’s signature natural fibers.
Fit for a Greek god The Hypnos Royal Grandeur from Norfolk, Virginia-based Paramount Sleep has a luxurious topper filled with exotic fibers that is sold separately and comes conveniently boxed.
Enso Sleep mattresses, bases get smart and portable
At the Enso Sleep Systems showroom, an import line sold by Asheboro, North Carolina-based Klaussner Home Furnishings, we got a glimpse of the future of smart home furnishings with a voice-controlled adjustable base. It comes without legs, drops into existing bedroom furniture and works with Google Home or Amazon Echo to control the bed. The base responds to 15 different voice commands, such as “Echo, ask smart bed to lie flat.” Suggested retail is $1,299.
Enso also introduced boxed mattresses paired with a boxed adjustable base. The gel-infused memory foam mattresses come in three heights and are priced from $399 to $999. The adjustable base retails for just $300.
A wall of the showroom depicted a 75-square-foot in-store display of the boxes. “It’s a grab-and-go system,” said John Akerman, director of sales for Enso. “The adjustable bases come folded in half. You can throw (a bed and base) into your car.”
At your command Smart furnishings are coming to the bedroom, as seen with this voice-controlled adjustable base showcased by Asheboro, North Carolina-based Enso Sleep Systems, part of Klaussner Home Furnishings.
Ashley provides more choices—from premium to luxury
Named for the sound of a doorbell, Arcadia, Wisconsin-based Ashley Furniture Industries’ new boxed-bed program, Chime, brings promotional bedding to consumers’ doorsteps. The memory foam and hybrid mattresses retail from $199 to $299. All come in wheeled boxes for easy movement.
“They have great looks and great feels at a tremendous price point,” said Brad Rogers, Ashley senior vice president of bedding.
Ashley also stepped into higher price points with its Loft & Madison mattress. The $1,599 bed uses premium, swirled-gel memory foam and a panel fabric treated with temperature-regulating phase-change material. The attractive bed features pale gray with a white geometric floral pattern cascading to a waterfall edge.
Right to your doorstep Ashley Furniture Industries, based in Arcadia, Wisconsin, created Chime, a new affordable boxed-bed program that comes in wheeled boxes.
Fashion Bed Group goes for gray
Chicago-based Fashion Bed Group, a Leggett & Platt company with headquarters in Carthage, Missouri, brought contemporary gray variations to a few of its more colorful beds. For example, the Prescott, with handstitched headboard (which launched at the Summer Las Vegas Market in moss-green velvet upholstery) now is available in a pewter gray. It is priced at $699. In addition, the Harrington daybed, introduced in vivid orchid, now comes in a neutral silver gray. The twin size retails for $320.
Gracious gray Chicago-based Fashion Bed Group, a Leggett & Platt company based in Carthage, Missouri, added on-trend pewter to its color choices for the Prescott complete bed.
Kingsdown launches contemporary all-foam collection
Mebane, North Carolina-based Kingsdown introduced the sleek, three-bed Miro collection. It has gel memory foam and Carpenter Co.’s premium, polyurethane Serene Foam in the comfort layers over a breathable, channeled foam support core. The smooth-top bed features a waterfall edge and a plush white panel embellished with contemporary taupe medallions. The three-bed group is priced from $1,999 to $2,999.
Modernist Mebane, North Carolina-based Kingsdown debuted Miro, a memory-foam group with smooth styling.
Malouf duvet makes the bed
Logan, Utah-based Malouf provided a new option for making winter warm and fashionable. The accessory supplier’s new French Linen flax fiber duvet cover, which retails for $150, coordinates with its French Linen sheet sets and is available in charcoal, smoke, white and flax.
Snuggle up Bedding accessories supplier Malouf, headquartered in Logan, Utah, featured the new French Linen duvet cover in an elegant bedroom vignette.
Storis showcases shopper kiosk
Seamless shopping Mount Arlington, New Jersey-based Storis introduced a kiosk to retailers that enables shoppers to have the same experience online and in-store.
Retail software provider Storis, with headquarters in Mount Arlington, New Jersey, introduced technology to bridge the gap between a consumer’s experience with a retailer’s e-commerce site and its brick-and-mortar store. The in-store kiosk, which can catalog a retailer’s entire inventory, enables shoppers to access their online shopping carts while in-store and easily add to their carts and complete purchases. The kiosk integrates with the retailer’s Storis resource-planning software and eStoris eCommerce platform.
Classic Brands extends Urban Loft
Classic Brands, based in Jessup, Maryland, finished out its Urban Loft line with four new hybrids featuring its Cool Gel Thermic fabric that absorbs and dissipates heat. The beds, which are expected to retail from $799 to $1,199, include a core of wrapped coils, topped by either gel-infused memory foam, Talalay latex or high-performance foam. Available in 11 1/2-inch, 13-inch and 14-inch models, the beds are covered in a dark gray quilted knit.
Bedgear promotes kids’ mattress that grows with the child
Bedgear Performance Bedding, headquartered in Farmingdale, New York, used its signature looks on a new children’s line, which can grow with kids. The two-sided bed—one surface is firm, the other is plush—has a waterproof cover and comes with removable foam edge guards meant to prevent younger children from rolling out of bed. A twin size retails for $499.
On guard Farmingdale, New York-based Bedgear Performance Bedding introduced something to appeal to parents and kids alike—a colorful bed with foam edge guards that can be removed.
Danican gets racy with hybrid 3D Flo mattress
Danican, the Atascadero, California-based U.S. division of EverRest ApS, with headquarters in Aarhus, Denmark, drew attention with 3D Flo, a hybrid bed with bold red and blue stripes that race around the border. It uses memory foam over pocketed coils and has a cooling cover made with Tencel yarns. The bed retails for $1,249.
Earning its stripes Bold red and blue stripes on the border draw the eye to Atascadero, California-based Danican’s new hybrid bed.
