David Perry —
Offer more complete bedding programs

HIGH POINT — Why give away something that you can sell?

That’s a question asked by suppliers of sleep accessory products, who offer everything from mattress pads and protectors to comforters and a wide range of pillows. And they provide the answer: It’s often a bad idea.

The suppliers say that sleep accessories help consumers slumber more comfortably, help improve the looks of stores, and help retailers boost their bottom lines. That’s the sales pitch for a vast array of sleep accessories available to bedding retailers, including branded pillow lines, pillow protectors, mattress pads and protectors, comforters, duvets, toppers and sheets.

Most major bedding producers offer accessory programs and products to their retailers.

Sealy licenses its pillows through Pacific Coast Feather, which makes Sealy pillows, sheets, comforters and mattress pads. Five pillows are offered, in soft support, medium support, firm support, extra firm support and contour designs. Retails range from $16.99 to $79.99.

Accessories are an add-on feature that allows retailers to offer more complete bedding programs, Sealy officials said.

Spring Air offers two visco pillows, one a contour pillow and the other featuring shredded visco. Both pillows carry suggested retails of $70.

“These visco pillows are a great add-on sale for any mattress set sold,” said Jim Nation, Spring Air president. He noted that pillows play a key role in helping consumers sleep well. “Whether you are a back sleeper or a side sleeper,” Nation said, “pillows are designed to elevate your head, which helps give you a better night’s sleep.”

Every Tempur-Pedic retailer has the option of carrying that producer’s strong pillow line, the company said.

“Tempur-Pedic is committed to helping consumers get a better night’s sleep, and we recognize that pillows have a tremendous effect on sleep quality,” said Chris Henning, president of Tempur-Pedic Retail. “The only thing more important than the right bed is the right pillow. A pillow that fits properly and delivers support will place the neck and spine in proper alignment, which will help consumers awake rested and relaxed.”

Tempur-Pedic’s pillow line includes ergonomic Swedish Neck Pillows, more traditionally shaped pillows, and even a BodyPillow. Suggested retails range from $85 to $165. All the pillows are made of Tempur-Pedic’s proprietary Tempur material.

Serta has an extensive sleep accessory offering that includes natural pillows, down comforters, featherbeds, polyester pillows, mattress pads and fiber-beds.  The producer also has a top-of-bed program featuring KoolComfort memory foam, which is anti-bacterial and odor absorbing, and a new Balanced AirRest line of pillows and toppers, with adjustable air chambers.

Retails on the KoolComfort pillows range from $40 to $100, while the Balanced AirRest pillows retail for $119 and the queen mattress toppers in that program retail for $499.

One of the broadest offerings of sleep accessories is available from Leggett & Platt’s new Top of Bed Division. The lineup includes sheets, bed packs, daybed and futon covers, comforters, mattress pads, pillows and featherbeds.

“The more we can make that store feel like a person’s home, the better the sales opportunity will be,” said Richard Downing, who was recently named president of the Top of Bed Division.

He recommends that bedding retailers show or suggest how fully dressed beds look on the sales floor. The dressed beds will improve the appearance of retail floors and help consumers quickly realize how attractive their beds can look, Downing said.

Suppliers of sleep accessories say education is the key to retailers fully realizing the sales potential of sleep accessories.

“Retailers should not be selling a mattress without selling $200 in pillows and a $200 comforter,” said Larry Klein, vice president of sales at Natura. “They would be doing the customer a favor. The customer will be happier and more comfortable and will tell other customers and send them into that store.”

Sleep accessories are a big category for Natura, which offers mattress pads, mattress toppers, comforters and a wide range of pillows. The company’s best-selling pillow is a solid-core latex model with a wool wrap.
Seeking to add appeal to female consumers, Natura even offers accessories infused with aloe vera.

United Sleep offers pillows with its new flagship Nature’s Dreams line. “We have great pillows,” said Lisa Kaufman, chairman. “We think this is a real opportunity for our customers.”

“These products are an absolute benefit to the end customer,” added Marc Werner, CEO of United Sleep.

Carolina Mattress Guild offers a full range of pillows in a new program, which includes latex, visco and special fiber constructions.

“Giving away pillows with purchase is the old business model,” said Kathy Grigg, a principal at CMG. “Retailers who do that are giving away profit opportunities.”

Emerald Home Furnishings has sharply priced sleep accessories in its mix and is seeing strong interest in those products, said Jon Ritchie, general manager of bedding operations. Emerald’s goosedown comforters retail from $49 to $139, and the pillow offerings include a visco pillow retailing at $17.95.

“These products are great for add-on sales,” Ritchie said. “They are also good for promotions and to help close the sale.”

Entering the U.S. market at the recent High Point market was Magniflex, an Italian bedding producer. Its offerings include a line of ergonomically shaped pillows and cushions.