Manufacturers say demand growing for high-end mattresses.
\nAshley M. Heher
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\n Chicago \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Can you put a price on a good night’s rest?<\/p>\n
Betting weary-but-wealthy baby boomers are willing to do just that, mattress companies are fluffing up their selections of ultra-luxe beds that retail for more than the cost of cars, college tuition and parcels of land.<\/p>\n
With a heart-stopping price of $59,750, the Vividus bed launched last year by the Swedish manufacturer Hastens is among the most expensive sold in the U.S.<\/p>\n
But the Vividus, which means “full of life” in Latin, is just the latest bed to target a growing consumer appetite for high-end beds made from materials such as latex, flax, memory foam, silk, cashmere, lambswool and hand-tufted horse hair.<\/p>\n
“If you could have beautiful, incredible sleep, what’s that worth?” said David Perry, bedding editor of the trade publication Furniture\/Today. “The whole idea is pamper yourself, you’re worth it, go for it, live the dream, sleep on a cloud. That has some appeal.”<\/p>\n
Since 2000, the market value of the wholesale mattress industry has increased nearly 40 percent, climbing to $6.4 billion in 2012, according to the trade group International Sleep Products Association.<\/p>\n
But it’s the luxury market that’s behind much of the trend. Premium-priced mattresses \u00e2\u20ac\u201d those costing more than $1,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d were 21 percent of sales in 2012, the latest data available, up from 14 percent in 2000.<\/p>\n
Furniture\/Today says the figure may be even higher. According to the magazine’s survey of shoppers, about 56 percent of dollars spent on bedding went for products that cost more than $1,000. That’s up from 37 percent in 2000, according to the magazine’s survey.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the average cost of a queen-size bed has grown to about $700, up from $600 five years ago, experts said.<\/p>\n
But some people are willing to pay much, much more.<\/p>\n
Less than a dozen handmade Vividus mattresses have been sold worldwide since July, but customers are increasingly buying “cheaper” models that cost up to $20,000, said Mary Pat Wallace, owner of Hastens’ Chicago store that began selling the Vividus last month. The company opened U.S. stores five years ago and has had a 66 percent increase in sales annually the past four years.<\/p>\n
Hypnos, a rival British company that touts its lineage as the official bed supplier to the royal family, sells beds for between $8,000 and $20,000. It expects U.S. sales to continue growing at a rate of about 20 percent a year.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been looking for an opportunity to get into this market, but up until five years ago, we didn’t see there was a desire or a need for the upper-end product,” said Adrian Jones, director of sales for Hypnos USA, which has its U.S. factory in Gallatin, Tenn.<\/p>\n
But does paying a small fortune for a bed ensure the perfect snooze? It depends who you ask.<\/p>\n
Chicago attorney Charlotte Wager, 42, has spent more than $13,000 in the past three years to buy Hastens mattresses for herself and two of her children. Wager said she likes the beds and their 25-year warranty so much that she’s considering buying two more for her older children.<\/p>\n
“You want to be able to go to bed at night and rejuvenate and rest and recuperate,” Wager said. “And to me, the mattress is an investment in that.”<\/p>\n
Michael King, a mattress buyer for the Macy’s department store chain, attributes the fivefold increase in the price of top-end beds sold by his company to consumers’ heightened awareness of the importance of rest.<\/p>\n
“They’re investing more in their home in general and they’re thinking about sleep in a different way,” King said. “It’s connecting health and sleep in one, instead of just looking at sleep as something they do every night.”<\/p>\n
The luxury bed sector is poised to become even more important for big-name mattress companies. They see a handsome profit on lower-priced luxury alternatives that can still cost thousands.<\/p>\n
The trend has been in the works since the early 1990s when Lexington, Ky.-based Tempur-Pedic International Inc. introduced its memory foam bed.<\/p>\n
“Once the mattress manufacturers realized that consumers would pay thousands of dollars for a mattress, we saw other companies rush to enter the market with their own versions of premium bedding,” said Morningstar analyst John Gabriel.<\/p>\n
Sealy Corp., the nation’s largest wholesale mattress maker, unveiled 36 new models earlier this year \u00e2\u20ac\u201d nearly three-quarters of which sell for more than $750, the company’s standard for a premium product. Sealy beds, including the high-end Stearns & Foster line, can sell for $4,000.<\/p>\n
Sealy’s treasurer Mark Boehmer said the company expects about one-third of its future growth to come from its higher-priced offerings.<\/p>\n
At Serta International, a Vera Wang-branded line announced last year has helped the private company post double-digit growth. The mattresses, which include aloe vera “enhanced” fabric, sell for up to $4,000.<\/p>\n
To people like Wager, it’s all about the slumber.<\/p>\n
“It’s more than just a bed,” she said. “What you’re buying is a peaceful night’s sleep.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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