 Comfort Sleep Trends - November 2009  |
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To Catch A Sleep A good night’s rest isn’t hard to find
In our hurried lives, it may seem as though a butterfly net is needed to catch the perfect night’s sleep. Not quite the best strategy, it’s best to leave the science to the experts, who continually research technologies, fabrics, fills and treatments to enhance sleep comfort. Thanks to the efforts of these manufacturers, leave the net at home—a comfortable night’s sleep is available on the retail shelf. Soft-Tex’s brand new Nature’s Rest Line, recently debuted at the New York Home Fashion Week this past September, represents a recently acquired license with the parent company, Springer International. The collection is comprised of pillows, bed toppers and comforters, all with the tag line, “Earth’s best resources for sleep.” “This line has rounded out and expanded our previous offerings,” says Bob O’Connell, executive vice-president of sales and marketing, Soft-Tex. “The line is geared around natural product, like feather and down, and latex.” As O’Connell explains, primarily latex was just in Soft-Tex’s mattress and pillow products, but this new brand has given Soft-Tex the opportunity to diversify its product arsenal, in turn making Soft-Tex able to satisfy its customers with more options and increasing interest for more natural and environmentally friendly product. “Since the economy has changed, there’s still a desire to buy natural, but consumers aren’t willing to pay for the price difference, so we’ve responded by keeping our prices more in line with our traditional lines while expanding by combining ingredients, like latex and down, and latex and feather; two combinations not previously offered,” says O’Connell. Nature’s Rest Line will be available by the end of the first quarter. As a whole, Soft-Tex’s current priority is to keep prices low while making its product look unique and different by using decorative trims and fabrics more consistent with luxury products, O’Connell explains. United Feather & Down is also focused on adding exciting new dimensions to basic bedding to satisfy its consumers’ expectation for innovation and value as well as for its clients in the hospitality market. According to Bob Hickman, senior vice-president of sales and marketing, United Feather & Down, in an effort to accelerate product development for its customers in the hospitality sector, the company has entered a cross-merchandise collaboration with Borghese, a manufacturer of premium skincare and cosmetics. The Villa Di Borghese Collection of bedding and gift items is the result, with the aim to capture the true meaning of beauty rest for hotel guests. Each item in the Villa Di Borghese Collection of bedding and gift items are packaged with corresponding Borghese skin care products for consumers to try at home.
Borghese skin care has natural, botanical elements known for its beauty and wellness benefits, and the fabric used with all bedding products is finished with an aloe vera treated, high thread count Italian tile dobby cotton. As a complement to the natural elements in the beauty products, the fill for the bedding features Lenzing’s TENCEL® lyocell, a natural, eco-friendly fiber produced from sustainable eucalyptus forests. Consumers have the option to select fill with either Botanical Down™, a blend of TENCEL® Lyocell fibers and Freshness Assured® down, or a Botanical Down Alternative™, a blend of micro-fiber down alternative and TENCEL® Lyocell fibers. With additional gift items such as a spa pillow, booties and a spa body wrap, this cross section of comfort sleep plus spa products are a great fit for hotels that seek to provide guests with a lasting impression of a luxurious stay. “Our customers are looking for trusted product with high performance, features and benefits, says Hickman. “Products they can emotionally relate to, which can deliver a feeling that they bought a very special luxury to enjoy, which was also a great value at an affordable price, is what they need.” Another need basic bedding manufacturers seek to fulfill is for products that will help lengthen the life of investment purchases. Jeff Chilton, creative marketing manager, Perfect Fit, says two of their strongest sellers right now are the Magic Loft mattress pad and topper, and the Therapedic Enhancer topper. He equates the success of these products to the fact that Perfect Fit’s customers use toppers as a short-term solution, in lieu of purchasing a new mattress. Among its offering of mattress and personal pads, Perfect Fit also recently launched Restonic Magnetic Therapy mattress pads and personal pads. In this line, Perfect Fit has encased magnets in sleep pads and toppers which are proven to reduce pain. “This line has created tremendous excitement among big retailers,” says Chilton. “We are focused on creating ways to help consumers sleep better and working on how to communicate solutions better. There are a lot of good ideas and proven solutions, the difficulty is getting the ‘word’ out that these methods really work.” Mandy Talbert, brand and communications manager, Louisville Bedding, also finds that one of its strongest sellers right now is a product performance extender, its Mattress Makeover. “Given the current economic conditions and uncertainties, disposable income is limited,” says Talbert. “What our Mattress Makeover is designed to do, is put life back into a tired mattress and give the consumer the sense of a new mattress all over again, ultimately allowing additional time before making that larger purchase. Everyone is watching their spending habits and our Mattress Makeover provides another option.” In addition to this big seller, as a way to round out offerings to hit additional consumer needs, Louisville’s “Loft Logic” fiber technology story is something Louisville has been educating its retailers and consumers on for over a year. “We have 11 different fibers that all perform differently and each provides a unique sleep experience,” says Talbert. “From synthetic fill to true down-alternatives and cluster fibers, we bring all combinations to consumers for them to meet their sleep expectations.” But, despite newly acquired licenses or new technologies, at the heart of it, all priorities boil down to value—a term that has become almost the “password” to logging sales in this industry, as Down Lite has also found.
As Jyl Davis, director of marketing, Down Lite explains, the company is finding current success in value sets, such as multiple utility items packaged together, licensed brand products with great product and packaging design and innovative product and packaging concepts that do not add cost to the end item. “We are focused on the continued growth in both natural and synthetic comforter and pillow categories as well as our exclusive licensed brand strategies, and at the moment, Down Lite’s number one priority is to take care of our customers,” says Davis. “We strive to ensure we are the best partner that the customer can have in every sense of the word.” In terms of offering consumers the opportunity to sleep well with ease, Natura World also strives to be the best comfort provider it can be. At the moment, one of its best sellers is a reflection of how organic trends and culture have caught up with the comfort bedding world. According to Julia Rosen, communications director, Natura World, the Eco Haven’s natural latex core echoes body curves and provides deep, whole body support with plush, contouring comfort. Covered in luxurious organic cotton sateen, the cushion top is removable top and filled with two-inch natural latex and a layer of hypoallergenic Natura Wool for ultra-plush, temperature-controlled sleep. “Consumers are looking and searching desperately for sleep options that answer their questions on how to find a comfortable and healthy night’s sleep,” says Rosen. In addition, a recent major development for Natura World is the acquisition of NexGel mattresses, a new technology for Natura. These mattresses feature a gel that has been poured into a honeycomb form and frozen to achieve a gummy consistency, to be layered underneath ticking. The result is a technique that has been used for 10 to 15 years in the medical industry as a way to increase relief of pressure points when lying down. “This is a new technology for our factory to produce,” says Rosen. “But what’s interesting is that although it has a green story, it’s not as green as some of our organic stories, but the sheer comfort factor of the technology is a huge selling point with even our organic and green retailers. As the baby boomer generation ages, there is a greater demand for comfortable options, and this technology is great for those who suffer from fibromyalgia, to arthritis, to other maladies. It’s all about getting the information out so that consumers can make better choices when it comes to sleep.” Downright Ltd. also seeks to offer its customers thoughtful and valuable options. And, as Esty Friedman, sales manager, Downright explains, with products like the Mirage comforters and pillows, these offerings have been meeting consumer needs. “We have seen an increase in the sales of our Mirage comforters and Pillows, which are filled with 700+ Polish or 800+ Siberian White Goose and encased in German shells, in other words, one of our top of the line products,” says Friedman. “During these trying economic times, people are realizing that economically, it pays to invest in a better down comforter, because the added warmth translates into savings on heating bills.” Friedman says that the high quality, lightweight comforters provide superb warmth, and allow consumers to turn the heat down and stay warm and comfortable, and though the cost may be a bit higher, the Downright customer is not deterred, and is willing to pay to enjoy the added benefits and value of a high quality item. With these basic bedding manufacturers working to satisfy customer needs, selling a perfect night’s sleep is only as elusive as pointing consumers to the correct aisle. Resources
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