BedTimes magazine June 2010

MarketReport
Bedding vendors happy with High Point Market
Manufacturers offer retailers new products at every price point
By Barbara Nelles
With more than two dozen
manufacturers of all sizes
exhibiting at the High Point
Market in April, the bedding category
has re-established a significant presence
there. Generally speaking, sleep
products exhibitors were in an upbeat
mood, due in large part to strong firstquarter
sales. Added to that, foot traffic
at the show in High Point, N.C., was
up over October, with more buyers in
attendance—and more with mattresses
on their shopping lists. New products
were easy to find and they covered
every price point.
Fascination with foams
Engineered and specialty foams were
on display in cores, comfort layers,
toppers and encasements as mattress
manufacturers continued to tap into
foam’s popularity and profitability.
As a testament to the popularity
of foam, Shifman Mattress Co., a
117-year-old manufacturer of highend,
handmade innerspring mattresses,
introduced its first line of latex beds.
The Newark, N.J.-based company’s
Pure Comfort Latex Mattress collection
has a latex core (7 ½ inches to 9
½ inches) that is covered in high-end
damask. It sits atop the company’s
all-coil box spring. Suggested retail
prices range from $2,199 to $3,999 for
a queen size.*
Natura World, a mattress and sleep
accessories manufacturer based in
Cambridge, Ontario, unveiled Natura
Latex, a collection with a range of
constructions and feels. The beds are
arranged in three groups but all have
coir and natural wool in the comfort
layers. Lower-priced models (beds start
at $999) have latex in the top layers and
www.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes
a polyurethane core with a percentage
of plant-based content. The top bed,
priced at $3,699, has a five-zone latex
core and more latex in the quilt layer.
EcoSleep, a line of compressed and
rolled foam beds manufactured by
Durable Products LLC in Whitewater,
Wis., expanded its offerings. The
Cool-Contour Deluxe, an addition
to the Cool-Contour memory foam
collection, sports a moisture-absorbing
Tencel mattress fabric. Retail is $1,299
for a queen set. Other new offerings
included a latex group priced at $699,
* All prices are suggested retail for queen size unless otherwise noted.
(Photos clockwise, from top left)
Paramount Bedding Steve Mageland (left), Tom
Burke and Richard Fleck introduced a number
of new lines, including Back Performance.
Therapedic Sleep Products Therawrap by
Therapedic is the licensing group’s first line of
encased coil mattresses.
Five Star Mattress President Jim Nation shows
off the True Luxury collection, which features
knit tops, Talalay latex and suede borders.
Jamison Bedding The Oceania foam line
comes with ‘a party’ of marketing materials,
says Ken Hinman, vice president of sales and
marketing.
BedTimes | June 2010 | 9