PDF version - BedTimes Magazine

BedTimes 

THE BUSINESS JOURNAL FOR THE SLEEP PRODUCTS INDUSTRY 

MAY 2009 

Interzum 

Cologne 

A guide to the show 

Ideas & resources 

for keeping your 

workers safe 

Low-cost marketing 

Talking to employees 

about tough subjects

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Profiles 

Non-wovens 

Latex Foam 

Foam Products 

PowerStack Wire Foundations 

InnerRest Fabric-Encased Coil Units 

InnerACT Alternating Coil Innerspring 

Edge Guards 

Bonnell and Offset Innersprings 

Bed Frames 

Memory Foam Toppers 

Memory Foam Pillows 

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THAT COUNTS 

Tradition. Innovation. Performance. 

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PO Box 819 • Hickory, NC 28603 • (828) 328-2201 

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MAY 2009 

InSide 

www.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes 

Features 

22 For safety’s sake 

To create a safe workplace, companies must strive—not just for a low injury 

level—but for no injuries. Doing so improves morale, productivity and even the 

bottom line. BedTimes gives you guidelines, ideas and resources for making your 

plant as safe as it can be. 

32 Sensitive talk 

Given the troubled economy, companies increasingly find themselves having to 

break bad news to employees. Human resource and communication consultants 

offer tips for telling workers about salary cuts, benefit reductions and other 

difficult changes. 

Departments 

16 Management Issues 

Learn five ways to empower your 

staff—and make yourself a better 

leader in the process. 

19 Marketing Report 

If your marketing funds are in short 

supply, concentrate on low-cost 

methods of relationship marketing. 

39 Interzum Cologne 

A special section guides you through 

Interzum Cologne, held May 13-16 in 

Cologne, Germany. The guide features 

extensive exhibitor profiles, maps of 

the show venue and more. 

5 Editor’s Note 

7 Front Matter 

13 Company Profile 

20 Sales Talk 

59 Media Relations 

65 Industry News 

81 Factory Direct 

85 Newsmakers 

86 ISPA Advocacy 

88 Calendar 

89 Classifieds 

90 Advertisers Index 

92 The Last Word 

BedTimes | May 2009 | 3

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application system. 

SABA water-based adhesives are chemically engineered to be shear 

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This controls waste, which provides a healthier working environment 

for your staff, and a cleaner plant for all. 

Between the cleanliness and the cost-savings, the SABA foam bonding 

solution is, as we say in the sleep industry, a dream come true. 

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We have been using SABA adhesives and its 

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been great! 

The quality of the adhesive is superior and our 

plants are much cleaner due to the reduction in 

overspray. Additionally, the service provided by 

SABA has been fantastic. I highly recommend 

SABA to others in the bedding industry. 

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International Bedding 

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EDITOR IN CHIEF 

Julie A. Palm 

336-727-1889 

jpalm@sleepproducts.org 

SENIOR WRITER 

Barbara T. Nelles 

336-856-8973 

bnelles@sleepproducts.org 

CONTRIBUTORS 

Lee Froschheiser 

Lin Grensing-Pophal 

Pam Lontos 

Kelley Robertson 

Karen Saunders 

Dorothy Whitcomb 

ART DIRECTOR 

Stephanie Belcher 

336-201-7475 

stephanie@jimmydog.com 

VICE PRESIDENT OF SAlES 

Kerri Bellias 

336-945-0265 

kbellias@sleepproducts.org 

AD PRODUCTION & 

CIRCUlATION mANAgER 

Debbie Robbins 

336-342-4217 

drobbins@sleepproducts.org 

COPY EDITOR 

Margaret Talley-Seijn 

BedTimes deadlines 

Editorial deadlines for the Industry 

News and Newsmakers sections 

of the July issue of BedTimes are 

Monday, June 1. 

Volume 137 Number 5 

BedTimes (ISSN 0893-5556) is published 

monthly by the International Sleep Products 

Association. Periodicals postage paid at 

Alexandria, Va., and additional mailing offices. 

Editorial and advertising offices 

5603-B W. Friendly Ave. #286 

Greensboro, NC 27410 

Phone 703-683-8371; Fax 703-683-4503 

Administrative and ISPA offices 

501 Wythe St., Alexandria, Va. 22314-1917 

Phone 703-683-8371; Fax 703-683-4503 

Postmaster Send address changes to 

BedTimes, 501 Wythe St., Alexandria, Va. 

22314-1917 

Contents © 2009 by the 

International Sleep Products 

Association. Reprint permission 

obtainable through BedTimes. 


Editor’sNote 

Interzum Cologne 

comes at prime time 

many of our readers will be 

attending Interzum Cologne, 

held May 13-16 in Cologne, 

Germany. You might even be reading 

this magazine on the show floor: We 

have bonus distribution of BedTimes 

at the trade fair. 

No one needs to tell you how difficult 

the economy is. But shows like 

Interzum Cologne—valuable in the 

best of times—are invaluable in the 

worst of times. Now is when you are 

rethinking every part of your business—the 

components you’re buying, 

the suppliers you’re working with, the 

types of mattresses you’re producing. 

You’re looking for efficiencies and 

ways to gain a competitive edge. 

Interzum Cologne allows you to do 

all that in one place and in just a few 

days. 

While putting together this issue of 

BedTimes, we’ve had a chance to get 

a sneak peek at what some exhibitors 

will be showing during the fair. They 

are rolling out new products and services 

designed to make your business 

better. Take advantage of what they 

have to offer. 

And start making plans now to attend 

the International Sleep Products 

Association’s next EXPO, which will 

be March 3-6, 2010, in Charlotte, N.C. 

Digital BedTimes 

Last month, I told you that we are 

posting the entire magazine online at 

www.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes. 

The platform we’re using is intuitive, 

quick and easy to navigate, allowing 

you to flip through the magazine in 

much the same way you do the print 

version. 

But the digital version does have 

some nifty additional features, includ- 

ing live email and Web links that allow 

you to access further information 

from advertisers and others. 

We’re posting BedTimes online at 

the beginning of each month, allowing 

all of our readers to see the magazine 

earlier than they otherwise might. 

We think the digital issue will be 

especially useful to our international 

readers, who sometimes experience 

unavoidable delays in receiving their 

copy of the magazine. 

Past issues will be archived as we go 

forward. Now, no matter where you 

are—if you have access to the Internet—you’ll 

have access to BedTimes. 

We’ve had valuable comments 

from some readers. If you haven’t 

already done so, check it out and tell 

us what you think. As always, you 

can email me at 

jpalm@sleepproducts.org. 

In a related note, eventually we’d 

like to be able to send all of our readers 

a short email reminder when the latest 

BedTimes has been posted online. We 

have emails for many readers but not 

all. To make sure we have your email 

address, please send it to Debbie Robbins, 

our circulation manager, at 

drobbins@sleepproducts.org. 

(We don’t share email addresses with 

outside parties.) BT 

Julie A. Palm 


FrontMatter 

Survey 

Be cautious before cutting prices 

Consumers may 

change the way 

they think about 

your brand 

By Julie A. Palm 

It’s tempting to slash the price of 

your products during a recession, 

but companies should carefully 

consider the ramifications before 

doing so, according to new research 

and marketing experts. 

A recently released study by The 

Futures Company, a global consumer 

research firm and consultancy, 

shows that lowering prices—even 

during an economic downturn—may 

cause long-term damage to a brand’s 

reputation as consumers wonder 

about the reason for the discount: Is 

something wrong with the product? 

Is it inferior? Is it outdated? 

When asked what they think 

about a brand when its price is 

lowered, 70% of consumers said, 

“the brand is overpriced,” according 

to the 2009 “Dollars & Consumer 

Sense” study. Some 62% of consumers 

said they think “the product is 

old, about to expire or about to be 

updated and the company is trying 

to get rid of it to make room for new 

stuff.” 

Conversely, those companies that 

maintain their pricing structure 

benefit from positive consumer impressions. 

According to the survey, 

64% of consumers say they think 

“the product is extremely popular” 

and 64% say they believe “the product 

is already a good value.” 

“Drastic price cuts…create a 

double-barreled risk for brands. 

First, such price cuts generally fail 

to generate enough business to pay 

for themselves, although clearing 


inventory is of some value. Second, 

they create long-term difficulties in 

terms of consumer expectations,” 

says J. Walker Smith, president of 

the Yankelovich Monitor research 

study and executive vice chairman 

of The Futures Company, which was 

formed through the recent merger 

of Yankelovich in Chapel Hill, N.C., 

and London-based Henley Centre 

HeadlightVision. 

In fact, price cuts can have an unintended 

consequence. According to 

the survey, the majority of consumers 

think that if a company lowers 

prices, it will do so again. And they 

may delay purchases, just waiting for 

additional reductions. 

During the past holiday season, 

retailers across categories slashed 

prices, advertising reductions of as 

much as 70%, especially on apparel. 

The results were not stellar. As The 

Futures Company points out, recently 

released quarterly and annual 

earnings results from a number of 

major retailers showed “that markdowns, 

clearance pricing and other 

significant price-cutting actions 

have negatively impacted gross margins 

and other financial results.” 

Paul Nunes, executive director of 

research at Accenture’s Institute for 

High Performance, agrees that automatic 

price-cutting isn’t the best 

response to the recession. 

“Although sales and discounts 

seem to be the order of the day, 

vendors have more opportunities 

to maintain prices than they may 

think. For example, there is often a 

segment of loyal customers who do 

not expect or need to be persuaded 

with a discount to purchase. And 

although there’s no end of grumbling, 

customers can be surprisingly 

tolerant of across-the-board 

price hikes that they understand are 

related directly to increases in raw 

input costs, such as fuel for airlines 

or milk for ice cream,” Nunes writes 

in a Harvard Business blog at 

www.harvardbusiness.org. Accenture 

is a management consultancy 

with operations in 52 countries. 

Not only can heavy discounting 

encourage consumers to postpone 

purchases while they await further 

reductions, it also can make it difficult 

for companies to raise prices 

in the future, Nunes says. 

“Aside from the obvious profit 

loss caused by hasty discounting, 

there is the more pernicious real- 


FrontMatter 

ity that discounting and promotions 

condition the buyer to expect lower 

prices. This customer mindset makes 

it hard to raise prices later when times 

are better,” he writes. “In addition, in 

what Accenture calls the discount trap, 

a reduction in price requires a stiffer 

increase just to bring the price back to 

par—thus a 30% drop requires a 43% 

increase. So customers are likely to 

perceive future upward price adjustments 

as larger than the discounts.” 

Nunes says companies should ask 

themselves several questions before 

deciding whether to consider price 

cuts: 

➤ Do customers still need your specific 

products? Do they have attractive 

alternatives they could purchase 

instead? 

➤ What benefits do your customers 

gain by choosing your products over 

8 | BedTimes | May 2009 

➤ Learn more 

The Futures Company’s “Dollars 

& Consumer Sense” survey of 

1,002 consumers over age 18 was 

conducted by phone in January. 

To learn more about purchasing 

the full results, check 

www.yankelovich.com. 

(Yankelovich in Chapel Hill, N.C., 

and London-based Henley Centre 

HeadlightVision merged recently 

to form The Futures Company.) 

your competitors? 

➤ Do you offer unique services or 

delivery capabilities? 

The answers will help you segment 

customers by their price sensitivity. 

If you must discount, Nunes says, 

companies can follow a number of 

strategies. For instance, he says, “Be 

mindful of the customer’s ‘paycheck 

cycle.’ The Wall Street Journal recently 

reported on how companies are successfully 

discounting based on how 

close customers are to payday. All buying 

power is relative—and it can vary 

greatly from week to week and even 

from day to day.” 

Companies like factory directs 

could benefit from Nunes’ suggestion 

to offer customers options like 

layaway. 

“These payment-deferral programs 

are back, enjoying a revival 

among some retailers like Kmart, for 

example,” he writes. “And a new firm, 

eLayaway, has updated the concept, 

allowing customers to choose products 

from about 1,000 local retailers 

online.” BT 

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CompanyProfile 

OMI lays claim to organic market 

Mattress maker sets high manufacturing standards for itself 

By Dorothy Whitcomb 

At a time when overall bedding 

industry sales have slipped by 

double digits, Organic Mattresses 

Inc., a manufacturer of environmentally 

friendly sleep products, 

says it is thriving and has high expectations 

for continued steady growth. 

Capitalizing on an aggressive expansion 

program completed in 2008, 

the company is opening new sales 

territories and preparing to introduce 

new products. 

“Last year was a crucial year for 

us. We doubled our physical size and 

revenues and added new equipment 

and personnel,” says Walt Bader, the 

company’s president and co-owner. 

Located in Yuba City, Calif., OMI 

produces innerspring and latex mattresses, 

foundations and accessories 

such as pillows, mattress pads and 

comforters. Products are made with 

100% organic raw materials, including 

wool and cotton sourced in the United 

States. To guarantee the purity of its 

raw materials, the company limits its 

vendors to farmers and producers 

whose products have been certified by 

recognized third-party organizations. 

OMI also imports sustainably 

harvested, powdered rubber tree 

sap to produce the latex cores for its 

mattresses. Because the nonblended, 

Talalay-process cores are produced in 

the United States, they do not have to 

undergo fumigation, a requirement 

for imported products, Bader says. In 

addition, OMI turns to Forest Stewardship 

Council vendors for foundation 

lumber from sustainable sources. 

“As far as I’m concerned, there 

are no grades of organic. Organic is 

organic. Kermit only comes in one 

color,” Bader says. 

Bader goes to great lengths to 


Sensitive guy Walt Bader, president and 

co-owner of Organic Mattresses Inc., 

discovered in the 1990s that his health 

problems were caused by chemical sensitivities. 

Pristine plant Organic Mattresses Inc. isn’t 

just concerned about the components used 

in its mattresses. The company maintains a 

scrupulously clean manufacturing facility in 

Yuba City, Calif. 

Retail line The Organicpedic by OMI brand 

was launched to be sold by dealers. At the 

high end of the line is the Terra, which has a 

suggested retail price of about $5,000 for a 

queen size. 

guarantee the purity of his company’s 

finished products by keeping the 

50,000-square-foot “eco-factory” free 

of outside contaminants. Employees 

aren’t allowed to smoke, wear fragrances 

or use fabric softeners when 

laundering their clothing. They wear 

white smocks and booties over their 

shoes while they work. Compressed 

air, used to clear away lint, is sterilized 

to keep pollens and other contaminants 

from reaching the mattresses. As 

a final measure, an ozone sanitation 

chamber is used to eliminate any possible 

mold, yeast or bacteria. 

Bader has received third-party 

certification for OMI’s operations. In 

December, it became the first mattress 

manufacturer in the United States to 

be named a certified organic processor 

of fibers and textiles under the Global 

Organic Textile Standard. It is the 

only mattress manufacturer in North 

America to receive GREENGUARD 

certification for indoor air quality. 

A personal mission 

Chemically sensitive his entire life, 

Bader began studying the effects of 

environmental irritants early. But it 

wasn’t until the early 1990s—when a 

wide range of personal health issues 

were traced to chemical exposures— 

that he began an extensive search for 

products made with natural ingredients. 

A professor of marketing at 

Sierra College in northern California 

at the time, Bader used his spare time 

to find as many ways as possible to 

reduce his daily exposure to chemically 

laced products. 

“Mine was a life of avoidance and 

substitution,” he says. 

By 1998, he and his wife, Carol, had 

identified enough products to found 

Lifekind, an online catalog that sells 

organic home, pet and personal care 

products. When they wanted to add a 

mattress line to the e-commerce site, 

they couldn’t find what they wanted. 

“There was no one out there producing 

mattresses to anything like the 

standard we required,” he says. 

The Baders decided the only way to 


CompanyProfile 

sell the bedding that they sought was 

to manufacture it themselves. In 2003, 

the pair founded OMI, which initially 

produced only for the Lifekind catalog. 

Encouraged by response to the 

products, the Baders have developed a 

new line, Organicpedic by OMI, to be 

sold by other retailers. 

“We made a choice to follow the 

$23 billion health food industry,” 

Bader says. “The healthier lifestyle 

mindset is firmly entrenched in the 

country and organic is a choice for 

consumers everywhere except retail 

mattress stores.” 

According to a 2007 manufacturing 

survey by the Greenfield, Mass.based 

Organic Trade Association, 

U.S. sales of organics—both food 

and nonfood 

products— 

rose 21% in 

2006 over 

2005, with 

continued big 

gains forecast. 

“Although 

the organic 

industry has also taken a recessionary 

hit, the market is out there, and consumers 

are just beginning to realize 

that there is now an organic mattress 

option,” Bader says. 

Bader believes that educating both 

consumers and retailers about the 

advantages of his product is key to 

OMI’s continuing growth. 

“Our business model is the same 

as every other mattress manufacturer 

except for our product. Retailers have 

to qualify their customers on price 

first. Our mattresses sell on comfort; 

purity is a bonus,” Bader says. 

Organicpedic mattresses have 

suggested retail prices for queen sizes 

starting at about $2,000 for the Classic, 

a traditional 8-inch, two-sided 

mattress with a 660-coil Bonnell innerspring 

unit. 

At the high end, is the $5,000 

Terra. It has a Talalay latex core, latex 

comfort layers and a removable, twosided 

latex pillow-top that consumers 

can flip from the smooth side to the 


‘Although the 

organic industry 

has also taken a 

recessionary hit, 

the market is 

out there.’ 

Branching out Organic 

Mattresses Inc.’s product line 

includes pillows, comforters and 

pads, as well as crib mattresses. 

sculpted side, depending on their 

preference. 

Retailers who understand that 

organic consumers form a bottomup, 

almost grassroots, market see the 

potential of the Organicpedic line on 

their floors, Bader says. 

“Most retailers are used to demand 

being created from the top down by 

commercials and advertising,” he says. 

“In the organic mattress market, however, 

the customers are already there 

and walk in retailers’ doors every day. 

It’s a huge market and retailers who 

take the time to educate consumers 

and tell them what they’re buying can 

take advantage of it.” 

Bader thinks the contraction 

of bedding sales in North America 

may be working to his company’s 

advantage. 

“Now that sales are tight, retailers 

are beginning to think that they 

do want that market and are looking 

at promoting healthier lifestyles as a 

sales tool,” he says. 

OMI sells to retailers throughout 

the United States and Canada, with 

the heaviest concentration of accounts 

on the U.S. coasts. Bader includes 

ABC Carpet & Home in New York 

and a number of high-end furniture 

stores among his dealers, but says the 

company’s biggest success has been 

with sleep chains that have fewer than 

10 stores. 

Growth plan 

Although Bader doesn’t divulge 

specific financial information for 

the privately held company, he says 

that annual sales have been growing 

steadily and he predicts continued 

gains in 2009, based on the number 

of new dealers OMI picked up during 

the company’s debut at the Las 

Vegas Market in February. Traffic in 

the 2,000-square-foot showroom 

was brisk and post-market 

sales have been strong: “We 

were slammed at market with 

the majors, the minors and 

everything in between,” Bader says. 

Bader’s optimism about the future 

is tempered by the realities of the difficult 

global economic situation. 

“The dynamics of the next five 

years are pretty hard to forecast,” he 

says. “I do believe that the consumer 

will start to demand more validity 

and, as that happens, the product 

mix on retail floors will change. 

We’ll be ready for that change.” 

Readiness at OMI means offering 

retailers and consumers increased 

options. Two new mattresses are in 

the pipeline, and Bader is working 

with his vendors to develop variations 

of the organic cotton, wool 

and rubber he uses. 

Readiness also means creating a 

well-trained, flexible work force— 

another focus of his activity over the 

past year. BT 


ManagementIssues 

Unlock the potential of your team 

5 secrets to empowering your staff and being a better leader 

By Lee Froschheiser 

As the leader or manager of your 

company, do you frequently 

feel like things are spinning out 

of control? If the answer is yes, you’re 

not alone. All too often, employers 

find themselves struggling to keep 

pace with the day-in, day-out responsibilities 

of the job. Yet, it’s usually 

their ownership of these responsibilities—and 

the fear of letting go of 

them—that bogs down the workplace 

and stifles overall success. 

If letting go has been a challenge 

for you, consider the following five 

secrets to empowering your people 

and becoming a better leader. 

1Find an accountability coach 

Just as you would consult an 

attorney about your company’s 

legal issues, you should find someone 

impartial to assess and improve 

your leadership style and to hold 

you accountable. Tough as it may be 

to let someone coach you and make 

suggestions for change, this person 

has one key mission—to help you 

achieve your full potential as a leader. 

Businesses that fail to see the value 

of an accountability coach often have 

trouble instigating crucial changes 

on their own and are unable to take 

their leadership and the company to a 

greater level of achievement. 

2 

Become an empowering leader 

To become an empowering 

leader, you must first determine 

what kind of leader you are today, 

using what’s called the empowerment 

pendulum. On a scale of 1 to 10, do 

you lean toward the control side (1) 

of managing your employees or more 

toward the empowerment side (10)? 


Ideally, you want to empower others 

and that’s accomplished through 

training, coaching and supporting 

employees by providing them 

resources and opportunities to learn 

from mistakes. It’s also achieved by 

trusting your employees and making 

sure their values align with your 

company’s values. 

Most importantly, you must demonstrate 

empowering behavior. All too 

often, company owners or managers 

say, “Hey, I want to be empowering!” 

But when an employee asks for help, 

they give her the answers rather than 

require her to seek the solutions for 

herself. Even worse, they do the employee’s 

job for her, wearing a big red 

“S” for Supermanager. 

If you’re doing everything yourself, 

it’s likely that you’re wearing that big 

red “S.” Shed this responsibility by 

getting the right people around 

you so you can delegate to your 

team, hold each member 

accountable and empower 

your staff. 

3Establish and maintain fundamental 

business practices, 

policies and procedures In 

everything you say and do, you must 

stay focused on practical solutions. Ask 

yourself what works and what doesn’t. 

The answers to these questions will 

uncover the secrets to running your 

business effectively. They also will shed 

light on six business fundamentals: 

leadership, mission, vision, values, 

strategies and goals. Ultimately, you’ll 


need to define, establish, implement, 

track and evaluate each of these core 

fundamentals. If this sounds like a 

massive undertaking, relax: You won’t 

be doing all the work. Instead, you’ll be 

training and managing your team to 

carry out these business fundamentals. 

Through this effective leadership approach, 

you’ll be able to relinquish unnecessary 

control of the company and 

turn your attention toward developing 

the business instead. 

4Focus on the company’s vital 

factors You know it’s important 

to monitor your body’s health 

with regular checkups that measure and 

evaluate your vital signs. If you discover 

that your weight or blood pressure is 

too high, you change your diet and 

exercise habits. This often has a domino 

effect, improving other vital signs. 

When it comes to a company’s 

health, an effective leader should focus 

on vital signs, or what’s called the company’s 

vital factors. These are the crucial 

components that must be measured and 

accomplished for an efficient system. 

As a leader or manager, it’s your job 

to define both the company’s and your 

employees’ vital factors, determine how 

to improve them and then teach your 

team to do so, as well. This is most often 

done by measuring and then creating 

ways to improve. For instance, create a 

planning checklist that outlines how to 

fix each part of your company’s system. 

As you repair the system, you’ll start a 

chain reaction of change — the domino 

effect that enables overall success. 

5Create passion with your 

people This is the final secret to 

unlocking your team’s power and 

potential. Any leader can do this by 

motivating and inspiring employees, 

but a truly effective leader goes one step 

further and requires accountability. As 

mentioned, accountability is empowerment 

and empowerment breeds 

passion. This boils down to measuring 


employee performance and taking appropriate, 

timely action. 

Many employers fail to demand 

accountability out of fear or because 

they view taking action as a negative. 

They believe requiring accountability 

means pulling the employee aside 

to discuss why he isn’t improving. 

But accountability also can—and 

should—be a positive experience. For 

example, when someone is doing a 

specific task right, you can give positive 

feedback that holds the person 

accountable. 

Whether you’re delivering negative 

or positive feedback, don’t wait until 

performance reviews to hold someone 

accountable. At that point, your 

feedback is usually too late. Instead, 

impassion your employees with daily 

feedback, whether it’s on the phone, 

by email, in the hallway or during 

other opportunities. Vital factor 

meetings—when you’re discussing the 

company’s health—can foster an environment 

that’s great for performance 

checkups. 

Always be on the lookout for ways 

to proactively impassion your team. 

Accountability is the most underused 

tool of mangers, yet it’s probably the 

most important. By learning to let 

go of the reins a little and pass on 

responsibilities to your staff, you will 

unlock the power and potential of 

your company. BT 

Lee Froschheiser, president and chief 

executive officer of Map Consulting in 

Sherman Oaks, Calif. His consulting 

firm specializes in transforming companies 

and accelerating the performance 

of people, teams and organizations. 

Clients include WebEx Communications, 

Cold Stone Creamery, Los Angeles 

Clippers and KIA Motors. Froschheiser 

also co-authored the book, Vital Factors: 

The Secret to Transforming Your 

Business—And Your Life. For more 

information, call 888-834-3040 or visit 

www.mapconsulting.com. 

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All rights reserved. 09017040709 


MarketingReport 

Relationship marketing makes connections 

You must stay in 

constant contact to 

build your business 

By Karen Saunders 

Is the recession the only thing to 

blame for your slowing sales? Sara, 

a colleague of mine, thought so as 

she watched her sales drop, along with 

the rest of the economy. 

I asked if she had recently cut back 

on her advertising and marketing. 

“Yes, I’m pulling in the purse 

strings and limiting my expenses,” 

Sara replied. 

I asked if she was meeting new 

people and developing relationships. 

“No,” she admitted. 

Well, that could be part of her 

problem. History has shown us that 

businesses often reduce—or completely 

cut—the money they spend 

on marketing and advertising during 

economic slowdowns. If you do that, 

how do you reach your customers and 

end-consumers? One lower cost way is 

relationship marketing. 

A telling tale 

Joe Girard was listed in The Guinness 

Book of World Records as the 

“World’s Greatest Retail Salesman” 

for 12 consecutive years. Joe wasn’t 

born with a silver spoon in his mouth. 

He was abused as a child, lost jobs 

as an adult and even went bankrupt. 

He finally landed a job at a Chevrolet 

dealership. There, Joe did very well, 

personally selling more cars than most 

dealerships. In fact, people stood in 

line to buy a car from Joe. What was 

his secret? 

Joe practiced relationship marketing. 

Here’s how he did it: He sent 

13 handwritten cards to each of his 

clients and prospects every year— 

one card every month and an extra 

at Christmas. Some were cards of 


appreciation and others offered tips 

or giveaways, but they never pushed a 

sale or discount. During his 15 years 

with the dealership, Joe sent 13,000 

handwritten cards. Recipients began 

to anticipate getting a card from Joe 

every month and he was the first 

person on their mind when they were 

ready to buy a car. 

What can we learn from this story 

and how can we expand upon it? Here 

are a few strategic objectives we can 

put in place now, so our businesses 

can better withstand the impact of 

economic downturns. 

Develop strong relationships People 

do business with people they know, 

like and trust. It’s our job to make 

this connection happen. To do that, 

we must go beyond the superficial 

and become genuinely interested in 

our prospects and customers. For 

instance, we can meet customers at 

a coffee shop and get to know them 

personally, without the usual business 

discussions. I often do that. I make 

mental notes about what is going on 

in their lives, so I can refer to it the 

next time we talk. Then I nurture 

those relationships by consistently 

staying in touch. 

Consistency is the key We can stay 

connected to our customers and dealers 

by sending heartfelt cards like Joe 

did or through phone calls, emails or 

newsletters. We lose 10% of our influence 

every month that we don’t have 

contact with our customers. Just a 5% 

increase in customer loyalty could add 

20% to 80% to your bottom line. A 

disappointing statistic shows that 91% 

of all real estate agents are forgotten 

by clients within one to two years after 

they close or represent a buyer on a 

home because they did not stay in 

touch. 

Commit to staying in touch Here 

are a few ideas: Set up campaign 

postcards to go out once a month 

or develop a system for remembering 

birthdays or other significant 

days. I use an online service that has 

a phenomenal system for managing 

my contacts, as well as printing and 

mailing postcards and greeting cards. 

I customize and personalize the cards 

with my own handwriting-style font, 

signature and photos. I have found 

that a simple and sincere card can 

make a huge impression on someone. 

When we build strong networks 

and nurture meaningful relationships 

with the people we serve, we 

will garner unlimited contacts and be 

less affected by economic slowdowns. 

Start making relationship marketing 

part of your efforts and watch your 

company grow. BT 

© 2008 Karen Saunders 

Karen Saunders is owner of the design 

firm MacGraphics Services in Aurora, 

Colo., and an expert in graphic design 

and relationship marketing. For more 

information, call her at 303-680-2330 

or check www.macgraphics.net. 


SalesTalk 

New strategies for a changing economy 

Hone your skills 

& narrow your 

list of prospects 

By Kelley Robertson 

Companies are cutting back, 

people are tightening their 

belts and many decisionmakers 

are holding off on major 

purchases. But, chances are, 

your company hasn’t reduced 

your sales quotas. Selling in a 

difficult economy requires a 

different approach than selling 

during a robust one. Let’s look 

at what you need to do to compete 

and keep your sales afloat. 

Don’t believe everything 

you hear: The slide in the 

economy doesn’t mean that 

your own sales have to sink. 

Your mindset plays a tremendous 

role in your success. 

While it’s difficult to maintain 

a positive perspective during 

times like these, it’s essential to 

keep focused on your main objective. 

Associate with positive, 

like-minded people and avoid 

naysayers like the plague. 

1. Tighten your prospecting 

Too many salespeople cast a 

wide net when prospecting, 

with the hope of catching 

anything that comes their way. This 

approach isn’t a good use of your 

time. Instead of cold calling dozens 

and dozens of businesses, determine 

your ideal customer and target dealers 

that most closely match that description. 

If you don’t know who your 

ideal customer is, look at your existing 

customers. Who generates high revenue 

with high profit margins? What 

problems do you help them solve? 

Why do they do business with you? If 


you don’t know, ask. 

And don’t, under any circumstances, 

say “…and I will sell to anyone.” 

This is the equivalent of selling to no 

one. Sales guru Lee Salz recommends 

that you limit your prospecting efforts 

to no more than 25 new customers 

with an additional 10 on the 

back butner. 

Too many salespeople cast a 

wide net when prospecting, 

with the hope of catching 

anything that comes their way. 

This approach isn’t a good 

use of your time. 

2. Broaden your campaign Jill 

Konrath, author of Selling to Big 

Companies, suggests that you use a 

multitouch campaign after you identify 

your top prospects. Use a combination 

of emails, phone calls, targeted 

letters, trigger events and networking 

to connect with key decision-makers. 

This takes planning and time—another 

reason you can’t effectively prospect 

more than 25 companies at a time. 

Once again, this reinforces the importance 

of narrowing your prospect list 

instead of using a shotgun approach. 

3. Focus your presentations Anytime 

you meet with a prospect or 

even existing customer, make sure 

that your presentation is focused on 

his problem. Skip the nonsense about 

how long you’ve been in business, 

blah, blah, blah. Instead, 

concentrate on showing your 

prospect exactly how his business 

will benefit from selling your 

mattress brand. If your product 

will improve margins, tell them 

by exactly how much. If you have 

additional services that improve 

their sales efforts, show your 

prospect exactly how. Decisionmakers 

don’t stop making 

purchases in difficult economic 

times, but they do expect more. 

4. Get closer to your customers 

Ideally, you already have a 

great relationship with your existing 

customers. Now is the time 

to further strengthen those ties. 

Aggressively look for ways you 

can help them solve problems 

they may be experiencing in their 

business. This doesn’t necessarily 

mean selling more of your products. 

It could mean connecting 

them with experts in different 

fields, helping them on a project 

or recommending other resources. 

5. Become more visible Resist 

the temptation to crawl into a cave 

and hide until the economy recovers. 

Your customers may well forget 

about you. Now is the time to increase 

your networking activities at 

appropriate events. For instance, if 

you’re attending Interzum Cologne 

May 13-16 in Cologne, Germany, 

make a point of going out to din- 


ner each night with some industry 

colleagues you may not know very 

well. And start making plans now to 

attend the International Sleep Products 

Association’s Industry Conference 

and Exhibition, which will be 

Nov. 4-6 in Bonita Springs, Fla. 

(You can find details later this year 

at www.sleepproducts.org/ 

industryconference.) 

6. Fine-tune your sales skills As 

a sales trainer, I always come back 

to this and with good reason. The 

skills you currently possess got you 

where you are today but they won’t 

get you much further. During times 

of economic uncertainty, it’s essential 

to refine your questioning skills. How 

have your customers’ buying processes 

changed? What new challenges are 

they facing? What needs must your 

customers have satisfied now? 


In addition to death and taxes, one 

thing you can count on is that the 

economy will fluctuate. Right now, it’s 

more challenging than it was just two 

years ago. That doesn’t mean you can’t 

reach your sales targets. Get smarter. 

Get focused. Get busy. Get ready to 

succeed in a tough economy. BT 

© 2009 Kelley Robertson. All rights 

reserved. 

Kelley Robertson, author of The 

Secrets of Power Selling, helps sales 

professionals and businesses discover 

new techniques to improve their sales 

and profits. Receive a free copy of 100 

Ways to Increase Your Sales by subscribing 

to his free newsletter at 

www.kelleyrobertson.com. Robertson 

conducts workshops and speaks 

at sales meetings and conferences. 

Contact him at 905-633-7750 or 

kelley@robertsontraininggroup.com. 

Resist the 

temptation to 

crawl into a cave 

and hide until the 

economy recovers. 

…Now is the time 

to increase your 

networking 

activities at 

appropriate events. 



Safety First 

Creating an injury-free plant 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 

safety at mattress manufacturing plants has steadily 

improved since 2001. U.S. mattress manufacturers’ 

total case incidence rate*, as defined by the 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration, dropped 

from 13 in 2001 to 6.2 in 2008. 

The industry’s improved record is reflective of an overall 

trend toward better safety management, says Jesse Brazzell, 

manager of safety services at the Safety Management Group 

consultancy in Indianapolis. 

“When I first started consulting 12 years ago, safety inspections 

in workplaces used to raise surprised, even hostile, 

responses,” he says. “Now people seem to expect inspections 

and that safe procedures will be in place.” 

Mattress makers and safety experts BedTimes spoke 

with agree that companies must strive—not for low levels 

of injury—but for zero injuries. They cite an ethical duty 

to create a “safety culture” within a company. The results 

positively impact morale, product quality and—especially 

By Barbara T. Nelles 

important in times like these—the bottom line. 

Simmons’ safety turnaround story is a case in point. 

The Atlanta-based mattress maker had an OSHA incidence 

rate of 17.6 in 2001—4.6 points higher than the mattress 

industry’s average for that year. In 2008, Simmons’ total case 

incidence rate was just 3.2—half the current industry average. 

(See story on Page 28.) 

“The Simmons safety program has made good business 

sense with what it has returned to our bottom line. 

For example, we brought our total incurred workers’ 

compensation costs down from $3.5 million in 2001 to 

just $300,000 in 2008,” says Jonathan Dawe, Simmons 

director of human resources for safety, health, wellness 

and workers’ compensation. 

What are the costs of on-the-job injuries and illnesses? In 

addition to workers’ compensation, they can include higher 

insurance premiums, medical bills, property damage, time 

required to hire and train replacements, and overtime paid 

to the injured employee’s co-workers. 



* The total case incidence rate 

is the number of OSHA recordable 

incidents (any occupational 

injury or illness that requires 

medical treatment beyond simple 

first aid) in a given year. It is 

determined by multiplying the 

recordable incidents by 200,000 

and dividing that number by the 

total hours worked that year. (The 

200,000 hours in the formula 

represents the equivalent of 100 

employees working 40 hours per 

week, 50 weeks per year, and 

provides the standard base for 

incidence rates.) 

BedTimes | May | May 2009 2009 | 23 

| 23

Build a safety culture 

Becoming a zero-accident or zeroillness 

workplace requires much more 

than training supervisors in safety 

regulations and handing out safety 

booklets to employees. That was the 

old way—and it wasn’t very effective, 

safety experts say. 

Company leadership, from the top 

executives on down, must be committed 

to safety management and practices. 

Each supervisor and employee 

must be on board. If a company appoints 

a safety leader, he or she must 

be empowered—and motivated—to 

get everyone else involved. 

“Just like a good marriage, communication 

and involvement are key,” 

Brazzell says. “A one-person safety 

initiative never works.” 

When safety becomes ingrained 

in your company’s culture, “it will 

work its way into all phases of your 

manufacturing, with positive impacts 

on your efficiency, quality, housekeeping 

and employee morale,” says Joe 

Schmoeller, senior vice president of 

operations at Kingsdown, a bedding 

manufacturer based in Mebane, N.C. 

“You’ll want to put your safety 

programs in writing 

and support and 

enforce them at every 

level,” says professor 

Thomas Schneid, 

director of Eastern 

Kentucky University’s 

online and on-campus 

graduate program 

in safety, security and 

emergency management 

in Richmond, 

Ky. “You need to go 

far above OSHA standards if you 

want to reduce injuries, create a better 

workplace and increase your profitability.” 

OSHA has rigorous voluntary regulatory 

assessment programs in which 

companies can choose to participate. 

The Safety and Health Achievement 

Recognition Program and the more 

stringent Voluntary Protections 

Programs require one to three years of 

advance preparation. But involvement 

in such programs isn’t a necessity if 

you want to build an exemplary safety 

management program. 


It’s all in the timing 

An e c d o t A l A n d even s o m e statistical 

evidence shows that certain times 

of the week are more dangerous. 

Here are some ways to mitigate: 

➤ Monday morning It may be a 

perfect time for a safety pep talk 

to refocus employees who may 

be distracted by the weekend’s 

activities. 

➤ Friday afternoon This is a good 

time for a safety walk-through to 

check up on housekeeping—and 

make sure minds are on the tasks 

at hand, not weekend plans. 

➤ Operating on Saturdays? Think 

twice. Fatigued employees may 

be suffering the after-effects of the 

previous night’s activities. 

‘Do a daily walk-through. Then do 

documented weekly walk-throughs. 

You are looking for trip hazards, poor 

housekeeping, machine guards removed, 

employees not wearing personal protective 

equipment, missing fire extinguishers, etc.’ 

“You can take your company to the 

next level by sending a staff member 

back to school for a safety degree,” Schneid 

says. “There are programs of study 

available from the community college 

level right through graduate school.” 

Workplace safety regulations are 

complex and constantly changing. 

Bringing in an outside safety consultant 

makes sense for many smaller 

manufacturers. They offer a different 

perspective and a “new set of eyes” to 

spot unnoticed safety issues. 

Englander licensees have relied on 

safety compliance consultants, says Ed 

Ciolkosz, president of Chicago-based 

Englander Midwest and chairman of 

Englander’s manufacturing committee. 

“I highly recommend that small 

and mid-size manufacturers work 

with an outside company,” he says. 

“It’s the only way to keep up with 

regulations and make sure all your 

paperwork is in order, too.” 

Run a safer plant 

“Controlling hazards” is a key phrase 

in safety management. And those 

hazards can change from day to day 

or week to week. Is a new employee 

flouting the safety code? Is a piece of 

equipment malfunctioning, causing 

employees to take dangerous shortcuts? 

“A hazard can be an unguarded 

machine, a shortage of personal 

protection equipment or an employee 

or supervisor whose attitude is that 

it’s OK to break safety rules to get a 

job done,” says Carl Potter, a certified 

safety adviser and an advocate for 

zero-injury workplaces in Tulsa, Okla. 

It’s important to engineer physical 

hazards out of your facilities, which 

may mean bringing in a qualified 

safety engineer to 

“machine guard” 

older equipment. 

“We’ve guarded 

spinning fly wheels on 

quilt machines and 

open rollers that feed 

fabric stock into quilters,” 

Simmons’ Dawe 

says. “We’ve put lots 

of interlocks on safety 

stops and changed 

factory equipment design 

and layout—all sorts of things to 

literally keep the hazards from coming 

into contact with employees.” 

Back strains and sprains are the 

most common occupational injury in 

mattress plants, according to manufacturers. 

“We believe prevention is key. For 

instance, for the past two years, we’ve 

brought in a safety consultant to 

coach employees on back safety,” says 

Sirina Jacobson, director of quality 

and safety at Hoffman Estates, Ill.based 

Serta. 

Englander Midwest tries to limit 


strenuous lifting, pushing and tugging 

through better plant design and the 

use of conveyor belt systems, Ciolkosz 

says. 

His 95,000-square-foot plant has 

rubber floor coverings in work areas 

to decrease foot, leg and back strain 

and he purchases precut components 

when possible to reduce the use of 

electric cutting equipment. 

Forklift accidents are another 

potential plant mishap. Supervisors 

should enforce safe driving rules 

and formally train all operators in 

maneuvering and backing up within 

the facility. 

When feasible, rotating workers’ 

assignments can help fend off carpal 

Safety resources 

Associations 

Nonprofit Risk Management Center 

Free fact sheets, forms and training checklists for workplace 

safety, including Lockout/Tag-out Procedures, Fleet 

Safety Checklist and Accident Analysis Fact Sheet 

www.nonprofitrisk.org 

American Society of Safety Engineers 

www.asse.org 

Canadian Association of Provincial Safety Councils 

Offers safety information and training 

www.nationalsafetycouncils.ca 

National Safety Council 

A safety research, education and advocacy group 

www.nsc.org 

Online 

Free safety checklists and a laundry list of safety 

discussion guides 

www.toolboxtopics.com 

Safety Training Lesson Plans 

www.safetylessonplans.com 

SAFESTART/SAFETRACK 

Industry- and job-specific training materials 

and workshops 

www.safestart-safetrack.com 

Coastal Training Technologies Corp. 

An international, multilingual 

online training resource covering 

all health and safety topics 

www.coastal.com 


tunnel syndrome and other repetitive 

stress injuries. It also may alleviate 

feelings of boredom and monotony, 

which can lead to accidents. 

Supervisors must enforce consequences 

when workers neglect to wear 

personal protection equipment, such 

as gloves, eyewear, hearing protection, 

masks, hard hats and steel-toe boots. 

“Because it always comes around 

to your people,” Potter says. “You can 

retrofit old equipment with safety 

guards, but if someone puts tape over 

a switch or a chip of wood in a machine 

to keep it running, you have a 

horrendous injury waiting to happen.” 

Serta encourages give-and-take at 

its facilities with an open-door policy 

on safety matters. 

“Communication is No. 1 when it 

comes to safety,” Jacobson says. 

Supervisors can’t look the other 

way or cut someone a break when a 

safety rule is broken—the practice will 

lead to more rule breaking. Strive to 

use positive reinforcement instead of 

resentment-causing punitive measures. 

“We use a progressive discipline 

process,” Dawe says. “You try to coach 

and improve those who are not performing 

and you recognize, reinforce 

and reward good safety behaviors in 

others.” 

Make sure fully stocked first aid 

kits are readily available and employees 

know where they are located. 

Publications 

EHS Today 

The latest news about health and safety in office and 

industrial settings 

www.ehstoday.com 

Industrial Safety & Hygiene News 

www.ishn.com 

Occupational Health & Safety 

www.ohsonline.com 

Legal Liability: A Guide for Safety and Loss Prevention 

Professionals 

By Thomas D. Schneid and Michael S. Schumann 

Zero! Responsible Safety Management by Design 

By Deb Potter with Carl Potter 

www.safetybooks.com 

U.S. government 

OSHA 

Detailed information about federal workplace safety 

regulations in the United States is available at the U.S. 

Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health 

Administration Web site, www.osha.gov. 

There, you’ll also find: 

➤ An easy-to-use alphabetical listing of safety and health 

topics, including all workplace hazards and how to 

mitigate them 

➤ Job Hazard Analysis white paper with complete 

information on how to conduct a workplace hazard 

assessment and safety audit 

➤ OSHA Hazard Awareness Advisor tool 

Department of Labor 

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics 

has an online tool for computing an injury incidence 

rate, www.bls.gov/iif/osheval.htm. 


When an accident or near miss 

happens at a facility, communicate 

it throughout the company and do 

a thorough investigation to find out 

why it happened. 

“You need to educate employees 

that most accidents are caused 

by rushing, fatigue, frustration or 

complacency—by critical errors such 

as your eyes not being on the task or 

putting yourself in the line of fire, 

losing your traction, your balance or 

your grip,” Dawe says. 

It’s smart to have the head of the 

company or someone in upper management 

sit down with an injured employee 

to discuss the accident, experts 

say. It shows concern for the employee 

and demonstrates that the company 

really cares about safety. 

Take whatever corrective measures 

are necessary to prevent similar accidents 

and communicate your actions 

to all employees. 

Regular inspections 

Safety audits, inspections and walkthroughs 

must be part of any effective 

safety management program. 

“Do a daily walk-through. Then do 

documented weekly walk-throughs,” 


consultant Brazzell 

says. “You are 

looking for trip 

hazards, poor 

housekeeping, 

machine guards 

removed, employees 

not wearing 

personal protective 

equipment, missing 

fire extinguishers, etc. Generate 

a list of items to fix by the following 

week. And identify people who need 

retraining.” 

In addition to regular inspections 

and audits conducted by each plant 

administrator, Serta conducts twiceyearly 

surprise inspections at each of 

its facilities, Jacobson says. Englander’s 

safety consultants conduct monthly 

walk-throughs or safety audits at its 

facilities. 

“They’re bilingual, which is important 

since a majority of our work force 

is Hispanic,” Ciolkosz says. “We began 

conducting emergency evacuation 

drills. They check fire extinguishers 

and all safety equipment. They even 

examine air quality and noise levels 

and hold regular safety meetings with 

employees.” 

Simmons plants receive OSHA recognition 

In recent m o n t h s, sIx sIm m o n s m A n u f A c t u r I n g fAcIlItIes have been recognized by the 

U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Association for their workplace safety 

and health efforts. 

The company’s plant in Aurora, Colo., achieved OSHA’s Voluntary Protection 

Program Merit status. Facilities in Honolulu; Kansas City, Kan.; and 

Waycross, Ga., earned placement in OSHA’s Safety and Health Achievement 

Recognition Program, while a plant in Agawam, Mass., earned SHARP 

recertification. A Simmons facility in Los Angeles received the Golden Gate 

Partnership Recognition Award for Safety. 

“Safety is a huge priority at Simmons at every level,” says Steve Fendrich, 

president and chief operating officer of the Atlanta-based bedding manufacturer. 

“It is budgeted and planned for and woven into all that we do. There is 

a direct correlation between our dedication to safety and the overall quality 

of our product.” 

“It has been a nine-year journey to get where we are today,” says Jonathan 

Dawe, Simmons director of human resources for safety, health, wellness and 

workers’ compensation. 

Dawe credits the company’s record on safety to a complete overhaul of its 

safety systems, as well as its widespread involvement in OSHA’s cooperative 

safety programs: All 18 of its domestic manufacturing plants participate. Facilities 

in Charlotte, N.C.; Phoenix; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and San Leandro, 

Calif., have received special OSHA certifications in the past. 

Create a committee 

Forming a safety committee 

at every facility 

is a cornerstone of 

safety management. 

Choose representatives 

from all departments 

and levels—but 

keep the group small 

enough to be effective— 

and select an odd number to 

aid in decision-making. The committee 

should include employees from 

the factory floor, an individual with 

safety training and a management 

representative. 

Keep the safety committee’s assignments 

simple and focused. 

“For example, if you’ve had a recurrence 

of a hand injury in the plant, 

the committee can examine the problem 

and come up with a solution,” 

Brazzell says. “Or they can review and 

revise policies on something like the 

use of personal protective equipment.” 

Ongoing training 

Companies need to put everything 

in writing and make employees 

familiar with safety rules during 

orientation and ongoing training. 

“We try to inject elements of fun 

and real-life stories into our ongoing 

face-to-face training,” Jacobson 

says. “It includes open dialogue, 

feedback and a variety of teaching 

materials.” 

Many companies break safety 

training into monthly sessions that 

are repeated year to year. 

“We hold monthly safety meetings 

at each plant covering a different 

OSHA topic, such as hazardous 

communication, blood-borne 

pathogens, Lockout/Tag-out training 

and many other safety issues,” 

Schmoeller says. 

Short topics can be highlighted 

each week, for instance, at a Monday 

safety briefing on the plant floor. 

Review an accident or incident from 

the previous week at one of your facilities 

or go over some safety rules. 

Insurance companies are a good 

resource for safety training. They 

may offer videos on a number of 

topics, as well as provide OSHA 

training certifications. Insurers also 


will perform periodic 

safety walkthroughs 

to help 

identify hazards. 

Management’s aim 

should be to constantly 

remind employees 

about the importance of 

following all safety rules 

and to reinforce safe 

behaviors. 

Kingsdown adds a financial 

incentive by tracking each 

facility’s safety record and considering 

the results when rating plants 

for year-end bonuses, Schmoeller says. 

One way to help employees recognize 

their stake in a safe, healthy work 

Are you prepared for an OSHA inspection? 

The National Federation of Independent Business advises 

companies to take the following steps to ready themselves 

for a possible inspection by the U.S. Occupational 

Safety and Health Administration: 

➤ Create an effective safety and health program, spelling 

out all policies and procedures related to occupational 

safety and health hazards that are designed 

to protect employees. 

➤ Don’t file your safety plan away. Communicate 

it in writing and through ongoing training of all 

personnel. 

➤ Reward employees who maintain a safe work 

environment. Correct those who don’t. 

➤ Conduct regular safety inspections. 

➤ Record and review all injuries to determine 

how they happened and how to prevent them 

in the future. 

➤ Make sure there are employees who 

are able to render first aid on-site 

and that adequate first aid supplies 

always are available. 

➤ Conduct regular site maintenance. 

Make sure ventilation and other 

systems operate properly. 

➤ When employees receive safety training, 

have them sign a sheet that describes 

the information they received. 

Keep those sheets in your records. 

➤ Properly document any safetyrelated 

disciplinary action to better 

protect the company in the event 

that a future incident draws OSHA 

scrutiny. 


environment is through awards, 

recognition, even fun and games. 

Some mattress makers’ employees 

play a variety of safety games 

that hinge on the facility’s safety 

performance. Serta raises 

safety awareness and encourages 

safe behavior 

with safety bingo and 

other events. (Safety 

bingo games can 

be purchased online 

from a number of suppliers.) 

Employees at Simmons facilities 

engage in a variety of safety games 

and contests for prizes including cash, 

luncheons and trophies. 

Remain vigilant 

It’s never a good time to ease up on 

the safety function. Unfortunately, 

in an economic downturn, “safety 

first” can become “safety—first to 

go,” Brazzell says. 

“Historically, we’ve seen fluctuations 

in injury rates during times 

like these,” Schneid says. “Right now, 

I have a gut feeling that the economy 

is going to have a real impact on 

safety. ” 

“You must build sustainability 

into your safety program, because 

the job of safety never ends.” Dawe 

says. “At the end of every day, you 

want every employee to go home 

safely to their family.” BT 

If an inspector arrives… 

Certified safety consultants and OSHA offer these tips on 

what to expect from a safety inspection: 

➤ The inspector will begin by describing the extent of 

the inspection. It may include employee interviews, a 

physical inspection of the workplace and a review of 

records. 

➤ An inspection may last three to four hours or several 

days, depending on the size of the facility and the 

scope of the inspection. 

➤ Be prepared to answer questions with written evidence 

of policies, procedures and practices. Emphasize 

that your safety and health program is enforced with 

discipline. 

➤ Ask if the inspection is a random visit or the result of 

an employee complaint. 

➤ Accompany the inspector during his or her inspection. 

Answer questions but don’t volunteer 

information. 

➤ Photograph or videotape everything 

that is inspected or photographed by 

the inspector. 

➤ When possible, immediately correct 

any safety violations noted by the 

inspector. 

➤ When finished, the inspector 

will offer an overview of noted 

hazards, but will not offer specifics 

about any citations. OSHA sends 

citations in the mail. 

➤ Businesses have 15 working days to 

participate in an informal conference 

with an area OSHA director or to file 

a notice of contest. 


How to break bad news to employees 

2 32 | BedTimes | BedTimes | May | May 2009 2009 

Tough 

Talks 


By Lin Grensing-Pophal 

By the beginning of this year, a quarter of 

employers had frozen salaries and a fifth 

were thinking about doing so, according 

to a survey of 400 employers conducted 

by Mercer, a global outsourcing and consulting 

firm. Those that were considering giving raises 

said their workers shouldn’t expect significant 

gains in 2009, with an average salary bump of 

just 3.1% planned. 

This is a significant change from 2008 when, 

for instance, only 5% of respondents said they 

would hold salaries firm. 

Other companies are suspending 401(k) 

matches, making workers shoulder more of the 

cost of health insurance, eliminating bonuses 

and cutting back or eliminating other benefits. 

It’s no surprise that these difficult economic 

times are forcing changes that directly affect the 

employees of companies large and small. And 


there’s also no doubt that financial worries are 

creating anxiety for employers and employees 

alike. 

According to a recent online poll conducted 

by VitalSmarts, a corporate training and organizational 

firm based in Provo, Utah, 80% of respondents 

said their stress levels have increased 

since the start of the recession. And 46% said 

that stress has increased the intensity level of 

their everyday conversations with friends, family 

and co-workers. 

This is the environment in which managers 

find themselves communicating and, unfortunately, 

much of the news they have to share isn’t 

particularly good. When it comes to information 

about salaries, bonuses and benefits, in particular, 

employees are especially sensitive. 

What should managers be doing to ensure 

that the conversations they’re having are appropriate, 

timely and effective? 


| 3

Start talking 

Celia Couture of CC Consulting in 

Tewksbury, Mass., is a business and 

management consultant who has been 

working with corporate executives and 

human resource professionals on how 

to best deliver news regarding salary reductions, 

freezes and other cost-cutting 

measures. 

A common—and significant—problem 

in many companies, Couture says, 

is that they reduce instead of increase 

communication during difficult times. 

Even if managers don’t have all the 

answers, they need to share with workers 

what they do know and explain what 

steps they are taking. 


Kerry Patterson, co-founder of Vital- 

Smarts and co-author of Crucial Conversations: 

Tools for Talking When Stakes 

are High, notes that in the absence 

of information, rumors fly. Employers 

need to regularly fill the void with 

facts—whether that news is good, not so 

good or dire—to avoid misperceptions. 

“When there’s a lot of anxiety, people 

are waiting for the other shoe to drop 

and they’re getting information through 

any means they can,” Couture says. 

And if you don’t know exactly what 

your company’s future holds, say that. 

The important thing is that you be 

forthright, says Debra Condren, a New 

York-based business psychologist. 

What you should be doing all the time 

Wh e t h e r yo u r c o m p a n y is experiencing g o o d t i m e s o r bad, there are certain rules that always 

apply when discussing compensation matters with your employees. 

Suzanne Bates is president and chief executive officer of Bates Communications, 

a communications coaching firm in Wellesley, Mass., and author of Motivate 

Like a CEO: Communicate Your Strategic Vision and Inspire People to Act. 

She offers six fundamentals for communicating with employees about salaries, 

raises and bonuses: 

➤ Start early If salary increases and bonuses are tied to performance—and, 

in great organizations, they are—you need to start early in the year and 

let employees know what’s ahead for the company. “They should have a 

general idea what’s going on in the business, where things stand, how the 

year might go and what your plans are,” Bates says. 

➤ Set clear expectations Nothing motivates people more than telling them 

precisely what they have to do to get a raise, promotion or bonus. “People 

want to apply their talents, contribute in an important area and be a valued 

part of the organization,” Bates says. 

➤ Give regular feedback It’s discouraging to work hard all year, thinking 

you’re doing a great job and then get blindsided at bonus or raise time 

when you don’t receive the compensation you think you deserve. Use 

regular performance reviews as an opportunity to connect with employees 

and to provide candid, targeted feedback about how they’re doing compared 

to the expectations you’ve set. 

➤ Be honest and forthcoming You have to be candid with your team and each 

individual about what’s happening in the business. “People will be motivated 

to work hard even without a pay increase if they believe you’re all in it 

together and heading in the right direction,” Bates says. 

➤ Be a leader who motivates “The leader who can align people with a powerful 

vision and mission for a company will have a loyal work force,” Bates says. 

“People who are working with purpose and passion are highly motivated. This 

is how you harness the energy and talent of the organization.” 

➤ Remember that compensation isn’t everything “While raises and bonuses 

are one way to measure success, people also want to brag that they work 

for a great company,” she says. “They want to be involved in fascinating 

projects. They want to learn new skills and they want to work with people 

they respect and enjoy.” 

“You may have to say, ‘I don’t know 

what’s going to happen, but I’m working 

like the dickens to figure it out,’ ” she says. 

“You also may wish to add, ‘I’m not 

sleeping well. I know you’re not. But I’m 

fighting. Whatever happens, I promise 

to be honest with you along the way and 

to keep you informed.’ ” 

Milan Yager, executive vice president 

of the National Association of Professional 

Employer Organizations in 

Alexandria, Va., and an expert in issues 

related to employee benefits, agrees. 

“Secrecy and delay in the delivery of 

bad news may result in serious repercussions,” 

Yager says. “Rumors take hold 

as employees talk to each other. Facts 

become distorted and there is a resultant 

loss of trust in management.” 

Most of the time, managers aren’t 

purposely keeping quiet. 

“I think companies are often so 

focused on the issue at hand and trying 

to figure out how to save money now,” 

Couture says. There can be a tendency 

for managers, and even human resource 

staff, to bury their heads in the sand and 

hope problems will go away. 

“Even while they realize that this is illogical 

thinking, there is still a sense that 

‘if we don’t talk about it, it will go away,’ ” 

Couture says. 

Instead, Couture says, managers 

should be making themselves more 

available and visible than ever and asking, 

“What are the best mechanisms we can 

use to talk with employees about this? 

How can we allay their concerns? How 

can we help them to be less anxious?” 

“Hiding behind a memo doesn’t do 

it. You have to make yourself available,” 

she says. 

Tell it all & tell it now 

As with many communication challenges, 

the best advice is to share information 

quickly and completely, or, put 

more simply, tell it all and tell it now. As 

Patterson says, “We don’t want to die a 

death of a thousand cuts.” 

“Communicating to employees as 

soon as information becomes available 

gives the opportunity for employees 

to contribute in some way,” Yager says. 

“Employee cooperation can help to save 

a company from disaster.” 

The fact is that employees know 

they are working in a tough economic 


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Before you walk into the meeting… 

No o N e w a N t s to be t h e o N e to tell employees that they have to take a salary cut or 

won’t be getting expected benefits or bonuses. Kerry Patterson, co-founder of 

VitalSmarts, a corporate training and organizational firm in Provo, Utah, and 

co-author of Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, 

tells managers to keep these four tips in mind during difficult conversations: 

➤ Control yourself first Get over the fact that employees may want to shoot 

the messenger—and that may be you. You don’t have to accept the blame, 

but you do need to realize that your employee is feeling horrible and is 

looking to gain any kind of control over the situation. If you don’t deal 

with your own natural tendency to become annoyed or upset, you’re liable 

to say the wrong thing and make the situation worse. 

➤ Share the pain If employees become angry, acknowledge their pain. 

Express your honest concern: “I’m sorry. This must be a big blow for you.” 

Don’t tell them that everything will be fine in the long run. When someone 

is upset, they want empathy, not a lecture. 

➤ Actively listen To let employees know that you are really listening to their 

concerns, don’t jump in with quick answers or corrections to their false 

statements. Instead, paraphrase what they just said. Let them know that 

you’re being careful to understand them and their specific concerns. 

➤ Buy time When people hear bad news, adrenaline drips into their blood 

and they start responding with strong emotions and weak thinking. 

Adrenaline takes time to dissipate, so don’t rush to give a careful explanation 

of the facts or discuss the future until the other person is emotionally 

ready to do so. Show concern and actively listen until the other person has 

calmed down. 

environment and most are interested 

in knowing how their companies are 

weathering the storm. 

“Companies are often reticent to 

give people the whole picture because 

they’re afraid people will just panic,” 

Couture says. Often, the opposite is 

true. Information gives people a feeling 

of control and allows them to “stay 

focused on trying to help make the 

company successful.” 


Managers also may be worried about 

their best employees leaving during 

difficult times—another reason, they 

think, to hold information close to their 

vests. But Couture notes that most employees 

will stick it out, particularly in 

this economy, when other jobs are not 

readily available. 

“Too many so-called leaders, desperate 

to buy time or to delude themselves 

about what is really going on in the 

business, sugar-coat the truth,” Condren 

says. “Or they out and out lie—to 

themselves, to their employees and to 

their backers.” 

But, she says, “Leaders have a 

moral imperative to be honest with their 

employees, even if doing so impels employees 

to jump ship for a more secure 

position.” 

What to say & how to say it 

When talking about compensation, it’s 

best if the first message comes from 

the top, the experts say. Managers can 

then explain details to smaller groups of 

workers and individuals. 

Couture offers one good scenario: 

“The CEO puts out a strategic communication 

to everybody that says, ‘Here’s 

what the economy is doing to our company 

as a whole—these are the things 

that we’ve talked about and now your 

individual general managers will tell you 

the impact it’s going to have on you.’ ” 

When handled this way, “employees 

are focused less on waiting for the 

other shoe to drop, because they’ve 

got plans. They know what to expect,” 

Couture says. 

Patterson agrees: The message needs 

to come first from the top of the company 

and then from direct supervisors. 

But it’s also important how that message 

is crafted. 

Initially, a company needs to develop 

and convey a rationale for whatever 

decisions are being made. It is not 

enough, he says, to simply say what is 

happening. You also must explain why 

it’s happening. 

“Rule No. 1 is to always have a ratio- 


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nale before you deliver any bad news. 

If you don’t have a rationale, don’t be 

delivering bad news,” Patterson says. 

Patterson’s advice isn’t simply theoretical. 

His company recently met with 

employees to talk about its vulnerability 

during the economic downturn and 

how that might impact staff. 

“We brought everybody together and 

said we were choosing not to do any 

layoffs, at least at this time,” Patterson 

says. “Our rationale was that we value 

people. We don’t want them to suffer 

and we don’t want to do layoffs now 

only to need to rehire later.” 

Instead, VitalSmarts may have to 

lower or eliminate bonuses. Patterson 

admits that this news prompted some 

grumbling, but, because the decision 

was conveyed along with a values-based 

rationale, employees understood. 

Following the high-level discussion, 

managers and supervisors should 

carry details of the message back to 

their departments. Specific impacts 

on individual employees should be 

delivered by the direct supervisor in a 


one-on-one setting. 

If there is any light on the horizon, 

it’s a good idea to point to it during all 

of these meetings. For instance, if the 

salary message is grim, focus on what 

your company still offers employees, 

says Laura Browne, a speaker and corporate 

trainer in the Phoenix, Ariz., area 

who specializes in communication and 

management issues. 

Finally, ask for employee input to 

engage them in the process of saving additional 

money, capturing market share, 

diversifying product lines or finding 

other ways to improve the bottom line. 

The majority of your work force is interested 

in helping the company succeed. 

A foundation of trust 

Companies that already have established 

a climate of open and honest communication 

are best equipped to share tough 

news with employees. Others need to 

start working now to develop trust. 

“The word that keeps coming to 

me is ‘empathy,’ ” Couture says. “Have 

empathy for how big a deal this is and 

how big a sacrifice it may be, especially 

for senior workers. Older workers don’t 

have the recovery time that younger 

workers may have.” 

Browne agrees. 

“Even though employees want 

higher salaries, they realize that the 

economy is tough and they appreciate 

companies that treat them with 

respect during difficult times, even if 

they can’t give them more money,” she 

says. 

“There’s this cultural shift occurring 

in companies so that even in this 

really difficult economic time people 

seem to be coming together,” Couture 

says. But, she adds, “That is only going 

to happen if companies really have a 

good value system in place and can 

now translate what those values really 

mean in terms of action.” 

Condren offers this final guidance: 

“As a leader, keeping your integrity 

intact during periods of upheaval will 

anchor you. Let transparency guide 

everyone involved. You’ll sleep better 

at night and so will your team.” BT 


Exhibitor Directory 


May 13-16, 2009 

Cologne, Germany 


Welcome 

To the ISPA Bedding Centre at Interzum 

We encourage you to 

visit these ISPA 

member companies 

exhibiting at 

Interzum, located 

throughout Halls 9.1, 

10.1 and 10.2 

(Refer to the floor 

plans in this directory 

for exact locations.) 

*Denotes ISPA Bedding 

Centre Exhibiting company 


2009 Interzum Ex 

Alphabetical listing (as of 4/6/09) 

EXHIBITOR NAME COUNTRY 

Bodet & Horst GmbH & Co. KG Germany 

Boyteks Tekstil AS Turkey 

Chamay Mattress Manufacture (Foshan) Co. Ltd.* China 

D.R. Cash Inc.* United States 

Englander Sleep Products LLC* United States 

ESCO (Edge-Sweets Co.) United States 

Gateway Systems United Kingdom 

Global Systems Group United States 

Gribetz International United States 

Lady Americana* United States 

Latex International United States 

Leggett & Platt Inc. United States 

Nahtec Germany 

Natura World* Canada 

Porter International United States 

Simalfa United States 

Simmons Engineering Corp.* United States 

Sunds Velour A/S Denmark 

Therapedic International* United States 

Wright of Thomasville Inc.* United States 


hibitor Directory 

PRODUCT CATEGORIES HALL STAND # 

Fabrics, Knit; Ticking Hall 10.2 F040-G041 

Fabrics, Knit; Fabrics, 

Woven; Ticking 

Hall 10.2 C020, D021 

Fabrics, Knit; Fabrics, Woven; 

Mattress Materials, Hard Goods 

Hall 10.2 F059 

Machinery & Fixtures Hall 10.2 E050 

Foam, Latex; Foam, Polyurethane 

(including Visco); Mattress Materials, 

Hard Goods 

Hall 10.2 E051 

Foam, Polyurethane (including Visco); 

Machinery & Fixtures; 

Mattress Disposal/Scrap Recycling 

Hall 9.1 C069 

Engineering Services/Consultants; Hall 9.1 C010, C020, 

Machinery & Fixtures; Parts, Supplies & Tools D010 





Licensing Opportunities Hall 10.2 F055 

Accessories, Soft Goods; Foam, Latex Hall 10.2 G010-H011 

Machinery & Fixtures; Mattress Materials, Halls 5.2, 7, 9.1 Hall 9.1: C010, 

Hard Goods C020, D010 



Accessories, Soft Goods; Consultants, 

Business; Licensing Opportunities 

Hall 10.2 F051 



Adhesives; Foam, Latex; Foam, 

Polyurethane (including Visco) 

Hall 10.1 E078 

Machinery & Fixtures; Parts, 

Supplies & Tools 

Hall 10.2 F053 

Fabrics, Knit; FR Components; Ticking Hall 10.2 G073 

Licensing Opportunities; 


Hall 10.2 F057A 

Accessories, Soft Goods; Labels Hall 10.2 F057 

sleepproducts.org/bedtimes 


The International Sleep Products 

Association is proud to support 

the ISPA Bedding Centre at 

Interzum, creating a “show within 

a show,” focusing on the mattress 

industry. Make your time at Interzum 

more productive and efficient 

by visiting the ISPA Bedding 

Centre in Hall 10.2, which features 

a selection of components, supplies 

and services from some of the 

most innovative companies from 

around the world. ISPA members 

showing mattress machinery can 

be found in Hall 9.1, and ticking 

and soft products in Halls 10.1 

and 10.2. 

Whether you are looking for a 

new supplier, exploring licensing 

agreements or researching the latest 

production technologies, you’ll 

find that ISPA member exhibitors 

offer what you need. If you’re 

new to Interzum, the ISPA Bedding 

Centre is the perfect starting 

point, offering a friendly spot to 

have a refreshment, to get your 

bearings and begin your exploration. 

If you’re a veteran, the Centre 

provides a familiar focal point for 

your visit and a good place to take 

a break from the busy exhibit floor. 

The ISPA Bedding 

Centre is located 

in Hall 10.2 


| 3

Exhibitors 

ISPA Bedding Members 

Bodet & Horst GmbH & Co. KG 

Gewerbegebiet 9 

Elterlein, D-09481 

Germany 

Phone: 49-37349-6970 

Fax: 49-37349-69710 

Web: www.bodet-horst.de 

Email: contact@bodet-horst.de 

Contact: Gerd-Hermann Horst, 

general manager 

Hall 10.2, Stand F040-G041 

Products: Fabrics, Knit; Ticking 

Bodet & Horst is the world’s largest 

knitter of mattress tickings, with 

manufacturing plants in Germany, 

Slovakia and the United States. 

The company is well known for its 

complete range of knitted tickings— 

from single and double jersey, terry 

and velours to double jersey with 

filling—and for its innovations. Its 

world-famous product Medicott® 

prevents the development of mold 

and mildew. Further innovations 

include Comfort Streeetch with 

unique elasticity; Shenergy, life in 

balance to regain physical and mental 

strength; and Pressless, a specialized 

spacer fabric. Also offering readymade 

mattress and tricot covers, 

Bodet & Horst claims to be the service 

provider of the international mattress 

industry. 


Boyteks Tekstil AS 

1 OSB 8. Cadde No. 30 

Kayseri, 38070 

Turkey 

Phone: 90-352-322-05-88 

Fax: 90-352-322-05 89 

Web: www.boyteks.com 

Email: onder.honi@boyteks.com 

Contact: Ihsan Onder Honi, area 

sales coordinator 

Hall: 10.2, Stand C020, D021 

Products: Fabrics, Knit; Fabrics, 

Woven; Ticking 

Boyteks Tekstil AS is among the 

world’s leading jacquard woven and 

knitted mattress ticking producers, 

producing 40 million meters of woven 

and knitted ticking per year to meet 

your requirements as a mattress 

producer. At Boyteks, we produce 

jacquard woven fabric, knitted fabric, 

velour, supreme and terry fabric. We 

know no bounds in new designs and 

R&D studies, presenting more than 50 

quality types with the certificates from 

well-known accredited laboratories 

around the world. Some of the fabrics 

in Boyteks’ special collection include 

Kashmira, Milky, Safe & Clean, 

Orgacare, Poweraction, ClimaSmart 

and many more. At Interzum 

Cologne, we will be highlighting 

Thermocool, our revolutionary 

adaptation in mattress ticking, 

and Biocare, which is our original 

challenge against electromagnetic 

radiation waves and, thus, increases 

sleep quality. 

* Denotes ISPA Bedding Centre exhibiting company 

Special Advertising Section 

Chamay Mattress 

Manufacture (Foshan) 

Co. Ltd.* 

256, Highway 325 Longjiang Shunde 

Foshan, Guangdong, 528319 

China 

Phone: 86-757-2322-6808 

Fax: 86-757-2322-3490 

URL: www.chamay.com.cn 

Email: info@chamay.com.cn 

Contact: Eric Ho, general manager 

Hall 10.2, Stand: F059 

Products: Fabrics, Knit; Fabrics, 

Woven; Mattress Materials, Hard 

Goods 

Foshan Chamay has been a major 

producer of mattress ticking since 

1986. We now offer a weaving (warp 

knitting, circle knitting, woven) 

machine, printing machine, washing 

machine, dyeing machine and 

finishing machine. We also have 

automatic plate machines. Our 

company’s objective is to provide the 

best service to our customers. Our 

main markets include the United 

States, Canada, Africa, South Africa, 

Middle East, Asia and China. 


Exhibitors 


D.R. Cash Inc.* 

P.O. Box 130 

Fairdale, KY 40118 

United States 

Phone: 502-366-0407 

Fax: 866-927-9034 

Web: www.drcashinc.com 

Email: info@drcashinc.com 

Contact: Amy Cash, president 

Hall 10.2, Stand: E050 

Products: Machinery & Fixtures 

D. R. Cash Inc. offers engineering 

solutions and machinery for the 

mattress and textile industries. With 

more than 50 years of experience, 

our engineering staff is available for 

your custom machinery projects. 

We also offer a large line of standard 

equipment, including tape-edge 

machines, sewing heads, filling 

machines, bagging machines, panel 

cutters, box-spring presses, bagging 

forks, material carts, air flotation 

tables, remanufactured machinery 

and more. Our parts department 

can supply spares for many different 

models of new and older equipment. 

Please visit our exhibit in the ISPA 

Bedding Centre for more information. 


Englander Sleep Products LLC* 

P.O. Box 88 

Olive Branch, MS 38654-0088 

United States 

Phone: 662-895-3800 

Fax: 662-895-3366 

Web: www.englander.com 

Email: kevintoman@netzero.net 

Contact: Kevin L. Toman, president 

Hall 10.2, Stand E051 

Products: Foam, Latex; Foam, 

Polyurethane (including Visco); 

Mattress Materials; Hard Goods 

Become an Englander licensed manu- 

facturer. Englander, a leading U.S. 

mattress company, has been devoted 

to “better sleep, by design” for more 

than a century. We combine old-world 

craftsmanship with state-of-the-art 

design to provide the ultimate in sleep 

comfort. Englander is now offering 

manufacturing licenses to selected 

companies around the world. We 

are committed to supporting our 

international partners around the globe. 



ESCO (Edge-Sweets Co.) 

2887 Three Mile Road N.W. 

Grand Rapids, MI 49534-1319 

United States 

Phone: 616-453-5458 

Fax: 616-453-6227 

Web: www.edge-sweets.com 

Email: info@edge-sweets.com 

Contact: Jennifer Petzak, 

marketing director 

Hall 9.1, Stand C069 

Products: Foam, Polyurethane 

(including Visco); Machinery & 

Fixtures; Mattress Disposal/ 

Scrap Recycling 

ESCO (Edge-Sweets Co.) is the 

leading manufacturer of foamcutting 

equipment for the United 

States bedding industry. The ESCO 

range includes automated production 

lines for handling and cutting foam 

buns. ESCO slitters and band saws 

cut foam to appropriate sizes for 

mattress production and are designed 

to work with the full range of typical 

materials, including polyurethane 

foam, latex and visco-elastic. ESCO’s 

range of convoluters for high-end 

mattress applications are designed 

to convolute up to 14 inches of 

standard polyurethane foam and 6 

inches of visco-elastic. ESCO is the 

only U.S. manufacturer of high-end 

CNC contour cutting machines for 

unlimited shaping applications, 

including pillows, mattresses and 

general furniture shapes. 


Gateway Systems 

Unit 3 Northgate Terrace 

Northern Road, Industrial Estate 

Newark Notts NG24 2EU 

United Kingdom 

Phone: 44-1636-676194 

Fax: 44-1636-611367 

Web: www.gateway-systems.co.uk 

Email: sales@gatewaysystems.co.uk 

Contact: David Elsdon, 


Hall 9.1, Stands C010, C020, D010 

Products: Engineering Services/ 

Consultants; Machinery & Fixtures; 

Parts, Supplies & Tools 

Gateway Systems, based in the United 

Kingdom, is a branch of Global 

Systems Group®. Specializing in 

mattress-making solutions for more 

than 20 years, Gateway Systems offers 

compression tufting machines, handle 

systems, sergers, automated tapeedge 

machines, panel cutters/slitting 

machines and border measure/cut 

machines. Gateway’s Mattress Master 

202-PE is the latest generation of 

automated tape-edge machines and 

includes the heavy-duty Pfaff 5625 

sewing head that is exclusive to GSG. 


Global Systems Group 

#1 Leggett Road 

Carthage, MO 64836 

United States 

Phone: 800-326-4742 

Fax: 954-846-0381 

Web: www.gsgcompanies.com 

Email: gsginfo@gsgcompanies.com 

Contact: Russ Bowman, president 

of sales 





Global Systems Group®, a division 

of Leggett & Platt®, offers all the 

machinery required to assemble 

mattresses, box springs and other 

bedding-related products. The 

industry’s leading machinery 

manufacturers—Gribetz 

International, Porter International, 

Gateway Systems, Spuhl-Anderson 

and Nähtec—have been gathered into 

a single resource for the convenience 

of the mattress producer. With more 

than 100 GSG machinery choices, 

bedding companies can confidently 

select the right equipment for their 

needs. Over 20 worldwide locations… 

Over 100 machine models…Over 

125 years of collective company 

histories…Thousands of machines 

at work in the field. All represented 

by one company—Global Systems 

Group. 



Gribetz International 

13800 N.W. Fourth St. 

Sunrise, FL 33325-6207 

United States 

Phone: 800-326-4742 

Fax: 954-846-0381 


Email: russ.bowman@gribetz.com 

Contact: Russ Bowman, president 

of sales 





Gribetz International® is the world’s 

leading manufacturer of quilting 

machines and other equipment 

related to the bedding, home textile 

and apparel industries. Gribetz 

offers a complete range of products 

designed to modernize and automate 

the handling, sewing, quilting and 

cutting processes. Gribetz has been an 

innovator in the mattress industry for 

decades and offers the most complete 

lineup of quilting machines around 

the world. Revolutionary quilting 

patterns and processes have been 

shaped by technology developed at 

Gribetz. Gribetz equipment improves 

manufacturing capabilities, from 

mattress quilting to packaging. 


Exhibitors 


Lady Americana* 

3920 West I-40 Service Road 

Oklahoma City, OK 73108 

United States 

Phone: 800-869-9480 

Fax: 405-951-1379 

Web: www.ladyamericana.com 

Email: sshaikh@ladyamericana.com 

Contact: Sarfraz Shaikh, vice 

president of marketing & 

international licensing 

Hall 10.2, Stand F055 

Products: Licensing Opportunities 

Better Sleep Every Night 


Premium Bedding 

Lady Americana® is one of the finest 

leading mattress manufacturers in the 

United States and around the world. 

Endorsed by the North American 

Federation of Chiropractic Networks, 

it is the only mattress scientifically 

proven to provide deeper and more 

restful sleep. A one-stop shop for 

visco memory foam, latex, traditional 

spring and adjustable mattresses, 

Lady Americana® is on a mission to 

provide technologically advanced and 

comfortable beds at great values while 

leaving the smallest environmental 

footprint through the Eco-Comfort® 

initiative. Learn more about our 

licensing opportunities and how you 

can be a partner in providing “Better 

Sleep Every Night.” 

Latex International 

510 River Road 

Shelton, CT 06484-4517 

United States 

Phone: 203-924-0700 

Fax: 203-924-0699 

Web: www.latexintl.com 

Email: info@latexintl.com 

Contact: Kevin Stein, vice president 

of marketing & research 

& development 

Hall 10.2, Stand G010-H011 

Products: Accessories, Soft Goods; 

Foam, Latex 

Latex International (LI) is the 

world’s only producer of both 

molded Talalay latex pillows and 

mattress cores. LI is launching 

internationally its patent-pending 

Celsion temperature-regulating 

Talalay latex, which helps sleepers 

maintain a consistent body 

temperature throughout the night. 

LI is also introducing its new line of 

RejuveNite® 100% natural Talalay 

latex pillows. The company also 

offers its classic Talatech® latex in 

eight firmness levels, EverCloud® 

quiltable latex and NuFORM® 

slow-recovery latex. LI is capable of 

compression packing our latex sleep 

products for economical worldwide 

shipment. Visit us in Hall 10.2, 

Stand G10-H011 to see and feel the 

Latex International difference. 



Leggett & Platt Inc. 

#1 Leggett Road 

Carthage, MO 64836 

United States 

Phone: 417-358-8131 

Fax: 417-358-6667 

Web: www.leggett.com 

Email: pat.loch@leggett.com 

Contact: Pat Loch, vice president of 

sales & marketing 

Halls 5.2, 7, 9.1 

Products: Machinery & Fixtures; 


Innovation Redefined 

Leggett & Platt, the leading global 

supplier of residential and commercial 

furnishings components, is 

exhibiting in Hall 5.2, Hall 7 and 

Hall 9.1. Hall 5.2 features L&P 

Office Components International 

and Hall 7 features L&P Home 

Furniture Components and L&P 

Adjustable Sleep Systems, offering 

the widest range of adjustable 

sleep systems in the world. Hall 9.1 

features L&P Global Systems Group 

(manufacturing machinery for the 

bedding industry worldwide) and 

Spuhl AG, manufacturer of bedding 

industry machinery. 


Exhibitors 


Nähtec 

Carl Zeiss Str. 18 

Bietigheim-Bissingen 74321 

Germany 

Phone: 49-71429-0410 

Fax: 49-71429-04110 



Contact: Volker Wissing, 






Nähtec is one of Europe’s innovative 

technology leaders in bedding and 

automotive sewing applications. This 

Germany-based company is a part of 

Global Systems Group®, a division of 

Leggett & Platt. The popular mattress 

handle machines, zipper machines 

and other automated mattress sewing 

equipment are gaining popularity 

among GSG customers around the 

world. The creative engineers at 

Nähtec can also provide customized 

solutions to customers in need of 

specialized assistance. 


Natura World* 

1 Natura Way 

Cambridge, ON N3C 0A4 

Canada 

Phone: 519-651-2006 

Fax: 519-651-1891 

Web: www.naturaworld.com 

Email: michael@naturaworld.com 

Contact: Michael Pino, director of 

international sales 



Consultants, Business; Licensing 

Opportunities 

Natura World is a manufacturer 

of natural, “green” and organic 

mattresses, toppers, pads, comforters, 

pillows and sheets using cuttingedge 

technology. Our sleep systems 

sustain a healthy lifestyle by delivering 

what people need most—a good 

night’s rest. Natura’s interactive sleep 

systems are made from the highest 

quality sustainable raw materials with 

meticulous attention to detail. All of 

our mattresses, toppers, pillows and 

duvets are designed to create sleep 

systems that interact and harmonize 

with the changing needs of the human 

body, creating a sleep environment 

that’s both healthy and luxuriously 

comfortable. From latex to wool to 

cotton, Natura’s products naturally 

give way to healthy, eco-friendly 

havens that consistently deliver on 

their promise. 



Porter International 

462 Boston Street, Unit B-1 

Topsfield, MA 01983-1200 

United States 

Phone: 800-343-8138 

Fax: 978-213-9958 



Contact: Todd Nechtem, 

vice president of sales 

& marketing 





Porter International, a member of 

Global Systems Group®, which is a 

division of Leggett & Platt, builds, 

sells, and services sewing machines 

for the bedding, automotive and 

home textile industries. Specializing 

in sewing room operations, Porter is 

the industry leader with more than 65 

years of experience. Porter supplies 

the bedding industry with superior 

machines for flanging panels, border 

systems and multitasking assembly 

systems, like the GPT-1000AP Ruffler. 

We fulfill our commitment to the 

modern factory through new product 

research, advanced technology 

developments, ergonomic designs and 

new ways to streamline the flow of 

goods through automation. 


Simalfa 

15 Lincoln St. 

Hawthorne, NJ 07506-1423 

United States 

Phone: 973-423-9266 

Fax: 973-423-9264 

Web: www.simalfa.com 

Email: darren.gilmore@simalfa.com 

Contact: Darren Gilmore, 

chief executive officer 

Hall 10.1, Stand E078 

Products: Adhesives; Foam, Latex; 

Foam, Polyurethane (including 

Visco) 

Simalfa water-based adhesives offer 

the greatest value on the planet. 

Period. Simalfa has been increasing 

profitability for clients with cuttingedge 

“green” technology. Our 

success has been in offering instantbonding 

water-based adhesives, the 

simplest delivery system available 

and advanced technical assistance. 

Our patented Free Flowing System 

renders complicated delivery 

methods such as pressurized systems 

and pumps useless. At the same 

time it keeps valuable floor space 

for what it is intended—production. 

No matter what your needs, from 

automation to efficiency controls, 

we can show you how to maximize 

production speed while minimizing 

costs. GREENGUARD certified. 


Simmons Engineering Corp.* 

1200 S. Willis Ave. 

Wheeling, IL 60090-5819 

United States 

Phone: 847-419-9800 

Fax: 847-419-1500 

Web: www.simcut.com 

Email: sales@simcut.com 

Contact: Erin O’Brien, 

sales & marketing 


Products: Machinery & Fixtures; 


Simmons Engineering Corp. is 

an international company that 

is ISO 9001:2000 certified and 

that is recognized worldwide as a 

manufacturer of knife blades for 

the fabrication of foam. Simmons 

manufactures single- and doubleedge 

knives, V-tooth and scallop 

blades, from 3mm to 100mm wide. 

Other edge types and specialty 

blades, which may include special 

tooth configurations, holes or slots, 

are available. Our blades can help 

you reduce dust and finish a cut 

without visible lines or markings. 

Blades are available welded, cutto-length 

or coiled. Simmons 

Engineering welcomes distributor 

applicants that service the foam, 

leather, wood, cork, plastic, 

cardboard and packaging 

industries. 



Sunds Velour A/S 

Navervej 3-5 

Sunds 7451 

Denmark 

Phone: 45-97-14-1322 

Fax: 45-97-14-2827 

Web: www.sunds.com 

Email: mail@sunds.com 

Contact: Steffen Romer, 

key account manager 

Hall 10.2, Stand G073 

Products: Fabrics, Knit; FR 

Components; Ticking 

Sunds Velour A/S could be your 

future partner for mattress ticking, 

FR-treated fabrics or ready-made 

zipped mattress covers. Our 

know-how and expertise with 

circular knitted tricot and velour 

fabrics dates to 1972 and covers all 

production processes, from knitting 

to dyeing to printing to finishing. 

The head of our operations is 

based in Denmark. All steps of 

production take place in Ukraine at 

our 200,000-square-foot production 

plant, which currently employs 650 

people. Let Sunds help you turn 

your foam mattresses or pillows 

into an attractive and commercial 

end product. Meet us at Interzum 

Cologne in Hall 10.2, Stand G073. 



Exhibitors 


Therapedic International* 

103 College Road East 

Princeton, NJ 08540-6611 

United States 

Phone: 609-720-0700 

Fax: 609-720-0797 

Web: www.therapedic.com 

Email: gb@therapedic.com 

Contact: Gerry Borreggine, 

president & 

chief executive officer 

Hall 10.2, Stand F057A 

Products: Licensing Opportunities; 


Therapedic International is a top 

10, U.S.-based mattress licensing 

company with over 50 licensees that 

manufacture the Therapedic brand 

throughout the world. The company 

was founded in 1957 by Gerald 

Gershaw. Today, at age 84, Gershaw 

has returned to the company he 

founded, serving as its international 

director. He works directly with 

Gerry Borreggine, president and 

chief executive officer, to open 

new licensees, many of which are 

located outside the United States. 

Therapedic has developed many 

exciting merchandise and marketing 

concepts over the past five years, 

including a brand partnership with 

Kathy Ireland Home by Therapedic. 

For more details, see us at Interzum 

Cologne, visit our Web site at 

www.therapedic.com or call 

609-720-0700. 

Wright of Thomasville Inc.* 

P.O. Box 1069 

Thomasville, NC 27361-1069 

United States 

Phone: 336-472-4200 

Fax: 336-476-8554 

Web: www.wrightlabels.com 

Email: joanne@wrightlabels.com 

Contact: Joanne Bennett, account 

executive & designer 



Labels 

Great label ideas! The team at 

Wright of Thomasville has the 

passion and expertise to help 

you reach your goals: creative 

design, worldwide reputation and 

experience, distribution anywhere 

in the world. Iron-on…Sew-on… 

Woven…Pressure-sensitive… 

Embroidery…Dome…Roll… 

Heat-transfer thermal imprinted… 

Law/FR compliance…Top-ofbed 

bolsters…Foot protectors… 

Banners…Posters…Large-printed 

graphics…Showroom solutions… 

Display stands and easels. Our 

staff of experienced graphic arts 

professionals is prepared to meet 

your marketing and branding needs. 

To find out more about our great 

label ideas, contact us at 

salesinfo@wrightlabels.com 

or visit our new Web site, 

www.wrightlabels.com. 




You are here 

Köelnmesse Exhibit complex 


Hall 10.2 

ISPA 

Bedding Centre 

Halls 9.1 & 10.1 


◆ 

◆ ◆ 

◆ 

Entrance to 

Halls 10.1 

and 10.2 


Entrance to Messe Boulevard 

Where to find it 

Exhibit complex 

Hall 10.2 

Aisle H Aisle H Aisle H 

Latex 

Int’l 


Aisle G Aisle G Aisle G 

ISPA 

Sunds 

Bedding 

Centre 

Aisle F Aisle F Aisle F 

Bodet 

& 

Horst 

Escalator 

Escalator Escalator 

ISPA 

Bedding 

Centre 

Aisle E Aisle E Aisle E 

Escalator 

Escalator 

Escalator 

Escalator 

Escalator 

Aisle D Aisle D Aisle D 

East Entrance 

This map detail has been turned 90 o 

Boyteks 

Tekstil 

Aisle C Aisle C Aisle C 

Escalator 

Aisle B Aisle B Aisle B 

Aisle A Aisle A Aisle A 


Aisle F 

Therapedic 

ISPA Bedding Centre 

Foshan 

Chamay 

Wright 

of 

Thomasville 

Lady 

Americana 

Simmons 

Engineering 

Natura 

World 

ISPA 

Lounge 

D.R. Cash 



sleepproducts.org/bedtimes 

Englander 

Aisle E 

Hall 9.1 

Leggett 

& 

Platt+ 


Leggett 

& 

Platt* 

Leggett 

& 

Platt* 

Aisle C Aisle C Aisle C 

ESCO 

(Edge-Sweets) 


* Leggett & Platt 

companies include: 

Gateway Systems 

Global Systems 

Group 

Gribetz Int’l 

Nahtec 

Porter Int’l 

Messe Boulevard 



To Hall 10.1 

BedTimes | May | May 2009 2009 | 53 | 3

Where to find it 

Exhibit complex 

Hall 10.1 





Piazza 

Aisle C 

Escalator 


To Hall 9 

Aisle E Aisle E Aisle E 

Escalator 

Simalfa 

Escalator 

Escalator 

Escalator 

Escalator 

East Entrance 


LATEX SYSTEMS CO.,LTD. 

100 % NATURAL LATEX FOAM 

Offer your sleep a natural side 

Located at the heart of the largest reserve of latex in the world. We 

manufacture a unique range of high value added natural latex cores and 

sheets. Our French-Thai expertise, combine with your bedding market 

experience, is the answer to people concern about comfortable and 

environmental friendly products 

“Natural Latex provides a Healthier, 

more regenerative night’s sleep” 

Latex Systems Co.,Ltd. (Factory & Office) 

Ladkrabang Industrial Estate, Bangkok Thailand. 

Tel : + 66 2 326 0886 - 7, Fax : + 66 2 326 0292 

Email : market@latexsystems.com, website : www.latexsystems.com 

www.latexsystem.com 

Agent for North America: 

Crismor International, Inc Tel: 951-369-4971 

Email: contact@crismor.com 

7 zone for perfect body’s adjustement

ISPA 

Nearly a Century of Leadership, Industry Service 

Bringing Together the International 

Bedding Community 

ISPA Mission ISPA is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the 

growth, profitability and stature of the mattress manufacturing 

industry. 

ISPA Vision The mattress industry is strong, viable and viewed 

positively by all constituents. 

Since 1915, the International Sleep Products Association 

has served as the focal point for the mattress community, 

bringing together companies and individuals with common 

goals and aspirations. Today, more than 700 ISPA members 

around the world experience the benefits of working together 

in the mattress industry’s trade organization. 

ISPA represents producers of mattresses and foundations, 

ranging in size from multinational manufacturers to small, 

family-owned operations. ISPA is also the trade organization 

for suppliers of components, supplies, machinery and services 

for the mattress industry. These include ticking, foam, thread, 

labels, innersprings, machinery and much more. This diverse 

membership gives ISPA the strong credibility and influence 

necessary to speak with a united voice on issues that affect the 

industry. 

ISPA’s strategic plan guides the association’s programs 

and its development of products and services to meet the 

needs of its members. The ISPA EXPO, the ISPA Bedding 

Centre at Interzum, ISPA’s annual Industry Conference & 

Exhibition, monthly BedTimes magazine, Sleep Savvy magazine 

for retailers, ISPA Advocacy Connection newsletter, exclusive 

statistics, and members-only information on the ISPA Web site 

are just a sampling of the services ISPA provides that can help 

you and your company grow. 

ISPA provides valuable data to help members operate 

their businesses more efficiently. ISPA’s BedTimes Bulletin 

weekly e-newsletter keeps members apprised of the latest 

regulatory developments, news and other important issues 

that impact the way they do business. The new ISPA Advocacy 

Connection newsletter helps members understand developing 

laws and regulatory actions that can affect their businesses 

and bottom lines. A comprehensive package of financial and 

operational surveys and statistics, tailored specifically for 

mattress manufacturers, provide valuable benchmarks for 

operating costs, personnel and management 

compensation, and sales potential. ISPA 

also offers a comprehensive educational 

program, addressing the special needs of 

mattress manufacturers with seminars, 

workshops and conferences throughout 


www.sleepproducts.org/join 

Log on today to see what ISPA 

membership has to offer your 

mattress business! 

the year that can help boost productivity, decrease costs, 

and increase awareness of regulatory and legislative issues. A 

recently upgraded online BedTimes Supplies Guide brings a 

world of mattress component and services suppliers to your 

fingertips around the clock. 

Members are offered the opportunity to display ISPA’s 

logo on their sales literature, company stationery and other 

materials highlighting their affiliation with the mattress 

industry’s leading trade organization. And members receive 

a beautiful personalized membership certificate suitable for 

display. 

To find out more about what ISPA can do for you and your 

business, visit the ISPA Web site at www.sleepproducts.org or 

contact ISPA headquarters at 501 Wythe St., Alexandria, VA 

22314-1917 USA, Phone 703-683-8371; Fax 703-683-4503; 

Email: info@sleepproducts.org. 

Better Sleep Council 

BSC Mission The BSC is devoted to educating the public about 

the importance of sleep to good health and quality of life, and 

about the value of the sleep system and sleep environment in the 

pursuit of a good night’s sleep. 

Since 1979, ISPA’s Better Sleep 

Council has been devoted 

to educating consumers about 

how sleep is linked to health 

and quality of life, and the importance of a quality mattress 

to a good night’s sleep. The BSC has a strong consumer 

education program consisting of an educational Web site at 

www.bettersleep.org, strategic partnerships and coalitions 

around the world, widespread media coverage and the 

popular reference brochure, “Better Sleep Guide: Better 

Mattress, Better You.” All keep the mattress top of mind 

with consumers. Another important component of the BSC 

program is consumer research. This information is critical 

to developing effective strategies for moving consumers into 

the marketplace for a new mattress and for breaking down 

the barriers to purchase. Recently the BSC, in conjunction 

with the European Bedding Industries Association and the 

Better Sleep Council Canada, sponsored a sleep research 

study, which provided scientific support that a new mattress 

can improve the quality of life for consumers. Through 

a sophisticated mix of these programs 

and public relations activities, the BSC 

reaches millions of consumers each year 

with targeted messages about sleep and 

mattresses. 

In 2002, the BSC launched its flagship 


and Member Value 

publication, Sleep Savvy magazine, targeted at the mattress 

retail community. Each month Sleep Savvy reaches 24,500 

bedding retailers with information to help them better 

understand consumer trends and attitudes, offer successful 

selling ideas and retail business insights, and provide tips 

on helping customers make the sleep-health-mattress 

connection. Complete issues of the magazine are now online 

in an easy-to-use digital format. For more information, visit 

www.sleepsavvymagazine.com. 

Sleep Products Safety Council 

SPSC Mission To provide consumer information, support 

research and promote activities that advance the safety of sleep 

products. 

The Sleep Products Safety Council 

is a safety division of ISPA. For 20 

years, the SPSC has been the catalyst 

for a broad range of research and 

education activities aimed at reducing hazards associated with 

sleep products. The SPSC embodies the mattress industry’s 

longstanding commitment to make mattresses that will provide 

consumers with a safe and restful night’s sleep. For more 

information, visit the SPSC Web site at www.safesleep.org or 

email spsc@sleepproducts.org. 

ISPAEarth: The Mattress Industry’s 

Sustainability 

Initiative 

ISPAEarth is a multifaceted 

effort to improve the 

environmental impact of the 

mattress industry’s operations 

and products and to raise the 

public’s perception of our overall social responsibility. As 

“green” manufacturing and sustainability rapidly become 

recognized as critical to society’s future, the mattress 

industry is seeing more attention toward “going green” 

by nongovernmental organizations, consumer advocates, 

environmentalists and the government. ISPA has taken the 

lead for the industry by establishing ISPAEarth, the industry’s 

first comprehensive sustainability initiative. Plans are under 

way to develop a mattress component recycling program to 

improve the recycling of used mattress materials, an issue for 

the industry for many years. 


ISPA EXPO Trade Fair 

E very 

two years, the ISPA EXPO offers 

mattress manufacturers and suppliers 

the largest and most comprehensive 

event in the mattress business. The EXPO 

features the industry’s premier trade 

show, with nearly 200 exhibitors from 

around the world showcasing the latest mattress machinery, 

components, supplies and services. The event includes tours 

of American mattress factories for non-U.S. manufacturers 

and an unparalleled lineup of educational, social and 

networking opportunities. ISPA EXPO 2010 will be held March 

3-6, 2010, in Charlotte, N.C., U.S. For more information, visit 

the ISPA Web site at www.sleepproducts.org/ispaexpo or 

email info@sleepproducts.org. 

BedTimes Magazine 

T he 

only trade and business journal dedicated exclusively 

to the sleep products industry, BedTimes focuses on 

topics most important to mattress manufacturers and 

suppliers around the world—new products, legislative and 

regulatory updates, business issues, manufacturing and 

marketing trends, and more. BedTimes covers the major 

bedding markets and trade shows throughout the world, 

including ISPA EXPO and Interzum Cologne. Each month’s 

issue is now available online in an easy-to-use digital format 

at www.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes. The magazine’s 

December issue contains the BedTimes Supplies Guide, the 

only comprehensive listing of suppliers for the mattress 

and sleep products industry. The guide also can be found 

online at www.bedtimessuppliesguide.com. ISPA members 

receive discounted advertising rates. Contact Kerri Bellias at 

kbellias@sleepproducts.org. 

www.sleepproducts.org Web Site 

I SPA’s 

user-friendly Web site provides all of ISPA’s products 

and services at your fingertips, including a worldwide 

membership directory, free publication downloads, updates on 

advocacy and regulatory issues, industry statistics and more. 

The site posts breaking industry news, event information and 

Web exclusives from BedTimes magazine. A substantial part of 

the content is available exclusively to ISPA members. 

501 Wythe St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1917 

Phone 703-683-8371 • Fax 703-683-4503 

Web www.sleepproducts.org 

Email info@sleepproducts.org 


Green 

Innovation 

in the Bedroom! 

Eco-smart bedding in 5 

unique shades of green. 

• Go green on any budget, Green 

mattresses starting at $299 

• Anti-microbial, allergen and chemical 

free bedding for the whole family 

• Natural & Organic mattresses, toppers & 

pads, comforters, pillows, and mattress 

protectors – even pet beds! 

WWW.NATURAWORLD.COM 

Green Bedroom Specialists for 15 years – Let us show you how to go green!

MediaRelations 

Do’s & don’ts for dealing 

with the media 

Good practices can 

lead to good PR 

By Pam Lontos 

As a business owner or manager, 

you probably know how important 

publicity is to the success 

of your company. But the truth is, 

many entrepreneurs, high-level executives 

and even marketing managers 

make crucial mistakes when dealing 

with the media. The good news is, by 

being aware of the more common do’s 

and don’ts of dealing with reporters 

and editors, there are many steps you 

can take to avoid the pitfalls. 

Reporters, editors and producers— 

whether they work for television, 

newspapers, Web sites, magazines or 

other forms of media—are deluged 

with requests from hopeful business 

owners, corporate public relations 

professionals and other people seeking 

coverage. Their days are spent 

meeting deadlines while doing everincreasing 

amounts of work, all the 

while constantly communicating with 

those publicity-seekers. 

If you’re ready to receive the publicity 

your business deserves, here are 

several tried-and-true ways to get the 

most out of your media contacts: 


1 

DON’T call the journalist and then 

forge ahead with whatever is on 

your mind. 

DO ask if the reporter or editor is 

on deadline. Journalists’ time is as 

important as yours and their deadline 

pressures are horrendous. If 

they are on deadline, ask for a good 

time to call back. 

2 

DON’T emphasize self-promotion 

over news. 

DO make sure you have valuable 

information to share with viewers or 

readers. 

DO give value-added tips, advice 

or information so that you will 

help improve people’s lives (i.e., the 

importance of sleep), offer insights 

(i.e., how stress interferes with 

sleep) or entertain (i.e., a list of odd 

sleeping habits). If you can achieve 

that goal every time, the media will 

make time for you and may even 

actively pursue you for interviews 

and articles. 

3 

DON’T say, “The answer is on our 

Web site/in our brochure/in the 

report” instead of giving out the information 

during radio, TV or print 

media interviews. You can point 

journalists to that information as a 

way for them to double-check facts, 

but provide them the Web link, brochure, 

etc., to make it easier. 

DO consider your interview as a way 

to show how valuable you and your 

ideas are. That’s the best possible 

advertising for your business. 

4 

DON’T ask the reporter to send you 

the article so you can review and 

approve it in advance. Most news 

outlets have policies prohibiting 

that. Prior review of every article by 

every person interviewed is too time 

consuming and would essentially 

halt production. Additionally, if you 

are one of several people being interviewed, 

it is generally not appropriate 

for you to review facts about 

or comments by your competitors. 

DO provide your contact information 

for follow-ups and make yourself 

available to clarify any confusing 

points or answer additional questions. 

Offer to help the journalist 

check facts or review small sections 

of the article for accuracy. 

5 

DON’T forget to prepare for interviews 

or fail to familiarize yourself 

with the readership or audience. 

DON’T assume everyone should 

be interested in every tiny detail of 

your subject just because you are. 

DO make sure your subject matter 

appeals to the target audience. If you 

are calling an editor at Better Homes 

& Gardens magazine, make sure 

you’re pitching an article that fits 

with the homey, consumer-oriented 

material the magazine specializes 

in. Read the Web sites you want to 

be quoted in; watch the interview 

shows where you want to be a guest. 



6 

DON’T nag the reporter. 

DO space out your calls so you don’t 

become a pest. Email is the best way 

to connect with most journalists, 

who often rely on it as a way to get 

work done quickly. And make sure 

to give them a reasonable length 

of time—at least a day or two—to 

respond to you. 

7 

DON’T assume that the reporter or 

editor remembers who you are. 

DO keep in mind that they deal 

with multiple sources and many 

different subject matters. Immediately 

identify yourself by name or 

by topic before launching into the 

purpose of your call—even if you 

spoke to the same journalist the 

week before. 


8 

DON’T delay returning calls from 

reporters or fact-checkers. 

DO understand that journalists 

are on deadline and often need to 

speak with you immediately. If you 

snooze, you may lose the chance for 

an interview. 

9 

DON’T call a magazine a week before 

a big holiday with your holidaythemed 

idea. 

DO remember that magazines publish 

issues months in advance. Time 

your pitches well. 

10 

DON’T leave your contact information 

off your news releases or email. 

DO err on the side of giving too 

much information. Put all contact 

information on your news release. 

Send a follow-up email with the 

same information. Speak slowly 

when leaving a phone message, particularly 

when you give your phone 

number. 



11 

DON’T just talk about what’s important 

to you during an interview. 

DO answer the questions asked. You 

need to be responsive to the questions 

asked by the interviewer or she 

may get frustrated and choose not to 

use you as a source again. 

DON’T give out information unless 

you’re sure of it. Know for a fact that 

the information you’re giving out is 

accurate. 

12 

DON’T demand that the article 

mention your company or your 

specific products—unless, of course, 

that’s the point of the story. 

DO be happy that you are being 

interviewed. 


DON’T try to control the outcome. 

You’ll seem pretentious—or worse—if 

you try to put conditions on the interview, 

such as insisting that you are the 

first person quoted in the story or the 

only expert mentioned. 

13 

DON’T ask for a correction unless it’s 

absolutely necessary. If there is a significant 

error, most media outlets will 

want to correct it immediately. But it’s 

generally not a good idea to complain 

if the journalist leaves out a point 

you thought was important or quotes 

someone else more than you. 

14 

DON’T immediately contact the 

reporter’s boss—usually the editor in 

chief or managing editor—if you’re 

unhappy with the story. 

DO talk first to the reporter to explain 

why you’re displeased and do it 

respectfully. The journalist may have 

an explanation that will change your 

feelings. Always try to work out the 

difficulty directly with the journalist. 

If you still aren’t satisfied, then you 

might want to consider calling the 

reporter’s supervisor. BT 

Pam Lontos is president of PR/PR, a 

public relations firm based in Orlando, 

Fla. She is author of I See Your 

Name Everywhere and is a former vice 

president of sales for Disney’s Shamrock 

Broadcasting. PR/PR has placed clients 

in publications such as USA Today, 

Entrepreneur, Time, Reader’s Digest 

and Cosmopolitan. For a free publicity 

consultation, email pam@prpr.net 

or call 407-299-6128. To receive free 

publicity tips, go to www.prpr.net. 


How to get your news into BedTimes 

By Julie A. Palm 

BedTim e s ma g a z i n e covers Be d d i n g in d u s T r y ne w s and trends 

from around the world and we rely on mattress manufacturers 

and their suppliers to help us gather that 

information. 

Much of the news we publish about individual companies 

falls into two sections: 

➤ Our Industry News department includes stories about 

new products, mergers and acquisitions, financial 

results, facility construction, business expansion, and 

marketing and advertising initiatives, among other 

subjects. 

➤ Our Newsmakers department features articles about 

new hires, promotions, retirements and other personnel 

changes. 

Deadlines for those sections are generally the first 

day of the preceding month. For instance, the Industry 

News and Newsmakers deadline for the July issue is 

Monday, June 1. Deadlines are posted on the BedTimes’ 


Web site, www.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes, and appear 

on Page 5 of every issue. 

We also interview companies for in-depth feature 

stories on trends, such as rising raw materials costs, 

innovations in components, advances in plant practices 

and more. (You can see our editorial calendar at 

www.sleepproducts.org/bedtimes.) We often put out a 

call for information and sources for those stories a few 

months before the articles are scheduled to appear. We 

typically make those announcements on the Web site, 

in the weekly BedTimes Bulletin e-newsletter and in the 

monthly Editor’s Note on Page 5. 

Sending us your news and information is easy. We 

prefer to receive news releases and photos via email at 

jpalm@sleepproducts.org. You also may call at 

336-727-1889. If you need to put something in the 

mail, send it to BedTimes, 5603-B W. Friendly Ave. 

#286, Greensboro, NC, 27410. 

We look forward to hearing from you. 


IndustryNews 

1800mattress.com files for Chapter 11 protection 

In U.S. Ba n k r U p tc y co U r t In new yo r k, bedding retailer 

1800mattress.com won court approval to convert its 

bankruptcy case from an involuntary Chapter 7 proceeding 

to voluntary Chapter 11 protection. A week 

earlier, on March 17, a group of three creditors had 

petitioned the court to force the retailer into involuntary 

Chapter 7 bankruptcy for nonpayment of debts. 

The creditors included mattress manufacturer Sealy and 

Comfort Solutions licensee Blue Bell, as well as a New 

York landlord. 

The group’s petition was precipitated by an announcement 

earlier in the week that the Long Island 

City, N.Y.-based multichannel retailer had signed a letter 

of intent to sell the company to an investor group led by 

mattress industry executive Ken Mazda. 

The court granted all six of 1800mattress.com’s 

proposed first-day motions. These included approval for 

$550,000 of debtor-in-possession financing provided 

by rival mattress retailer Sleepy’s, which is seeking to 

acquire the company through the Chapter 11 process— 

1800mattress.com had reached a tentative deal to sell 

the company to Bethpage, N.Y.-based Sleepy’s for $2.1 

million. 

The financing enables 1800mattress.com to fulfill obligations 

associated with operating its business, including 

making payments to suppliers and other business 

partners for goods delivered and services provided after 

the start of the Chapter 11 process. 

U.S. puts tariff on Canadian lumber 

U 

.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk 

has announced a 10% customs 

duty on softwood lumber products 

imported from the Canadian provinces 

of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, 

and Saskatchewan. The wooden bedframe 

components used to manufacture 

most mattress foundations in the 

United States are made from Canadian 

softwood lumber. 

The duties come in response 

to a ruling by an arbitration panel 

convened under the U.S.-Canada 

Softwood Lumber Agreement. The 

panel ruled that Canada violated the 

agreement by miscalculating quotas, 

thus limiting the amount of lumber 


that these provinces could export to 

the United States. 

The U.S. Trade Representative 

rejected Canada’s proposed 

corrective action under the order as 

insufficient and, in turn, announced 

the new tariff. 

The sale to Sleepy’s is subject to approval of the 

bankruptcy court after completion of competitive bidding 

procedures. 

Sleepy’s has said in a statement that it would invest 

in the growth of the 1800mattress.com brand. But franchise 

operators have expressed concerns. One, Consolidated 

Mattress and Amalgamated Mattress in Stoughton, 

Mass., has voiced strong opposition to the sale. 

The bankruptcy proceedings do not immediately 

impact Connecticut franchisee Rectangle Corp. in 

Windsor, which is “a completely separate company with 

a healthy balance sheet, a warehouse full of inventory, 

and our own reputation for superior quality, service and 

value to our customers,” said President Stephen Perry. 

The company has separate contracts with mattress 

manufacturers, is current with all payments, and operates 

its own fleet of trucks for delivery, its own warehouse 

and retail showrooms, and will continue to fulfill 

orders placed. 

The same can be said for Consolidated Mattress and 

Amalgamated Mattress, the franchise operator for parts 

of New England, Philadelphia, central and southern 

New Jersey and Florida. 

The latter is challenging the sale of its franchisor to 

long-time rival Sleepy’s and offered debtor-in-possession 

financing of its own “without the onerous restrictions 

Sleepy’s placed on the funds in its proposal,” the company 

said. 

Interzum Short 

Englander seeks licensees 

Englander, a mattress licensing 

group based in Olive Branch, 

Miss., will be attending Interzum 

Cologne to meet with potential 

licensees. The company is offering 

manufacturing licenses around 

the world, particularly in Asia, 

Canada and the Middle East. 

“Englander has been devoted to 

‘better sleep, by design’ for more 

than a century,” said Kevin Toman, 

Englander president. “We combine 

old-world craftsmanship with 

state-of-the-art design to provide 

the ultimate in sleep comfort.” 


IndustryNews 

Therapedic inks deal with Stylution Interzum 

L icensing 

group Therapedic International 

and home furnishings producer 

Stylution have signed a wideranging 

deal that includes importation 

of finished mattresses from China 

under the Therapedic brand and a 

licensing agreement allowing Stylution 

to represent Therapedic throughout 

China, Japan and other parts of the 

Far East. 

The first wave of goods in the Chinese 

import program will arrive June 

15 and carry the name ComfortTouch 

by Therapedic. The value-priced 

foam and encased-coil mattresses 

will be roll-packed for shipment to 

the United States, Australia and other 

markets. 

The partnership stems from a 

meeting between Jack Chen, chief 

executive officer of Dongguan, China- 


based Stylution, and Norman Rosenblatt, 

board chairman of Princeton, 

N.J.-based Therapedic. Rosenblatt’s 

pursuit of an original equipment 

manufacturing program evolved into a 

much larger plan after Gerry Borreggine, 

Therapedic president and chief 

executive officer, and Ed Scott, Stylution 

USA president, became involved. 

“Therapedic now has the strongest 

and most prestigious partner representing 

our brand in the Far East,” 

Borreggine said. “Jack, Ed and the entire 

Stylution team have put together 

a compelling product and value story 

for Therapedic to take to marketplaces 

throughout the globe.” 

“We have big plans for the Therapedic 

brand,” added Chen, who also is 

a licensee of the Musterring, Auping 

and Restonic brands in China. 

CT Nassau rolls out products 

CT Nassau Tape- 

Ticking LLC is 

exhibiting a range 

of new tickings 

and tapes during 

Interzum Cologne. 

The company, 

based in Alamance, N.C., 

will offer woven and circular knit 

panel fabrics, borders and mattress 

tapes, all designed to work together 

as a color-coordinated unit. New 

fabric offerings include the Natural 

Elements collection with cotton, 

linen, bamboo and viscose fibers. 

The Return to Elegance collection 

features upscale woven damasks 

and matelasses. 


Shorts 

Deslee showcases specialties 

The DesleeClama Group, a provider 

of mattress fabrics headquartered 

in Zonnebeke, Belgium, is featuring 

a number of collections at Interzum 

Cologne, including EcoFair, incorporating 

organically grown cotton 

produced under “acceptable” 

working conditions; Reborn, made 

of 100% recycled polyester chips 

and available as woven or knitted 

fabric; Bodyfit, a zoned knit fabric 

designed to ease pressure points; 

CelliantSleep, which the company 

says will increase oxygen levels in 

the body to improve sleep, boost 

energy levels and speed healing; 

and Thermic, a fabric with temperature-regulating 

properties. 

Experience the feel 

of great design! 

y materials: bamboo, cashmere, 

silk, cotton, Coolmax, recycled polyester and more! 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Serta, Ergomotion team up 

Bedding producer Serta has partnered 

with Ergomotion, an adjustable bed 

maker headquartered in Santa Barbara, 

Calif., to produce the Serta Motion 

Perfect Adjustable Foundation. 

“The foundation is designed to appeal 

to a new generation of consumers 

that may not have considered an adjustable 

bed before,” said Bob Malin, vice 

president of licensing for Serta, which is 

based in Hoffman Estates, Ill. “Today’s 

consumers are concerned about health 

and wellness, but they also want advanced 

features and an aesthetic appeal. 

The new Serta adjustable foundation 

delivers all of this.” 

From the outside, the foundation 

resembles a traditional box spring. 

Features include a preset zero-gravity 

position, variable massage options and 

‘Aesthetically appealing adjustable’ 

The new Serta Motion Perfect Adjustable 

Foundation, produced for Serta by 

Ergomotion, is designed to look like a 

traditional box-spring foundation. 

the choice of a wired or wireless backlit 

remote. 

“Serta retailers can now offer a 

Serta-branded power foundation that 

will promote Serta mattress sales while 

delivering more profit to their bottom 

line,” said Kelly Clenet, Ergomotion 

president. 

Maxime Knitting Mills is a North American custom 

manufacturer of circular knits, serving major mattress 

manufacturers on a global scale. For the last 25 years, 

Maxime Knitting Mills has produced a variety of knit 

solutions for manufacturers and strives to oer a wide 

selection of knitted fabrics that reect our highest 

standards of quality and innovation.Through great 

design and top quality materials, we proudly present 

to you our complete collection of mattress ticking which 

includes various styles, colors and materials. 

V.P. Sales and Marketing Lorne Romo 

lromo@maximeknitting.comCell: 514-265-8782 

 

 


IndustryNews 

Eclipse signs new Midwest licensee 

Clare Bedding Mfg. has inked an 

exclusive licensing agreement 

to manufacture and sell the Eclipse 

brand in six Midwestern states— 

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, 

Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

Clare Bedding was among the 


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first licensees of the luxury Eastman 

House brand, signing that deal 

about a year ago, said Stuart Carlitz, 

Eclipse International and Eastman 

House president. “This new agreement 

represents a growing trend 

for the Eclipse/Eastman House 

brands. There’s a momentum here 

in the U.S. that people involved with 

ultra-premium Eastman House are 

starting to turn to Eclipse, with its 

patents and chiropractic endorsements, 

for moderate to premium 

price points. There are benefits—a 

nice counterbalance—to being 

involved with both brands.” 

“The addition of the Eclipse 

brand will enable us to acquire 

new dealers throughout the Midwest,” 

said Don Balsavich, Clare 

Bedding president. “Its 104-year 

heritage and patented features like 

Spinal Zone set Eclipse apart from 

other brands.” 

Clare Bedding, located in Escanaba, 

Mich., also is a Restonic licensee. 

Eclipse and Eastman House 

are based in North Brunswick, N.J. 


Bodet unveils Ultrasound 

At Interzum Cologne, Elterlein, 

Germany-based fabric 

supplier Bodet & Horst will 

unveil its new ECO collection, 

featuring polyester fibers 

made from recycled bottles. 

Other new ticking collections 

include Lyrical, Light Play and 

Ikebana. The company also 

will demonstrate its Pressless, 

three-dimensional spacer 

fabrics, now available in more 

colors. Its new Ultrasound 

material provides increased 

comfort. 


MATTRESS TAPE, TICKING & BORDERS from CT NASSAU 

For the first time ever, you can get mattress tape, panel fabrics, and borders — all designed and color-coordinated 

from one source — CT Nassau. No other supplier brings together inspired woven and knitted ticking fabrics 

and borders with the largest variety of mattress tape in one seamlessly color-matched unit. You never have to 

worry about selecting coordinated tapes and fabrics because we’ve done it for you. Our mattress fabrics, borders, 

and tapes match like they’re made for one another — because they are! Contact us at 1-800-397-0090 or 

www.ctnassau.com to find out how we can make your mattresses look their best. 

6557 Flotilla St, Commerce CA 90040 

616 S. 55th Ave. Ste 103, Phoenix, AZ 85043 

www.enriquezquilting.com Ph. 888.464.4275 

Distributor for Texas, Arizona, New Mexcio, and California. 

Photographs are not representative of final products’ colors. 

4101 S. NC 62, PO Box 39, Alamance, NC 27201 

www.ctnassau.com Ph. 1-800-397-0090

IndustryNews 

Sealy sales drop 21% in 1st quarter, profits up 

Bedding major Sealy’s results 

for the first quarter of 2009 

included a profit of $4.7 million— 

attributed to reductions in expenses 

and cost-cutting measures—and a 

sales decline of 21%, to $310 million 

over the same quarter of 2008. 

The Archdale, N.C.-based com- 


pany reported that selling, general 

and administrative expenses were 

$96.7 million in the first quarter, 

$19.5 million less than the same period 

a year ago. Sealy said it implemented 

cost-saving initiatives that 

cut $7.9 million in fixed expenses, 

“including actions to decrease salary 

and fringe benefit-related costs and 

reduced spending on discretionary 

items.” 

“We are taking further measures 

to improve our profitability through 

gaining market share, improving 

gross margins, reducing expenses 

and maximizing financial flexibility,” 

said Larry Rogers, Sealy president 

and chief executive officer. 

“Furthermore, the vertical integration 

of our latex and innerspring 

production provides Sealy with an 

additional advantage during these 

challenging economic times.” 

Total domestic net sales for the 

first quarter of 2009 were $234.8 

million, compared to $281.3 million 

in the first quarter of 2008. 

Wholesale domestic net sales, 

which exclude third-party sales 

from Sealy’s component plants, 

were $231 million, compared to 

$276.7 million in the first quarter 

of 2008. 

Sealy’s average unit selling 

price decreased 0.1% and unit 

volume declined 16.5%. However, 

the company said it “experienced 

solid sales growth” in its Sealybranded 

value products and that 

its new Posturepedic product line 

outperformed the rest of its U.S. 

portfolio. 

Sealy attributed a decline in 

international sales to the weak 

retail environment in Europe and 

Canada. International net sales 

decreased $35.4 million, or 32%, 

from the first quarter of 2008 to 

$75.2 million. 

First-quarter gross profit was 

$118.3 million, or 38.1% of net 

sales, a decrease compared to 

39.1% of net sales for the same 

quarter in fiscal 2008. Sealy attributed 

the year-over-year decrease 

in gross margin to a decline in 

international gross margins, which 

resulted from higher raw material 

prices and deleveraging of manufacturing 

expenses. 



IndustryNews 

Simmons receives 

debt extensions 

atlanta-BaSed B e d d I n g prodUcer SIm m o n S announced that 

it has reached agreements with most lenders and 

holders of its $200 million in senior subordinated 

notes to extend forbearance periods to May 31, with 

an option to further extend forbearance periods 

through July 31 under certain conditions. 

The extensions provide Simmons with additional 

time to seek new capital while it undergoes an 

organized financial restructuring. 

Simmons said it is working with key stakeholders 

to design and implement the restructuring in a manner 

that maximizes value, preserves its relationships 

with customers, and protects suppliers and other 

constituents. 

“We appreciate the confidence and support that 

our lenders and note holders have demonstrated 

by extending these agreements with us,” said Steve 

Fendrich, Simmons president and chief operating 

officer. “Our goal is to maintain smooth day-to-day 

operation of the business through the restructuring 

process and beyond. I am pleased with Simmons’ 

performance and our products continue 

to attract consumers in a very difficult economic 

environment.” 

Interzum Shorts 

Innofa stretches product line 

Innofa, a supplier of knit textiles for the mattress 

industry, has developed a new double-knit fabric it 

will show at Interzum Cologne. The shoulder and 

hip zones of the fabric have greater stretch capability 

and thus provide more comfort than other 

portions of the fabric, according to the company. 

It is designed for use over visco-elastic foam, latex 

and other materials. Innofa is based in Tilburg, 

Netherlands. 

Kingsdown rolls out new concept 

Mattress maker Kingsdown, headquartered in 

Mebane, N.C., will introduce its new Sleep to Live 

brand during Interzum Cologne. The Sleep to Live 

program encompasses a retail licensing program 

and manufacturing opportunities, as well as 

wholesale products and services. Sleep to Live is a 

turnkey program that includes in-store displays, a 

comprehensive advertising campaign and an array 

of sleep accessories, according to the company. 


Liberty Threads, N.A., Inc. Proudly Presents 

“ULTIMATE FIRE BREAK” TM 

“ULTIMATE FIRE BREAK” TM 

(UFB) 

Attention All Mattress Manufacturers 

We would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the newest member of the 

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PATENT PENDING 

Advances in fiber and process development have made the UFB thread the leading 

edge technology with many advantages over existing F/R threads: 

1. UFB is a natural color versus the yellowish fibers 

currently available 

2. UFB can be dyed in any shade 

3. UFB quilts and sews like the bonded nylon used 

previously 

4. UFB has no significant adverse effect on equipment 

5. UFB leaves no residue or fly waste on the equipment 

6. UFB has superior tested sewing performance in 

stitch formation 

7. UFB is recognized under UL Category Code PHIX2 

With each shipped order you will find enclosed a copy of the UL file number and a 

copy of the Certificate of Manufacture that will assist each mattress producer with 

their accountability requirements. 

Please feel free to contact Liberty Threads at the numbers listed below for samples 

and pricing. 

Thank you for your interest, support and consideration in reviewing and use of 

the newest recognized FR thread technology available for the Open Flame Resistant 

Mattresses. 

Email: libertythreads@aol.com 

41-43 Meadow Street 

Life, Happiness and the pursuit of LI BERTY ! 

Ph: (877) 659-9996 

P. O. Box 719 (860) 379-2920 

Winsted, CT 06098 Liberty Threads, N.A., Inc. 

Fx: (860) 379-2925

Ink Ad:Layout 1 3/25/09 10:27 AM Page 1 

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IndustryNews 

Select Comfort posts 

4th-quarter drop 

Airbed maker and retailer Select Comfort posted a 31% 

decline in sales to $131.1 million in the fiscal fourth 

quarter of 2008, compared with the same quarter of 2007. 

The Minneapolis-based company reported a fourthquarter 

net loss of $57.4 million, or $1.30 per diluted share, 

compared to net income of $2.2 million, or $0.05 per 

diluted share, for the comparable period the previous year. 

Fourth-quarter results include $58.9 million in charges, 

including $32.1 million in asset impairments for stores 

and information systems, and a $26.8 million charge for 

the establishment of a deferred tax valuation allowance. 

Excluding these charges, the company would have reported 

a net loss of $11.4 million or $0.26 per diluted share. 

“2008 was a difficult year for the entire bedding 

industry, and consumer sentiment weakened further in 

the fourth quarter,” said Bill McLaughlin, Select Comfort 

president and chief executive officer. “Despite this, we 

achieved positive operating cash flow for the year as a 

result of proactive and aggressive cost-reduction actions. 

We implemented a series of initiatives to reduce fixed and 

variable costs, maintain margins and improve sales consistency. 

These are expected to deliver approximately $80 

million in cost savings in 2009.” 

Additional cost-cutting measures for 2009 include closing 

55 or more retail stores, reducing advertising spending 

and a greater concentration on cost-efficient direct 

marketing tactics. 

Sales in every channel were down for the fourth 

quarter. Retail sales dropped 25%, with a 29% decline in 

same-store sales. The company reduced its corporate work 

force by 22% and shuttered five retail locations during the 

same time period. Online and direct marketing revenues 

declined 41% and 37%, respectively. Wholesale sales were 

down 61% in the period. 

Total net sales for 2008 were $608.5 million, a 24% 

decrease compared to $799.2 million in 2007. The company 

reported a 2008 net loss of $70.2 million, or $1.59 

per diluted share, compared to net income of $27.6 

million or $0.57 per diluted share, in 2007. Excluding a 

number of charges related to asset impairments and a 

halted information systems installation, the company 

would have reported a net loss of $22.6 million or $0.51 

per diluted share. 

Select Comfort delayed the reporting of its fourthquarter 

and year-end results, not issuing them till 

March 19. Previously the company announced it had 

obtained temporary waivers to comply with certain 

ongoing bank covenants and was pursuing a range of 

strategic and financing alternatives to enhance its shortterm 

and long-term financial flexibility. 


Indiana retailer 

in receivership 

tBo llc, w h Ic h operated mattreSS StoreS in Indiana, has 

been placed in receivership by a Marion County 

Superior Court, The Indianapolis Star reported 

March 19. 

The Indianapolis-based mattress retailer was 

founded in 1978 and operated a chain of 16 mattress 

stores in central Indiana as Today’s Bedroom 

One, Mattress Gallery and Today’s Kids showrooms. 

Paul Liberatore, Jeffrey Hanna and TBO LLC 

were named in court papers as debtors to Huntington 

National Bank when they missed February and 

March payments on $2.39 million in loans. Court 

papers say that TBO’s debt is greater than its worth, 

making it insolvent. 

The receiver was charged with managing the 

company’s finances and doing what is necessary to 

recover monies owed to the bank and other creditors. 

A notice at the retailer’s Web site indicated that 

all inventory was to be liquidated in a one-week 

sale and the stores were to be closed permanently. 


Interzum Shorts 

Lava Textiles expands line 

Lava Textiles, a family-owned circular knit supplier 

with locations in Wielsbeke, Belgium, and 

Gastonia, N.C., is presenting a range of designs 

and fabrics incorporating new yarns, colors and 

finishes at Interzum Cologne. The company will 

emphasize its Eco-range of organic cottons, natural 

blends and recycled polyesters. Lava’s other 

specialty items include aloe vera, Silpure, Actigard 

and microencapsulation finishes, as well as 

bamboo, Lenpur, cashmere, silk, CoolPlus, Ingeo, 

kapok, milk and other fibers. 

Wright showcases new solutions 

Wright of Thomasville, a supplier of graphic 

design services, point-of-sale materials and other 

items based in Thomasville, N.C., will be showing 

eco-friendly products at Interzum Cologne, 

including bamboo and bio-cotton printed foot protectors, 

as well as a full line of woven, satin and 

embroidery labels and other showroom materials. 

JoAnne Bennett, account executive, and Alex Con, 

international rep, will be on hand to meet with 

mattress makers. 


IndustryNews 

Eclipse offers new retailer program 

B edding 

maker and licensing group 

Eclipse International has launched 

ers and retail sales associates. Using 

pressure-mapping studies performed 

a new program to simplify the mat- at the Eclipse headquarters in North 

tress buying experience and guide the Brunswick, N.J., the program enables 

consumer to a sleep system that is ideal the salesperson to guide the customer 

for her body type. 

to one of six types of sleep surfaces and, 

The keystone of the new effort is specifically, the one that provides her 

an in-store guide for both consum- with optimal pressure relief. The six 

MLS+ 

POCKET 

ADVANCED 

-Stay ahead 

Hall 10.1 B 44 

13-16 may 

www.starsprings.com 

SWEDEN BRAZIL 

POLAND 

U.S.A. 


ClimaBed Topper 

We are also introducing the 

brand new ventilated topper with 

Starsprings ClimaBed technology 

categories are Extra Firm, Gentle Firm, 

Plush, Plush Pillow Top, Ultra Plush and 

Ultra Plush Euro Pillow Top. 

“It helps the retailer and also gives 

the customer peace of mind because 

they know that they are choosing the 

right mattress for them,” said Dr. Jason 

Hagman, a chiropractor and Eclipse vice 

president. “When a person sleeps on 

a bed that does not provide adequate 

support for their body type, their back 

and neck are forced into a position 

that irritates the joints of the spine and 

pinches on the sensitive nerves in those 

areas. This inevitably leads to the person 

waking with tight muscles, back 

pain, neck pain and even headaches.” 

Shorts 

U.S. bedding sales fall 

Unit sales of bed sets in the 

United States fell 15.6% in February, 

compared with the same 

period last year, according to 

the International Sleep Products 

Association’s Bedding Barometer. 

Dollar values dropped 

17.9% in February 2009 from 

February 2008 and the average 

unit selling price declined 2.7%. 

For the year, both unit sales and 

dollar values are down just over 

17%. The Bedding Barometer is 

a monthly sales trend report that 

includes sales figures from 18 

U.S. producers. 

Ohio recycler opens 

A second company in Ohio 

is now dismantling used 

mattresses and recycling the 

reclaimed components. The 

company, Northcoast Mattress 

& Recycling, is located in 

Elyria. Another, Ohio Mattress 

Recovery, operates in Willoughby. 

For a list of other 

recyclers in North America, 

check, www.sleepproducts.org/ 

sustainability. 


Foamex relaunches Web site 

Foam producer Foamex International has redesigned 

its Web site to showcase the diversity 

of its product line. The site at www.foamex.com 

features easier navigation, improved graphics and 

a more direct path to product information. 

“The site’s new look, feel and usability are 

now very much aligned with our position as the 

industry’s technology leader and as the provider 

of high-quality, commodity and specialty foams for diverse applications in the home, 

health care, electronics, industrial, personal care and transportation markets,” said Jack 

Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the Media, Pa.-based company. 

The site showcases the company’s research and development capabilities, its accomplishments 

and its commitment to environmental stewardship. On the home 

page, “Stories of Innovation” describe Foamex’s role in medical mattress improvements, 

safety foam for the transportation industry and more. 

“In a very visual way, the Web site illustrates our solutions-oriented approach and 

provides insight into our key technologies,” said Alvaro Vaselli, Foamex senior vice 

president of foam products business management. “The intent is to engage visitors 

from the markets and industries we serve so they’ll initiate conversations with us 

about their business and product needs. That’s how the next generation of foam innovations 

begins.” 


Short 

A. Lava & Son expands knit line 

A. Lava & Son Co., a Chicagobased 

supplier, has expanded its 

line of printed warp-knit mattress 

ticking. The line is stocked in 

Chicago and includes more than 

10 patterns that the company 

says are “very low in price and 

high on quality and consistency.” 

“These knits present us with a 

new opportunity to approach 

companies we’ve not had the 

chance to work with in the past,” 

said Adam Lava, sales manager. 

“We feel this new line will open 

many new doors for us.” In addition 

to textiles, company supplies 

foundations, zipper covers, contract 

quilting and other products 

to the mattress industry. 



IndustryNews 

Green Idea 

Natura offers ‘green’ Facebook giveaway 

na t U r a wo r l d, a pr o d U c e r of na t U r a l an d or g a n I c mattreSSeS and other sleep 

products, celebrated Earth Day on its Facebook page by giving away 

one of its organic mattress sets. 

Fans of the Cambridge, Ontario-based company were invited to 

post pictures of their old mattresses and explain why they were in 

need of a new bed. The winner was chosen in a random drawing held 

on Earth Day, April 22. 

“We have a healthy and growing community on Facebook and 

we asked them to pull back the covers and share why they needed 

a new bed,” said Ralph Rossdeutscher, 

Natura president. 

“In everything we 

do—from manufacturing 

to shipping 

to dreaming up 

new products— 

we practice 

the highest 

standards of 

sustainability. 

And we partner 

with companies 

who share our 

eco-philosophies 

to make it easier 

for everyone to make 

green, natural and organic 

choices.” 


Matsushita unveils new machinery 

Machinery supplier Matsushita Industrial Co. Ltd., headquartered 

in Osaka, Japan, is introducing a fully automatic system consisting 

of the TECMIC Packed Coil Machine and TECMIC New Packed Coil 

Assembling Machine PKTA-3R-UC during Interzum Cologne. The 

company says the system can assemble a row of pocketed coils in 8 

to 10 seconds. 


Natural latex, the sap of the rubber 

tree “Hevea Brasiliensis”, is the basic 

raw material used to produce all of 

our latex bedding products. 

Natural latex provides optimal comfort 

and health benefits through greater 

resilience and elasticity. 

Brands 

Tree Born Technology 

The most eco friendly latex made in the USA 

Sustainable 

Development 

• 

• 

www.latexco.com www.sleepcomp.com 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Award winning recycling process 

Recycling waste product into 

clean, profitable alternatives 

Using a renewable source of raw 

material, that also maintains a 

healthy planet on a daily basis 

Responsible Care 

Innovation 

Widest range of products with a high content of 

natural latex 

Hevealux has the highest content of natural 

latex produced on a continuous production line 

Custom tailored mold designs available 

Latexco-US is part of the family owned Latexco 

N.V. group based in Europe with over 50 years of 

experience in serving the bedding industry 

worldwide . 

Latexco LLC: 

975 Gerard Road, 30553 Lavonia, Georgia 

Phone: + 1 706 356 8001 • Fax: + 1 706 356 8444 

mail: kca@latexco.com 

Sleep Comp West, a division of Latexco: 

6725 8th Street, 90620 Buena Park, California 

Phone: +1 714 522 4991 • Fax: +1 714 522 4900 

mail: rco@latexco.com

Natural latex, the sap of the rubber 

tree “Hevea Brasiliensis”, is the basic 

raw material used to produce all of 

our latex bedding products. 

Natural latex provides optimal comfort 

and health benefits through greater 

resilience and elasticity. 

Brands 

Tree Born Technology 

The most eco friendly latex made in the USA 

Sustainable 

Development 

• 

• 

www.latexco.com www.sleepcomp.com 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Award winning recycling process 

Recycling waste product into 

clean, profitable alternatives 

Using a renewable source of raw 

material, that also maintains a 

healthy planet on a daily basis 

Responsible Care 

Innovation 

Widest range of products with a high content of 

natural latex 

Hevealux has the highest content of natural 

latex produced on a continuous production line 

Custom tailored mold designs available 

Latexco-US is part of the family owned Latexco 

N.V. group based in Europe with over 50 years of 

experience in serving the bedding industry 

worldwide . 

Latexco LLC: 

975 Gerard Road, 30553 Lavonia, Georgia 

Phone: + 1 706 356 8001 • Fax: + 1 706 356 8444 

mail: kca@latexco.com 

Sleep Comp West, a division of Latexco: 

6725 8th Street, 90620 Buena Park, California 

Phone: +1 714 522 4991 • Fax: +1 714 522 4900 

mail: rco@latexco.com

FactoryDirect 

In tough times, target your message 

Tips for improving 

direct marketing 

By Barbara T. Nelles 

Economic conditions are taking 

their toll on consumers’ responses 

to all forms of advertising, including 

direct marketing efforts. Still 

there is no better time to roll out new 

direct mail and other direct-response 

campaigns, marketing experts say. In 

fact, engaging in direct marketing may 

be critical if you want to continue to 

reach consumers during tough times. 

Direct marketing allows companies 

to target previous customers—a very 

important group in times like these, 

when prospecting for new customers 

is especially difficult. Your previous 

customers know you and your 

business and they are more likely to 

respond to your value-driven offer. 

Direct marketing is any type of 

targeted communication that seeks 

a direct response from consumers, 

the results of which are collected in a 

database for future analysis and use. 

It can involve many different types of 

delivery, including postal, broadcast, 

phone, point-of-service and digital. 

Direct mail is the most familiar. Digital 

is the fastest growing. 

Whatever medium you choose, 

there are several things to consider 

when drafting your message, 

according to Tony Attwood, direct 

mail guru and founder of 

Hamilton House Mailings plc in 

Corby, England, and Lois Boyle- 

Brayfield, president of direct marketing 

agency J. Schmid & Associates 

Inc. in Kansas City, Mo. 

1Place your name, location and contact 

information in plain sight—it’s 

the first thing a recipient looks for. 


2Headline a benefit such as “No 

more backaches when you sleep 

on a ______”—not lists of product 

features. 

3Do support that headline benefit 

with a strong value story— 

especially in today’s economy. Provide 

facts and figures that underline value, 

add a free gift or extra discount to 

compel consumers to act. 

4Remember “you” and “free” are 

the two most powerful words you 

can use. 

5Put your most powerful words at 

the beginnings of sentences and 

paragraphs. 

6Include a call to action. Tell the 

reader what you want her to do 

and how to do it—and repeat it more 

than once in your copy. 

Announcements don’t make at- 

7 tention-grabbing headlines. “ABC 

introduces the XYZ mattress” will not 

work—nor will following it up with 

your number of years in business and 

the latest technology behind the XYZ. 

8If you’ve included a special offer, 

articulate it in a clear, compelling 

manner. Try testing different 

offers with different list segments. 

Which offers worked in the past? 

Can you brainstorm a giveaway that 

will not impact your margins? 

9Beware of focusing the entire 

message on having the lowest 

price—it will only work if you really 

are less expensive than everyone 

else, which is a difficult promise to 

make in a highly competitive category 

and economy. And it can have 

unintended results, like starting a 

price war in your market. 

Consider posing a provoca- 

10tive question in the headline: 

“Are these the 3 things you dread 

most about mattress shopping?” 

Recipients will read on just to see if 

you got it right. Develop your question 

and provide your solution in a 

paragraph or two, using a conversational—not 

promotional—style. 

Make information easy to 

11understand and don’t assume 

anything. Write in short paragraphs 

and avoid fine print and disclaimers 


FactoryDirect 

when possible. Recipients will scan 

the text, not read word for word. 

Inject some humor. It’s rarely 

12 seen in direct mail but is a 

great way to form a connection with 

your audience. Perhaps open the 

piece by discussing a mattress or 

sleep-related issue that is a source 

of annoyance—like waking up in 

the morning with aches and pains— 

then give readers a jolt by adding a 

comic twist. 

Dress up the design 

What your direct marketing piece 

looks like can be as—or even 

more—important than what you 

have to say. Karen Saunders, author 

of Turn Eye Appeal to Buy Appeal: 

How to Easily Transform Your Marketing 

Pieces into Dazzling, Persua- 

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visit our website 

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Direct marketing 

allows companies 

to target previous 

customers—a very 

important group 

in times like these, 

when prospecting 

for new customers is 

especially difficult. 

sive Sales Tools, offers these tips for 

designing effective direct marketing 

pieces. 

➤ Use powerful photography or art, 

interesting colors and interesting 

graphics, but use them sparingly. 

➤ Include enough white space—it 

aids legibility and gives the reader’s 

eye a resting point. 

➤ Take advantage of free or lowpriced 

clip art and stock photos that 

are available online. 

➤ Add dramatic contrast with colors, 

shapes, fonts and graphics. 

➤ Create a consistent look throughout 

the piece. Repeat key design elements, 

such as bullets and headers, 

using the same size, color and font. 

➤ Know when to use serif and sans 

serif fonts. Serif fonts have tiny 

horizontal strokes attached to the 

letters that help readers’ eyes flow 

from letter to letter, so they are good 

for the body copy in text-heavy 

pieces. (The text in this article is a 

serif font.) Bold sans serif fonts are 

good for headlines (like the one on 

this story) because they slow readers 

down and grab their attention. BT 

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Canada: T(604)267-1307 • F(604)267-1327 

RaymondS@Keynor.com 

China: T86-21-13901616782 F86-21-55128718 

RaymondShao@keynor.com.cn 



I f your last direct marketing effort wasn’t as effective as you wanted, you 

may not be able to blame the rotten economy and today’s tight-fisted 

consumer. 

Take a close look at your campaign, says Grant Johnson, chief executive 

officer and founder of direct marketing agency Johnson Direct in 

Brookfield, Wis., and ask yourself the following questions: 

➤ How important does your campaign or piece make recipients feel? 

➤ Is the envelope/subject line/headline impossible to ignore? 

➤ Do you give recipients a convincing reason to continue reading or 

to interact? 

➤ Do you make them feel “singled out” to reap exciting benefits? 

➤ Do you announce an appealing offer that implies high value? 

Something like “Valuable gift certificate for you” or “Free offer for 

preferred customers”? 

➤ Is the content—especially the opening paragraph—loaded with 

“you” copy? 

➤ Is the offer too loaded down with qualifiers, conditions and 

disclaimers? Consumers “crave simplicity,” Johnson says. 

Remember, consumers are bombarded by hundreds, if not 

thousands, of media messages each day. If a direct marketing 

piece doesn’t grab their attention immediately, offer them value 

and make them feel special, you’ve wasted your money. BT 

In a 

recent, 

independent 

study: 

92% of female 

mattress customers 

polled said that the 

Purista freshnessenhancing 

treatment was a 

feature they desired in their 

mattress. 

Contact us today to learn more 

about how the Purista brand 

can become a part of your 

polyurethane and latex 

foams solution. 

Learn more at www.purista.biz or call 800.491.8375 


Vintex Vinny is at it again and boy, can he stand the heat. He’s got 

the NEW FB14-99 on his side – a Super Flame-Blocking, 

fluid barrier fabric like nothing else on the planet. It’s so strong it 

can protect a mattress core from flame penetration, it acts as a 

permanent fluid barrier and it combats bacterial and fungal growth. 

NEW 

FB14-99 

This new addition to the SoffTICK ® mattress line is the talk 

amongst heroes and villains everywhere. How can something so 

strong also be so soft? The secret is lurking somewhere in 

North America – in the home of Vintex’s extrusion coated 

manufacturing technologies. 

1-800-846-8399 

www.vintex.com

NewsMakers 

VyMaC names creative director 

Retail Marketing Services, 

the in-house marketing 

department of mattress kit 

supplier VyMaC Corp., has 

hired Art Aiello as creative 

director. 

The position is a new 

one for VyMaC, but Aiello 

replaces Katrina Janes, who 

performed some of the same 

duties as marketing and advertising 

manager. Janes left VyMaC to pursue a 

position outside of the industry. 

Comfort Solutions 

adds new exec post 

Mattress M a k e r and licensing 

group Comfort Solutions 

has hired Kevin 

Damewood to fill a 

newly created position, 

senior vice president 

of sales and business 

development. 

“Based on Kevin’s 

Kevin Damewood 

more than 25 years of 

experience in mattress sales working in key 

corporate and field posts for several of the 

industry’s top producers, we’re confident 

that his contributions to increasing the 

company’s distribution and market share 

will be significant,” said Dave Roberts, 

president and chief executive officer of 

Comfort Solutions, which is based in Willowbrook, 

Ill. 

Damewood has held executive and sales 

positions at several major mattress manufacturers. 

He was executive vice president 

of sales at Spring Air before joining Comfort 

Solutions. Previously, he was divisional 

vice president and vice president of sales at 

Simmons. He began his bedding career at 

Sealy, where he held a number of posts. 

Damewood reports to David Binke, 

Comfort Solutions executive vice president 

of sales. 


Art Aiello 

As creative director, 

Aiello is responsible for 

directing the production 

of marketing and advertising 

programs for VyMaC’s 

internal divisions, as well as 

for external clients. Products 

and services include 

product packaging, marketing 

collateral, custom design 

and point-of-service materials. 

“Art is very capable to lead the 

charge in bringing much-needed 

McAndrews moves to Mattress Firm 

R etail 

branding and value-proposition focus 

to the factory-direct and independent 

manufacturers and retailers,” said 

Dave Young, chief executive officer of 

VyMaC, based in Fort Atkinson, Wis. 

Aiello has 15 years of marketing 

communications experience and 

joins VyMaC from the Glowac + 

Harris + Madison marketing agency, 

where he was an account executive. 

He previously was marketing communications 

manager for Covance. 

He reports to Young. 

consultant and mattress industry veteran 

Craig McAndrews has been named regional 

sales manager for Mattress Firm, a Houston-based 

national retail chain. He is responsible for a newly 

created fifth sales region. 

Most recently, McAndrew was co-founder and director 

of the training firm Innovate Retail and founder 

of The Retail Institute, a research group. Previously, Craig McAndrews 

McAndrews was vice president of sales at Simmons. 

Prior to that, he owned and operated a Mattress Firm franchise in Arizona 

that grew to 18 stores. He later sold it to corporate Mattress Firm. McAndrews 

began his mattress industry career as a sales representative for Sealy. 

“Craig has seen all sides of the business, from owning a franchise to retail 

consulting. He is very familiar with Mattress Firm’s culture, which will aid in 

his transition and ability to make an immediate impact on the business,” said 

Steve Stagner, Mattress Firm president and chief operating officer. 

McAndrews reports to Brian Bandarra, Mattress Firm executive vice president 

of sales. 

Short 

Specialty association adds board members 

The Specialty Sleep Association, a mattress industry group, has added 

two new members to its board of directors, Jeff Scorziell and Todd 

Youngblood. Scorziell is president of Anatomic Global, a mattress 

manufacturer based in Corona, Calif. Youngblood is president of Chili 

Technology, ProSource Services International and T2International, all in 

Mooresville, N.C. The association is led by Dale Read, editor in chief 

and publisher of Bedroom magazine. Other board members are Michael 

Nermon, Ergo Customized Comfort; Mark Miller, Innomax; Dennis 

Boyd, Boyd Specialty Sleep; and Bart Dehaerne, Deslee Textiles. 


ISPAAdvocacy 

ISPA weighs in on federal proposals 

The International Sleep Products Association recently has 

explained the bedding industry’s position on a number of 

regulations that impact mattress manufacturers, suppliers and 

bedding retailers. 

➤ Safety of children’s products ISPA joined a number of 

manufacturing and retail groups requesting that the U.S. 

Consumer Product Safety Commission delay enforcement of 

new tracking label requirements for children’s products for one 

year. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act requires 

that, beginning in August 2009, manufacturers of children’s 

products must place a permanent label or mark on the product 

and its packaging that identifies the source of the product and 

the date of manufacture, as well as more detailed information 

on the manufacturing process, such as a batch or run number. 

The CPSC currently has an open rulemaking to issue guidance 

on the labeling requirements, however, it is unlikely that 

guidance will be finalized in sufficient time for manufacturers 

Guess who just hitched a 

ride back with you! 

BED BUGS 

LICE 

FLEAS 

ROACHES 

VIRUSES 

BACTERIA 

STERIFAB.COM • 1-800 359-4913 


® 

to implement the labeling requirements. Because of this, ISPA 

and the other groups asked for the one-year delay. 

➤ Phthalates restrictions The CPSC is considering whether 

mattresses for children age 3 and younger are considered 

child care articles subject to phthalates restrictions and testing 

requirements set by last year’s Consumer Product Safety 

Improvement Act. ISPA has submitted comments to the CPSC 

stating that mattresses should not be considered child care 

articles and, thus, should be exempt from these requirements. 

➤ Canada’s open-flame standard Health Canada has 

requested public comment on whether to make mandatory 

a now-voluntary open-flame test method (S137) developed 

by Underwriters Laboratories of Canada. The test method is 

similar to the 16 CFR Part 1633 standard used in the United 

States for mattresses. 

ISPA submitted comments, urging Health Canada to make 

its regulatory approach as similar to the United States and its 

other trading partners as possible. 

“In particular, ISPA urges Health Canada to establish 

reciprocal arrangements with its trading partners such that 

testing and recordkeeping conducted to meet the openflame 

mattress flammability standards administered by one 

country are recognized as meeting equivalent or comparable 

mattress flammability standards administered by another 

country,” ISPA wrote. 

For more information about these proposals and 

ISPA’s positions on these and other issues, check 

www.sleepproducts.org/advocacy or contact Chris Hudgins, 

ISPA vice president of government relations, at 

chudgins@sleepproducts.org or 703-683-8371, Ext. 1113. 

Short 

ISPA adds Canadian recyclers to directory 

Do you know Canadian retailers that want to properly 

dispose of customers’ used mattresses? The International 

Sleep Products Association has added three Canadian 

recyclers—in the provinces of Alberta, Quebec 

and Saskatchewan—to its directory of facilities that 

recycle mattress components. The directory, which can 

be found at www.sleepproducts.org/sustainability, 

now includes 14 mattress recycling facilities in North 

America. If you are aware of other recycling centers 

in your area that should be added to the list, contact 

Ryan Trainer, ISPA executive vice president and general 

counsel, at rtrainer@sleepproducts.org or 

703-683-8371, Ext. 1118. 


For information about exhibiting, 

contact Kerri Bellias, 

kbellias@sleepproducts.org 

or call 336-945-0265. 

Stay on Track 

at ISPA EXPO! 

...the only trade show in the world devoted 

exclusively to the mattress industry! 

Strengthen business connections 

See products & services you need 

MARK 

YOUR 

CALENDAR! 

Stay current on trends and industry news 

March 3-6, 2010 

Charlotte Convention Center 

Charlotte, North Carolina 

USA 

www.sleepproducts.org/ISPAEXPO

INDUSTRIAL THREADS 

• Helios PTFE Thread 

and Bobbins 

• Dabond & UltraDee 

Bonded Polyester 

• Ready-Wound Bobbins 

• Polymatic 

• Nylon, Star & Nylbond 

ZIPPERS 

HOOK & LOOP 

FASTENERS 

A Coats Distributor 

1-800-USA-SEWS 

1-800-872-7397 

komaralliance.com 

CHICAGO • DALLAS 

LOS ANGELES • PHILADELPHIA 


Calendar 

May 

May 5-7 

Brazil Furniture Show 

ITM Expo 

São Paulo, Brazil 

Phone 55-11-31516444 

Fax 55-11-31514861 

May 13-16 

Interzum Cologne 

Koelnmesse 

Cologne, Germany 

Phone 49-221-821-3387 

Fax 49-221-821-3280 

www.imm-cologne.com 

June 

June 2-5 

ZOW Spain 

Feria de Zaragoza 

Zaragoza, Spain 

Phone 49-521-96533-0 

Fax 49-521-96533-99 

www.zow.es 

June 4-8 

Furnex Egypt 

Cairo International 

Convention Centre 

Cairo, Egypt 

Phone 202-2527-1010 

Fax 202-2527-1015 

www.furnexegypt.com 

July 

July 15-18 

AWFS Fair 2009 

Las Vegas Convention Center 

Las Vegas, U.S. 

Phone 323-838-9440 

Fax 323-838-9443 

www.awfsfair.org 

august 

Aug. 19-22 

Shenzhen International 

Furniture Exhibition 

Shenzhen Convention & 

Exhibition Center 

Shenzhen, China 

Phone 86-755-83786188 

Fax 86-755-83785652 

www.chinafurnitureexpo.com 

septeMber 

Sept. 9-12 

Furniture China 2009 

Shanghai New International 

Expo Center 

Shanghai, China 

Phone 86-21-64371178 

Fax 86-21-64370982 

www.furniture-china.cn 

Sept. 9-13 

Habitare 

Helsinki Exhibition & 

Convention Centre 

Helsinki, Finland 

Phone 358-9-150-9717 

Fax 358-9-142-358 

www.finnexpo.fi/habitare 

Fall fair The Habitare furniture show will 

be Sept. 9-13 in Helsinki, Finland. The 

18th-century Sveaborg is just one of the 

attractions in the area. 

Sept. 14-17 

Las Vegas Market 

World Market Center 

Las Vegas, U.S. 

Phone 888-416-8600 

Fax 702-599-9622 

www.lasvegasmarket.com 

OctOber 

Oct. 1-4 

ZOW Turkey 

Istanbul Expo Center 

Istanbul, Turkey 

Phone 49-521-96533-71 

Fax 49-521-96533-72 

www.zow.com.tr 

Oct. 17-22 

High Point Market 

International Home Furnishings 

Center & other locations 

High Point, N.C., U.S. 

Phone 336-869-1000 

www.highpointmarket.org 


Classifieds 


For Sale For Sale 

TAPE-EDGE MACHINES, MULTINEEDLE AND SINGLE- 

NEEDLE QUILTERS, long-arm label machines, sergers, etc. 

Contact Victor LeBron, American Plant and Equipment. 

Phone 864-574-0404; Fax 864-576-7204; 

Cell 864-590-1700; Email apesales@charterinternet.com; 

Web www.americanplantandequipment.com. 

REBUILT AND RECONDITIONED MULTINEEDLE 

QUILTING MACHINES. Specializing in PATHE 

precision parts and service. Technical consultants. 

SEDCO. Phone 201-567-7141; Fax 201-567-5515. 

TAPE-EDGE MACHINES, QUILTERS & 

MISCELLANEOUS SEWING MACHINES. 

Contact Frank Carlino, U.S. Mattress Machinery. 

Phone 815-795-6942; Fax 815-795-2178; 

Email usmattmach@hotmail.com. 

EMCO COMPUSTITCH QUILTER WITH QUILT RACk 

and Catwalk and Gribetz cutter 

National serger and Table 1 

Union Special serger and Table 2 

Porter 1000 serger and table 

Porter tape-edge 

Many other miscellaneous items available. 

Call Troy at 815-343-9984 for more details. 

Place your classified ad today! 

Reach mattress industry professionals around the world with your 

advertising message through the BedTimes Classifieds. Rates: $3 

per word for the first 100 words and $2.50 thereafter; minimum 

charge of $75. “Blind” box number: $50 per insertion. 

Ad copy and payment must be received by the first 

of the month preceding publication. Send ads and payment to 

BedTimes Classifieds, 501 Wythe St., Alexandria, VA 22314-1917. 

Contact Debbie Robbins, advertising production manager, for additional 

information. Phone 336-342-4217; Fax 336-342-4116; 

Email drobbins@sleepproducts.org. 


AdvertisersIndex 

A. Lava & Son Co. 8 

Steve Appelbaum 

800-777-5282 

(800-777-LAVA) 

www.alavason.com 

Ace Bed Co. Ltd. 27 

Yong Sup Lee 

82-43-877-1881 

www.acebed.com 

Amelco Industries Ltd. 80 

Costas Georgallis 

357-22-484444 

www.amelco.com 

American & Efird Inc. 61 

Sandra Reynolds 

704-357-2378 

www.amefird.com 

Arch Chemicals/Purista 83 

Damali Noel-Lockett 

770-805-3294 

www.purista.biz 

Atlanta Attachment C2-1, 17 

Co. Inc. 

Hank Little 

770-963-7369 

www.atlatt.com 

Baron Styles 82 

Dave Williams 

262-473-7331 

www.baronstyles.com 

Bloomingburg Spring 66 

& Wire Form 

Vickie Schwarm 

740-437-7614 

www.bloomingburgspring.com 

BLR 35 

Martin Leroux 

819-877-2092 

www.blrlumber.com 

Boycelik 64 

Erol Boydak 

90-532-274-3193 

www.boycelik.com 


Boyteks Tekstil AS 10-11 

M. Nebi Dogan 

90-533-685-6041 

www.boyteks.com 

BRK Group 75 

Jeff Miller 

562-949-4394 

www.brk-group.com 

Chicago Tape & Label 74 

Kristy Enger 

262-473-0323 

www.ctlabels.com 

Costa International 89 

Manuel Vazquez 

305-885-9761 

www.costa-international.com 

CT Nassau 69 

John Bauman 

617-661-0970 

www.ctnassau.com 

Diamond Needle Corp. 66 

Abe Silberstein 

800-221-5818 

www.diamondneedle.com 

Eclipse International 15 

Stuart Carlitz 

800-634-8434 

www.eclipsemattress.com 

www.eastmanhousemattress.com 

Edge-Sweets Co. (ESCO) 38 

Kevin Ryan 

616-453-5458 

www.edge-sweets.com 

Edgewater Machine Co. Inc. 9 

Roy Schlegel 

718-539-8200 

www.edgewatermachine.com 

Enriquez Materials & Quilting Inc. 31 

Silvia Enriquez 

323-725-4955 

www.enriquezquilting.com 

Flexible Foam Products Inc. 18 

Michael Crowell 

419-647-4191 

www.flexiblefoam.com 

Goldberg Supply Co. 89 

Sanford Pahk 

718-321-9930 

www.goldbergsupply.com 

Global Systems Group C3 

Russ Bowman 

954-846-0300 

www.gsgcompanies.com 

Hengchang Machinery Factory 63 

Coco Pang 

769-83307931 

www.hcjixie.com 

Hickory Springs Mfg. Co. 2 

Rick Anthony 

828-328-2201 

www.hickorysprings.com 

John Marshall & Co. Ltd. 12 

Peter Crone 

64-3-341-2004 

www.joma.co.nz 

Jomel Industries Inc. 72 

Phil Iuliano 

973-282-0300 

www.jomel.net 

Kenn Spinrad Inc. 83 

Randy Weinstock 

800-373-0944 

www.spinrad.net 

Keynor Spring Mfg. 82 

Raymond Shao 

604-267-1307 

www.keynor.com 

Komar Alliance 88 

Herman Tannenbaum 

215-441-9300 

www.komar.com 

Latex Green 71 

Mithra Weerasinghe 

905-840-0864 

www.latexgreen.com 

Latex International 37 

Kevin Stein 

203-924-0700, Ext. 347 

www.latexintl.com 


Latex Systems 55 

Christophe de Laforcade 

66-2-326-0886 

www.latexsystems.com 

Latexco U.S. LLC 79 

Kevin Callinan 

866-528-3926 

www.latexco.com 

Liberty Threads 73 

Bobby Hegan 

860-379-2920 

Matsushita Industrial Co. 25 

Yosuke Takeuchi 

81-6-6774-6002 

www.tecmic.co.jp 

Maxime Knitting 67 

Lorne Romoff 

514-336-0445, Ext. 27 

514-265-8782 

www.maximeknitting.com 

 

Natura World 58 

Michael Pino 

908-410-1257 

www.naturaworld.com 

New England Needles Inc. 21 

Thomas Lees 

800-243-3158 

www.newenglandneedles.com 

Noble Pine Products Co. 86 

Steve Goldrich 

914-664-5877 

www.sterifab.com 

P.T. RubberFoam Indonesia 62 

Andreas Janssen 

62-21-53662190 

www.rubberfoam.co.id 

SABA North America LLC 4 

Jim Turner 

810-824-4964 

www.saba-adhesives.com 

SGS Consumer Testing Services 50 

Brenda Ridenour 

630-426-0129 

www.us.sgs.com 

Simalfa 29 

Darren Gilmore 

973-423-9266 

www.simalfa.com 

Soltex Inc. 6 

Larry Starkey 

864-234-0322 

www.soltexusa.com 


Springs Creative Products Group 68 

George Booth 

803-324-6505 

www.springscreative.com 

Starsprings International 76 

Kai Christensen 

46-513-17800 

www.starsprings.com 

Subinas Confort S.L. 91 

Javier Subinas 

34-94-416-04-40 

www.subinas.es 

Sunds Velour A/S 36 

Steffen Romer 

45-60-210-410 

www.sunds.com 

Therapedic Sleep Products 47 

Gerry Borreggine 

800-314-4433 

www.therapedic.com 

Tietex International Ltd. C4 

Wade Wallace 

800-843-8390 

www.tietex.com 

Vertex Fasteners Inc. 43 

Tom Fowler 

847-329-8530 

www.vertexfasteners.com 

Vibradorm GmbH 78 

Daniel Alvarez Martinez 

49-6061-94-44-10 

www.vibradorm.de 

Vintex 84 

Customer Service 

800-846-8399 

www.vintex.com 

Weifong Industries Sdn. Bhd. 60 

Tevin Na 

603-8739-1990 

www.getha.com.my 

Wright of Thomasville 70 

Area Account Executive 

800-678-9019 

www.wrightlabels.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


TheLastWord 

How to help out RSAs 

Want to motivate retail sales 

associates to sell more of your 

product? Keep making quality mattresses 

and don’t skimp on training 

sales associates about your products’ 

features and benefits. 

In a recent online survey conducted 

by BedTimes’ sister publication, 

Sleep Savvy, sales associates 

reported that “feeling good about the 

products” and “product training from 


vendors” were among the factors that 

most motivate them to do a good job 

on the sales floor. The top motivational 

factors as ranked by the 225 

respondents: 

1. Co-workers who are honest and 

ethical 

2. Feeling good about the products 

3. Feeling good about the company 

4. Good working environment 

5. Product training from vendors 

Lack of sleep may have link to diabetes 

PeoPle w h o av e r a g e leSS t h a n Six h o u r S o f SleeP a night may 

be more at risk of developing diabetes, according to 

a new study. 

Researchers examined six years of health records 

of nearly 1,500 people participating in the Western 

New York Health Study and found that people who 

slept less than six hours a night were more than 4.5 

times more likely than their more well-rested counterparts 

to shift from normal blood sugar levels to 

impaired fasting glucose levels. 

A normal fasting blood glucose level is less than 

100 mg/dL. A fasting blood glucose level between 

100 mg/DL and 125 mg/DL is considered impaired 

fasting glucose, commonly called prediabetes because 

people with the condition often develop Type 2 diabetes. 

“This study supports growing evidence of the association of inadequate 

sleep with adverse health issues,” says study researcher Lisa Rafalson, a National 

Research Service Award fellow and research assistant professor at the 

University at Buffalo in New York. 

Married women more rested 

Women who are 

happily married 

sleep more soundly, 

according to researchers 

at the University of 

Pittsburgh reporting 

in the January issue of 

the journal Behavioral 

Sleep Medicine. 

The researchers examined findings 

from the Study of Women’s Health 

Across the Nation, a multisite, 

multiethnic study 

of 2,148 women in the 

United States. 

Using a scale to measure 

marital happiness 

and another to measure 

sleep disturbances, researchers 

found that women who were 

happy in their marriages slept better 

than their less satisfied counterparts. 

Workers distracted 

by technology 

So m e 70% o f h u m a n reSource professionals 

report that employees are 

too distracted at work, according 

to a newsletter from the Society 

for Human Resource Management, 

based in Alexandria, Va. 

Technology is the culprit—the 

Internet, handheld devices and 

email all impact workers’ concentration. 

Too much email tops the 

list of distractions. 

The group recommends that 

management screen company 

email, set guidelines to reduce 

internal emailing and restrict the 

sending of personal emails. 


Supporting you through all the challenges you face. 

Working with all the needs of manufacturers around the globe. 

Dependable machinery & service. 

Financially exible. 

Ready for immediate response. 

Rebuild or refurbish current equipment. 

We hope to see your face at interzum. 

Hall 9.1, Stand C010 

800-326-4742 954-846-0300 www.gsgcompanies.com 

GRIBETZ INTERNATIONAL PORTER INTERNATIONAL SYD-REN SPUHL ANDERSON GATEWAY SYSTEMS NÄHTEC 

GSG PARTNERS: TEKNOMAC KSM MERELLO

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