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MarketReport
Big moves in body mapping
This one is just right Spring Air International and XSENSOR
Technology Corp. teamed up to create Comfort Silhouette Imaging,
which can recommend beds from as many as six brands.
18 | BedTimes | April 2010
Body mapping
systems to match
customers to the
right mattress
took on new dimensions
at the
winter Las Vegas
furniture market.
Kingsdown,
a Sleep to Live
company, has
upgraded the
sleep diagnostics
program it introduced
a year
ago in Las Vegas.
The Mebane,
N.C.-based company’s
system is
synched to work
with its new My
Side Technology,
which allows sleep partners to select dual-comfort beds.
“The diagnostics process itself is more personalized and motivational with
a new interface and imagery—and it’s multilingual,” said Frank Hood, chief
information officer. “It’s available in seven languages and has 4.5 million
profiles stored in its database.”
Comfort Solutions unveiled the BodyMatch screening process. Consumers
use a touch screen to answer a range of questions related to height, weight,
body shape and sleep preferences, then get comfort recommendations for the
new dual-comfort SleepiD mattress.
“This is the answer to the customer’s quest to make an intelligent purchase
decision,” said Owen Shoemaker, senior vice president of product development
for the Willowbrook, Ill.-based licensing group. “The in-store version is
intuitive enough that anyone can use it and retailers can offer SleepiD online,
allowing customers to find their comfort level in the comfort of their own
homes.”
Spring Air International introduced Comfort Silhouette Imaging, a comfort
assessment tool that allows retailers to plug in as many as six different
bedding brands. Consumers lie on a test bed covered by a blanket with
1,600 sensors. They answer a short series of questions via a touch screen and
receive a printout of results.
Developed in partnership with XSENSOR Technology Corp., CSI is “an
impartial tool with multibrand credibility that provides an additional trust
factor,” said J.P. LeDoux, vice president of sales for the Boston-based mattress
licensing group.
Beta testing at 120 retailers in Australia and New Zealand during a twoyear
period yielded higher close rates, a double-digit decline in mattress
return rates and a 12% increase in average unit selling prices, said Spring Air
President Rick Robinson.
beds have a polyurethane base fused to
latex, visco-elastic or both. Models retail
for $799 to $2,499.
“We are trying to provide a lot of
retail value and more gross margin dollars
for retailers, while being environmental
stewards as best as we can,” said
Eric Johnson, IBC senior vice president
of marketing and merchandising. “The
nails are recycled metal, woods are from
managed forests, we use latex and polyurethane
foam with soy and we don’t
use glues.”
Boston-based Spring Air International
has “re-greened” its Nature’s Rest
line, said President Rick Robinson.
“The brand got off track for a
while, but we’ve gone back to where
we started years ago,” he said. “We’re
using components like Joma wool and
certified all-natural latex. We also take
zoning to a new level in the hip and
shoulder areas.” The six beds in the
line are priced between $1,300 and
$2,900.
“This is a special brand,” Robinson
said. “We don’t want this bed to be a
commodity.”
Natura World, with headquarters
in Cambridge, Ontario, introduced
GreenSpring innerspring mattresses—
three beds with three comfort levels.
The bed’s individually wrapped,
zoned coils are 100% recycled steel,
precompressed to yield “the perfect
level of comfort and ‘push back’, ”
said Julia Rosien, communications
director. Other components include
Talalay latex, visco-elastic foam with
soy-based content, natural wool and
cotton. Approximate retail prices are
$999 to $1,599.
“All-natural Ostermoor—it’s not
just a bed, it’s a new American luxury
brand,” said Dave Young, president
of Fort Atkinson, Wis.-based VyMaC
Corp., and co-developer of the revitalized
brand. Each of the four models
contains 60 pounds of wool; 2 inches
of natural Talalay latex; an innerspring
unit without border rod; an eight-way,
hand-tied box spring; and a tradi-
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