Tempurpedic

HIGH POINT — The 10 bedding specialty stores were the shining stars of this year’s Top 100 with a combined sales gain and store growth that markedly outpaced every other subcategory of this year’s list. The group is typically a top performer, but this year the bedding specialists outdid themselves with a 19.8% sales increase to $2.96 billion from $2.47 billion and a 12.1% gain in store count — up a net 266 stores — to 2,462 units.Those results clobbered the combined Top 100’s 6.6% sales increase as well as the percentage growth for every subcategory on the list, including the Top 10, which grew sales 9%, and the single-source store networks, which grew sales 9.6%. No. 12 Select Comfort is still the largest of the bedding chains as sales grew 15% to $735 million. But this year, the spotlight turned to No. 28 The Sleep Train, which posted the largest percentage gain (up 70.6% to $344 million) and the greatest net change in store count (up 79 stores to 200 units) of any Top 100 company. Those results also propelled the Citrus Heights, Calif.-based retailer up the Top 100 ranks by 13 spots from the previous year — tying none other than No. 51 1800mattress.com, formerly referred to as Dial-A-Mattress, for the biggest leap among all stores on the list (outside of newcomers).

June 17 is Father’s Day. Do you already have something for Dad to honor him on this special occasion? Might we suggest a Sleep Number bed?

Unlike traditional mattresses that are made from metal coils and springs, The Sleep Number Bed by Select Comfort™ uses uniquely designed air chambers to provide a gentle cushion of support which can be easily adjusted to your preference for comfort and firmness. In addition, the Sleep Number bed allows couples to individually adjust each side of the bed to the precise comfort level each partner prefers

New York Times published a very thorough article on the complexities of sleep, which deals with one’s prefence, habits, lifestyle, disorders, the mattress industry and a whole other factors. The article is extensive and loaded with facts and stipulations and here are some excerpts:

Furniture Today’s David Perry: “the mattress is not nearly as sexy a part of the equation as drugs or sleep-disorder centers. It just kind of lies there.” For generations many consumers perceived the innerspring beds of the three dominant “S-brands” — Sealy, Serta and Simmons — to be interchangeable. A Gallup poll 10 years ago found that nearly half of Americans didn’t know what brand of mattress they slept on. The industry blamed itself, often ruthlessly.

Select Comfort, one of the leading bed retailers in America, gave away one hundred six Sleep Number beds, including accessories, to the new Ronald McDonald House erected in Los Angeles.

“We are thrilled to receive Select Comfort’s generous gift of Sleep Number beds,” said Vincent Bryson, executive director of the Ronald McDonald House of Los Angeles. “This generous gift helps us provide much-needed and appreciated comfort to our families during their stay at this home-away-from-home.”

The Ronald McDonald House provides children with medical treatment as well as a temporary sleeping space for homeless families. Select Comfort is the house’s bed provider since 2001 and has donated over 5,000 Sleep Number beds to date, to all Ronald McDonald Houses in America.

Ever wonder why Tempur-Pedic cost so much, considering other manufacturers have come up similar types of products? Here is an insider’s guide.

Expensive, but worth it?

A doctor at NASA’s Sleep Disorder Clinic said that the key to sleeping better is to “find a mattress that is comfortable [to you]”. He said this in regards to the latest technology manufacturers have incorporated in mattresses.

The clinic and research wing, the Centre for Sleep and Chronobiology, bypass specialty brand beds, such as Select Comfort (air chambers, with each side adjustable), Tempur-Pedic (body-moulding “memory foam”) and Duxiana (tiny springs in layers), in favour of regular coil-spring mattresses. Some of the clinic’s patients slumber so deeply they want to buy the bed. But, Moldofsky says, they soon realize they slept well because they weren’t at home, there were no children crying and no dog jumping on the bed.

Houston-based mattress company, Mattress Firm, is now closing on the acquisition of Mattress Pro, a mattress retailer that has about 36 stores in the Texas/Nevada area.

CEO Gary Fazio believes this latest development further stabilizes Mattress Firm’s position and growth in the market.

Mattress Firm, which retails Tempur-Pedic, Sealy, Simons and Select Comfort, began operations in 1986

via Biz Journals