One-sided: The new standard?
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, February 10, 2003
High Point — The introduction of one-sided Sealy Posturepedic bedding into the retail marketplace this summer is expected to provide a significant boost for single-sided construction, which has gained market share rapidly in the past three years.
Some bedding producers believe the one-sided mattress will soon become the industry standard. Those beds, which don't need to be turned, currently account for about 30% of all bedding sales in the country.
With the addition of Sealy's Posturepedic line, which Sealy officials say is the biggest-selling flagship line in the industry, one-sided beds will account for about 44% of all bedding sold. And producers say Sealy's strong endorsement of single-sided beds will encourage other bedding producers to follow suit.
But two-sided beds won't go away. Producers offering their retailers a choice of constructions say they will continue to do so.
"Many dealers want two-sided beds," said Serta President Ed Lilly. "We think we have a sound philosophy of offering retailers a choice. We think we can pick up business from retailers who don't think the industry should sell only one-sided mattresses."
Single-sided beds currently account for about 26% of Serta's volume.
With Sealy's introduction of the single-sided Posturepedic line, set for the April market, the bedding landscape will provide some striking choices. The majority of the Sealy-brand volume will switch to single-sided beds.
For the moment, Sealy's Stearns & Foster line remains two-sided. Some single-sided Stearns models will debut in the fall, but no decision has been made on the balance of the Stearns line, according to Sealy officials.
Simmons, the company that popularized the single-sided mattress, switched its entire production to that construction in 2000. It first brought out a single-sided Beautyrest line in January 2000, then switched its BackCare line to that construction later that year.
Simmons officials say there has been a strong move toward single-sided beds in the marketplace.
Spring Air, the other member of bedding's Big Four, has seen strong response to its single-sided beds, which it began introducing in 2000, with a major rollout early the following year. Single-sided beds now account for about 80% of Spring Air's volume, said President Jim Nation.
"Certainly one-sided beds have become extremely popular," Nation said. "They offer a different set of sleeping characteristics than two-sided beds." And consumers love the beds, he added.
He expressed surprise that it took Sealy so long to bring out a branded single-sided line. "The amazing thing is that it has taken three years for Sealy to respond positively to what has been the most popular development in bedding in decades," Nation said. Sealy has been "arrogant" in refusing to provide products consumers want to buy, he said.
Other Top 10 bedding producers offered a variety of responses to Sealy's move, and to the question of what it will mean for the industry.
"Two-sided beds are still a very important part of our program," said Larry McKay, King Koil president. "Offering our dealers one- and two-sided beds enables our retailers to maximize their merchandising opportunities."
But he also said that single-sided beds "have been very strong for us. We had a good year and sold a lot of one-sided beds. They were a very significant part of our business."
Single-sided beds enable producers to offer high-performance, costly cushioning materials at lower price points, McKay said.
Therapedic President Michael Pino said, "There is a certain portion of the market looking for single-sided beds. Most people are looking for traditional, two-sided beds," which are the majority of Therapedic's offerings.
Kerry Tramel, president of Lady Americana, said about 20% of his group's business is in single-sided beds.
"I'm glad Sealy is going one-sided (with the Posturepedic line)," Tramel said. "It's an opportunity for Lady Americana. We can offer both one- and two-sided constructions and be more in touch with our retail partners."
While interest in single-sided beds is growing, Tramel said, "there are some retailers who simply don't believe in that product. They are out there, although in smaller and smaller numbers."
Gerald Gershaw, chairman of Eclipse, said his group scored with a new single-sided line it introduced recently at a Larry Karel market in New Jersey. "We had a one-sided bed and it did fantastic," he said. "The minute Sealy said they were into single-sided beds, all doubts left the retailers' minds."
He predicted one-sided beds will become the industry standard.
"It was going that way anyway," said Dave Clark, vice president of Englander. "Consumers like single-sided beds. They don't turn their beds."
Englander's April High Point introductions all will be single-sided beds, Clark said.
