ISPA president says forecast carefully done
This letter responds to David Perry's recent column regarding the International Sleep Products Assn.'s 2002 mattress industry forecast, "ISPA's 2002 forecast faces credibility gap," in Furniture/Today on Dec. 23.
While we welcome your opinion, we remain very confident that ISPA's forecasting system will continue to be the most comprehensive and accurate forecast available to bedding manufacturers. While our statistical analysis has been a tremendous resource to the industry for years, we recognize that we need to continue to improve to meet the increasing needs of our membership.
To address this issue, ISPA's Statistics Committee has been pursuing a series of important improvements since the middle of last year. These improvements include increased forecast frequency — three forecasts are planned for '03 — which will better capture shifts in the bedding business and the economy; an expanded pool of companies participating in ISPA's monthly reporting process that brings our universe to approximately 72% of the industry; better formatting of reports for greater usefulness; inclusion of the actual experience of our expanded universe of companies, along with our projections in the monthly reports; and the early issue of ISPA's Annual Report, the single most comprehensive source for bedding industry statistics.
Additionally, and perhaps most important, is ISPA's commitment to conducting the best, most statistically sound research possible. As in any business, timing is everything, and interviews conducted during a slow month will likely yield results that differ from those conducted during a busier period — that's why consistent and ongoing effort is needed to present the most accurate picture possible.
And unlike some other groups, our methodology is reviewed by third-party statisticians, in addition to the comprehensive overview and analysis conducted by our Statistics Committee, which includes leading industry manufacturers and a key supplier.
In short, ISPA has the obligation to provide its members with the finest information available on bedding today. Rest assured, we're doing just that.
Dick Doyle, president, International, Sleep Products Assn.
Selling our souls to China
My grandfather started our business at the beginning of the last century. Hopefully, he is at rest and never will read this letter, for if he did he certainly would be distraught. I am 42 years old and have grown up in the family business. Thankfully, even in some of the most tenuous of times we remain successful. I have lived through different design trends, different corporate marketing strategies, the proverbial 800 numbers, etc. As I sit in our store unpacking furniture from high-end companies in January 2003, it occurs to me that our biggest challenge is occurring right now.
Although my name may be on the sign above our building, I no longer control the possible future of my working years in our industry. Simply put, we are selling our souls to the Chinese.
What are we doing? We obviously must think we are all heroes in a Shakespearean play. A tragic hero is aware of his tragic flaw yet continues to follow through anyway. Someone had best take a stand with regard to where we, as an industry, are going.
In the meantime, I wonder if I should suggest to my daughters that they learn to speak and read Chinese, so if they, as I, should choose to go into the family business, they will be able to take us into the century to come.
It's hard to compete against a country that pays 15 cents per hour for labor, and where people are more than happy, in fact consider themselves lucky, to be employed, period. If we continue along the path we currently pursue we too may be in line for a low-paying position working for a Shanghai-based company.
I can only hope we see the absurdity of what our actions will bring on all levels, from manufacturing through the actual selling of product within our industry. If we keep going as we are, we no longer will have "our industry." We will only have a position working for a faceless and possibly heartless foreign corporation. Maybe, with the upcoming market, buyers will give a little more thought about the future "draft choice" they pick for their sales floors.
Michael Kaplan, Kaplan's Furniture, Galleries, Philadelphia
