Company re-imagines their role in specialty sleep with four new wrapped coils at ISPA EXPO
CARTHAGE, Missouri, March 6, 2012 – Bedding components manufacturer Leggett & Platt® is re-defining specialty sleep. The company, based in Carthage, Mo., says manufacturers can improve their impact in the specialty sleep market with the Ultimate Hybrid – a mattress pairing specialty sleep materials, such as visco, gel and latex, with fabric-encased Comfort Core™ innersprings.
“Specialty sleep is trending heavily in today’s market. But many consumers associate these beds with sleeping hot, responding too slowly to movements or being too costly,” Mark Quinn, Segment VP of Marketing at Leggett & Platt, says. Research conducted by Kansas State University and the Institute of Environmental Research shows that innersprings sleep 28% cooler than visco. Quinn says this proof, combined with the active response of Comfort Core coils, can combat consumer fears when it comes to specialty sleep.
Quinn also says Comfort Core innersprings last longer than specialty materials. “When put through a Rollator test of 50,000 cycles, our innersprings only saw a 5-7% loss in firmness, while visco, latex and poly-foam experienced tremendous breakdown rates ranging from 16 to 43%. And our innersprings are not affected by the rising cost of oil, unlike visco and other foams. Alone, specialty mattresses are lacking. But when paired with Leggett & Platt’s Comfort Core innersprings, you can create the ultimate in sleep comfort and reliability.”
Leggett & Platt will unveil four new products in their Comfort Core line at ISPA, including Hi-Low™, Combi-Zone™, Quantum™ and Softech® Mini. The new coils, Quinn says, offer manufacturers the opportunity to customize and reduce the amount of fill materials required for mattress creation, thus lowering production costs.
The new Combi-Zone and Hi-Low coils offer zoning options of varying diameters, geometries and heights, while the new narrow-diameter Quantum allows an increase in coil-count by nearly 200%. And the Softech Mini offers all of the features of the traditional Softech at a smaller 1.5” height, ideal for placement in Euro and Pillow tops.
Reports from retail sales associates show consumers are responding positively to the term hybrid. “Customers understand the word hybrid. They appreciate the benefit of combined sleep products,” said Anthony Williams, retail sales associate at Bedmart in Tucson, Ariz. “Hybrids offer the best of both worlds for customers that don’t want to take that complete step to memory foam, but don’t want to go with a traditional spring mattress, either.”
Similarly, Trevon Watson, Savannah, Ga., Ashley Furniture HomeStore manager says, “Customers identify with it. Their eyes light up and they say, ‘That’s what I want. I want a hybrid.’”
“The term hybrid connects with today’s consumer,” says Quinn. “New language can transform nearly any industry, and bedding is no different. We are convinced the description will help the consumer easily understand the construction of a bed and, in the process, transform the sales floor by giving RSAs a new way to talk about mattresses.”
To further the industry’s use of hybrid, Leggett & Platt launched Ultimate-Hybrid.com March 1. “The Ultimate Hybrid really does offer a better solution for everyone involved. We want to help the industry understand what hybrid can do for them,” said Quinn. The website offers education and entertainment, including product information, a comedy music video and web series. The entertainment content will launch in May.
To see interviews with retail sales associates regarding the term “hybrid,” please visit
http://youtu.be/dhe8Pl8KvQw.
About Leggett & Platt:
Leggett & Platt (NYSE: LEG) is a diversified manufacturer (and member of the S&P 500) that conceives, designs, and produces a broad variety of engineered components and products that can be found in most homes, offices, and automobiles. Leggett & Platt serves a broad suite of customers that comprise a “Who’s Who” of U.S. manufacturers and retailers. The 129-year-old company (founded 1883) is made of 19 business units, 18,000 employee-partners and 130 facilities located in 18 countries. Leggett & Platt is the leading U.S. producer of: a) components for residential furniture and bedding; b) components for office furniture; c) drawn steel wire; d) automotive seat support and lumbar systems; e) carpet underlay; f) power foundations; and g) bedding industry machinery for wire forming, sewing, and quilting.
###
