NEWS RELEASE WRITTEN BY GOLD BOND AND PUBLISHED, UNEDITED, BY BEDTIMES
Improved Merchandising Strategy, Marketing & Product Design
Key Elements of New Program
HARTFORD, Conn., March 24, 2017 – Independent, family-owned Gold Bond is rolling out a program for its brick-and-mortar retailers to make them more competitive against the growing bed-in-a-box trend by offering a merchandising strategy that provides a strong assortment of quality, made in the USA mattresses priced under $1,000 along with marketing support that allows local retailers to go head-to-head with internet dealers.
Gold Bond’s assortment of products give brick-and-mortar retailers a competitive advantage that include a powerful lineup of quality mattresses, face-to-face service for consumers and a much better retail experience.
Robert Naboicheck, Gold Bond president, said he’s committed to pushing back against the swelling tide of poorly made product, including the bed-in-a-box category. To help its retail partners fight back, the Gold Bond is committed to designing and manufacturing well-made, supportive mattresses using quality materials.
“With internet return rates hovering around 30 percent, it’s clear that consumers aren’t happy with the bed-in-a-box product in the marketplace,” he said. “There’s a real opportunity for traditional retailers to move in and fill the void, and they can do this by selling better quality goods in the $600 to $1,000 price range and by employing better trained RSAs.”
Gold Bond has a variety of products that provide retailers quality choices including its popular S-Series, priced to retail from $599 to $799 in queen, offers an open-cell structure that delivers active air technology for a cooler, dryer, more comfortable sleep. The company also has an extensive two-sided mattress offering in the Chelsea Collection with retail price points from $499 to $799 in a variety of comfort preferences.
Naboicheck points out that comfort and feel are subjective when it comes to mattresses, and people need to lie down on mattresses before buying.
“The media and the industry embrace anything that’s hot, but this train is heading for a head-on collision because consumer dissatisfaction is growing,” he said.
Five years ago, Naboicheck took a stand denouncing the industry trend of lowering the quality of materials used in mattresses to keep costs down, and his current viewpoint on the bed-in-a-box craze is similar. “Today’s trend is to take a piece of foam, put it in a box and call it a mattress,” he said. “At Gold Bond, we’re going all guns blazing to support our brick-and-mortar retailers with well-made, quality mattresses that provide them a strong margin. We are working diligently to protect our retail base against encroachment of online bedding sales.”
Founded in 1899, Gold Bond is one of the nation’s largest family-operated independent mattress, specialty sleep and futon manufacturers. The company is a leader in mattress manufacturing techniques and more than a century of experience bring product innovations, high manufacturing standards and executive leadership to the industry. Gold Bond products incorporate the latest comfort technologies in their futons and mattresses, such as Talalay Latex, encased coils and visco-elastic memory foam. Gold Bond currently ships to 40 states and five countries, and its products are available at more than 500 retail showrooms. For more information, visit www.GoldBondMattress.com.
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