EcoSleep, an eco–friendly, specialty bedding brand launched two years ago by mattress industry entrepreneur Dave Young, is gaining traction among a diverse group of retailers who have identified environmentally conscious consumers as a promising source of increased revenue.
EcoSleep is produced by Whitewater, Wis.–based Durable Products LLC, one of a number of companies owned by Young. He serves as chief executive officer of VyMaC Corp., a mattress kit and component supplier, and Verlo Mattress Factory Stores, a franchised factory–direct chain. In addition, Young is the majority owner of VyMaC Ventures, a holding company, and VyMaC Properties, a development company.
Young founded Durable Products eight years ago to manufacture disposable pillows.
“It was high–volume production for single–patient use in the medical industry,” Young says. “We stopped production when China became a larger threat.”
Young then shifted to manufacturing pillows for the consumer market and developed the Everloft brand, which features a globally patented synthetic down fill. Today, Everloft pillows are marketed to retailers and sold directly to consumers online. Durable Products also sells the patented fill in bulk under the Everlon name to pillow makers.
The idea for a line of “green” mattresses came from retailers.
“They didn’t want imports,” Young says. “But they did want product so that they could get into specialty sleep without hooking up with the big brands.”
Never one to shy away from an opportunity to diversify, Young listened.
“VyMaC has expanded business dramatically in the last 24 months and diversified itself to the point where we’ve added hundreds of new customers and millions of dollars to sales,” he says. “Almost 50% of our revenue in 2010 comes from sources that didn’t exist two years ago.”
Targeting ‘LOHAS’ consumers
Young has positioned EcoSleep to appeal to a growing market of consumers interested in more sustainable products. EcoSleep is “specifically directed to the LOHAS consumer,” he says.
LOHAS refers to a demographic group—Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability—that is committed to ethical consumerism. The Natural Marketing Institute, a research and consulting firm based in Harleysville, Pa., tracks the group and, earlier this year, said “LOHAS consumers (the environmental stewards) continue to evolve and push for greater accountability—demanding ever–greener products and deeper behavioral commitment.”
“The LOHAS consumer group values natural products but has a limit on what they are willing to pay for them,” says Mike Schweiger, vice president of sales for EcoSleep and VyMaC. “We’re trying to provide them with choices of comfort levels and price points.”
That means EcoSleep has set out to tell a “greener” story.
“We try to work with the greenest technology and have the least environmental impact that we can. It’s not our objective, however, to make the world’s ‘greenest’ mattress,” Young says. “The consumer is ultimately asking for and buying value.”
EcoSleep’s memory foam mattresses are made from EcoPur, a visco–elastic foam containing castor oil that’s used in combination with recycled foam polymers. Young believes that harvesting and pressing castor plants has less environmental impact than cultivating and processing the soy more commonly used in bio–foams. The fast–growing castor is indigenous to the Mediterranean, eastern Africa and India, but is widespread throughout tropical regions. Its primary byproduct is used for cattle feed, Young says.
EcoSleep mattresses contain other natural and sustainable components, including Talalay latex, New Zealand wool and fibers made from bamboo. The company’s patented base foam contains activated charcoal to absorb off–gassing.
Young is enthusiastic about the fact that EcoSleep products are compressed and rolled to about one–third of their cube size.
“If you can manage freight, you can have a tremendous impact and that’s good for the dealer and good for the environment,” he says.
Benefits beyond ‘green’
There are currently 15 EcoSleep models in a variety of constructions, including visco–elastic, Talalay latex, pocketed innerspring and air. Suggested retail prices range from $699 to $1,999 for a queen set. Hybrid latex models featuring various configurations of latex and memory foam have proven particularly popular.
Interest in latex and latex hybrids also is fueling the company’s research and development efforts. Although it’s unlikely that all of them will make it to market, there are 22 mattresses in development at VyMaC’s 5,000–square–foot R&D center in Whitewater.
“Because of the interest in latex and latex hybrids, we also are working to leverage the capabilities of our roll–pack technology,” Schweiger says.
Sales have been strong enough that the company is planning to move EcoSleep production to its own 25,000–square–foot facility in Fort Atkinson, Wis., this summer.
“We anticipate 20% growth each year for the next three years,” Young says. “A free–standing facility will not only allow us to meet production demands, but will allow the brand to have its own identity.”
Young acknowledges the challenges inherent in launching a new product in today’s difficult economic conditions. The most daunting aspect, he says, is “getting a clear path to market beyond the traditional mattress retail chains.”
The bulk of EcoSleep’s sales thus far have come through distributors, the Internet and producers of conventional mattresses who are taking the product to their retail base. Young’s strategy includes working “to expand sales across all channels” and increasing direct–to–consumer sales.
“Moving ahead to more EcoSleep OEM sales” also is a priority, he says.
EcoSleep has been shown at both the High Point and Las Vegas furniture markets.
“We see traction developing,” Schweiger says. “Our U.S.–made products have a great look and the quality and consistency that consumers are looking for. We make it very easy for retail sales associates to make a compelling presentation of our products.”
Entrepreneurial to the end
Supporting retail sales is relatively easy because of another synergy: Point–of–purchase materials and advertising are produced through yet another arm of VyMaC, the Vybrance marketing group.
Being able to capitalize on synergies is a direct result of a corporate culture based on entrepreneurship, Young believes.
“Our executives know what they’re doing and collaborate well,” he says. “We’re independently owned and small enough to try something and then change if it doesn’t work.”
