High Point spring show--Bedding makers focus on specialty sleep, accessories, new showrooms

Southerland Inc., a mattress manufacturer in Nashville, Tenn., launched a slew of new beds, including the Re-fresh latex collection with an Omalon base foam and smooth, unquilted top. The five-bed group retails from $1,699 to $2,999.* Stephen Russo (left), Southerland chief executive officer, and Bryan Smith, Southerland president, show off the new Omni gel memory foam collection. The six Omni beds retail from $1,199 to $1,399 in queen sizes.

Bedding Technology Industries, with headquarters in Carrollton, Texas, unveiled the Airwave massage bed, an undulating airbed topped with memory foam that works by inflating and deflating multiple air chambers in the bed’s core. President Shel Guo demonstrates the mattress, which retails for $3,500 in queen size with one massage motor and $4,000 for a version with two motors.

Serta, a mattress producer with headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill., introduced the Freestyle, an iComfort-branded pillow that retails for $129. Its unique new shape is designed to work with every sleep position, said Kelly Ellis, Serta director of integrated marketing.

Simmons, an Atlanta-based mattress manufacturer, redressed its High Point showroom with its new brand position “Living Life Fully Charged,” which was introduced last summer in Las Vegas. The company also rebranded its High Point space, focusing on the Beautyrest name as a brand umbrella that the company emblazoned on everything from the showroom marquee to new iPad stands. 

Therapedic International, a licensing group based in Princeton, N.J., made a splash in its new showroom in the International Home Furnishings Center by introducing four new models, including an EcoGel bed with 3 inches of gel foam priced at $2,299. A new top model in the PureTouch collection includes 8 inches of “integrated latex and a natural linen cover” and has a suggested retail price of $2,999, said Therapedic President Gerry Borreggine.Jamison Bedding, a mattress maker based in Brentwood, Tenn., added a JGel topper ($325 in queen), a versatile new pillow with JGel in the outer layer that conforms to any sleeper or sleep position ($149) and a My Jamison Bed application for iPhone and Android that helps consumers select the best Jamison mattress model to meet their sleep needs.

Leggett & Platt’s Consumer Products Group, based in Whittier, Calif., unveiled a redesigned showroom dressed with boldly lettered messages on charcoal walls. “We are going back to the basics and placing a lot of emphasis on the fact that we are retailers’ one-stop shop for sleep accessories,” said Herman Tam, Leggett & Platt group vice president of sales and marketing. The showroom displayed full lines of decorative bed frames, pillows, protection products and other accessories.

Gold Bond, a mattress manufacturer with headquarters in Hartford, Conn., rolled out two new SacroSupport encased-coil beds, the Baroness and the Duchess, priced at $1,499 and $1,999, respectively. The “all American-made, two-sided mattresses have a lot of coils—because I love springs,” said Gold Bond President Bob Naboicheck.

Blu Sleep Products in Laval, Quebec, expanded its pillow line with the new Gelatex latex and gel pillow, which incorporates phase-change material for cooler sleeping, said Alex Ciccolella, Blu Sleep Products president. Gelatex pillows start at $99.

Jamison Bedding, a mattress maker based in Brentwood, Tenn., added a JGel topper ($325 in queen), a versatile new pillow with JGel in the outer layer that conforms to any sleeper or sleep position ($149) and a My Jamison Bed application for iPhone and Android that helps consumers select the best Jamison mattress model to meet their sleep needs.

Five Star Mattress in Hoffman Estates, Ill., launched the second generation of Essential Elements, a specialty sleep collection that offers “foam-encased foam core for better edge support; premium, nonconvoluted Kool Comfort memory foam; and channel quilt tops,” said Paul Sullivan, Five Star Mattress vice president of sales. The beds retail from $699 to $1,199. Five Star also upgraded the pocketed coils in its TLC collection.

EcoSleep’s Gel Air airbed has a zippered, unquilted top that lets consumers adjust the mattress to their particular comfort needs. Foam comfort layers include latex, gel memory foam, and traditional memory foam. The beds are manufactured in the United States and contain CertiPUR-US polyurethane foams. EcoSleep has headquarters in Whitewater, Wis.

Carolina Mattress Guild, based in Thomasville, N.C., topped off a strong first quarter with a busy High Point show. Retailers snapped up the G1 market special for their own summer promotions, said Kathy Grigg, Carolina Mattress Guild vice president. The special bed, offered at $599 in queen, is part of the mattress maker’s Zero Gravity Cool Gel memory foam collection.

Pure LatexBLISS, a latex mattress and sleep accessories producer based in Atlanta, unveiled an new airy showroom with polished hardwood floors throughout. A welcoming bedroom vignette—instead of a reception desk—greeted visitors and a secluded napping room allowed tired showgoers to catch some zzz’s.

Anatomic Global’s new Ascent 6 mattress has special patent-pending modifications that allow it to perfectly conform to an adjustable base, said Diane Adams, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the consumer products division at FXI, a foamer based in Media, Pa., that owns the mattress producer.

Zedbed, a mattress producer based in Shawinigan, Quebec, added seven beds to its collections of Pure, R2 and ZX memory foam beds, said David Gélinas, Zedbed director of marketing. All the new offerings have gel-infused foam comfort layers and slightly higher price points, retailing for $1,799 to $2,399. The R2 Snowpedic collection has a host of cool new snowflake-themed POP materials.

Sealy launched its Sealy Schwag Shop on Facebook during the High Point Market. The store offers a variety of apparel that celebrates life’s more lighthearted moments in bed, including T-shirts emblazoned with messages such as “Made on a Sealy” or “It’s Better on Springs.” The shop is the newest element in the Trinity, N.C.-based company’s playfully suggestive “Whatever You Do in Bed, Sealy Supports It” marketing campaign.

Magniflex, a mattress maker with headquarters in Prato, Italy, debuted a collection of sleek, simple-to-assemble decorative, wood-slat platform frames with coordinating headboards and snap-on night tables. “There are 400 possible configurations when you take into account the choice of finishes, leg profiles and headboard upholstery,” said Stefano Marescotti, North American sales director. “And assembly takes minutes—all you need is a brugola.” (That’s Italian for “Allen wrench.”)