Paul Kahl of AW Industries shares three new products that the company introduced at the recent High Point Market. Think luxury, cooling and an eco-friendly mattress using Repreve Our Ocean technology.
Transcript – Luxury, Cooling and Sustainable
Waynette Goodson
It’s Waynette Goodson. I’m your managing editor of BedTimes and Sleep Savvy magazines. Welcome to this edition of “Take Five” with Paul Kahl of AW Industries. Now, Paul, this is a big time for you all. We’re here at the High Point Market. And I understand that you have actually added space here. You’ve expanded. So tell our audience about that.
Paul Kahl
That’s correct. Now we have three very large showrooms. We have one dedicated to our iComfort Eco Collection. We have expanded to our Perfect Sleeper Collection and then our AW Industries Collections of Highclere and Silentnght. We have expanded our collections here as well.
Waynette Goodson
And that pretty much makes you sort of the largest space with mattresses here at High Point.
Paul Kahl
I don’t know anyone bigger that shows more beds in the High Point Center Market.
Waynette Goodson
So you. have a new superlative. So talk about the news for AW Industries.
Paul Kahl
So the newest product that we have is the Highclere, and we’ve expanded that collection into a foam collection. So we have a prototype here, and we’re getting lots of great feedback. It’s very, very plush, and I believe it’s the first foam mattress that we have that has incorporated a wool story. So we’re really excited; the feedback we’re getting about that has been terrific.
Thank you. The Silentnight GelTech collection. This is our GelTech 2.0, and we’ve updated the look to a really great contemporary look. We’re using a new component that features three infused technologies, not one I don’t think has ever done it. It comes from Carpenter Foam and has copper, graphite and silver.
Paul Kahl
All three of them are infused into this gel memory foam. It has a unique feel, and it has a great story regarding healing and cooling and antimicrobial stories. The collection that has been the most popular here has been the Chesapeake Bay collection. And we are so excited about the Chesapeake Bay collection. It is a sustainable story.
We use ChillSense by Repreve, so it is cool to the touch and a lot easier on the Earth. And this has the highest bottle count in the industry. It’s over 200 bottles. I haven’t got certification yet to know exactly what it is, but it’s well over 200. No one else has anything close to that.
Waynette Goodson
And just to bring in our Better Sleep Council research here, and you spoke to this earlier, just that millennials and Gen Z.
Paul Kahl
Yes.
Waynette Goodson
So talk about that and what you’re experiencing with those groups being so interested in buying a mattress with this type of technology.
Paul Kahl
So a survey from Greenprint has found that millennials and Gen Zs will spend more money on a product that has a sustainable story. The beauty of it is that our products are more expensive, and they’re where you’ll find the regular price points from $599 to $1,299, and they have a great sustainable story. So that’s a double bonus for us.
The added advantage of being a mid-Atlantic factory and the Chesapeake Bay tie-in has evoked emotional responses to this collection, which is why it’s been so successful.
Waynette Goodson
While people love the Chesapeake Bay, the Gen Zs and the Millennials are all about the sustainability story, and you’ve put it in a nice midrange price point.
Paul Kahl
And it’s two-sided.
Waynette Goodson
And it’s two-sided, right? Yeah. You have so many firsts going on. Paul, congratulations.
Paul Kahl
Thank you very much. Thank you for taking the time.
Waynette Goodson
And you all, thank you for tuning in. And as always, have a great night’s sleep.
