Chinese bedding making mark in U.S. showrooms
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, 4/16/2005
At the Market— Chinese-made
mattresses continue to proliferate here, popping up
in a number of new showrooms.
And marketers of Chinese mattresses
who are already established in High Point are adding
new products to their lineups to spark additional
interest from U.S. buyers.
Summit has upgraded its visco line
with the use of six-pound visco in its Sleep Therapy
line, which retails from $699 to $899 in queen. The
top model features a tri-zoned construction that includes
a zone of eight-pound visco. Terry
Batka, president, described traffic in the Summit
space as "heavy" and said retailers started
arriving on Sunday. "The caliber of the buyers
has been superb."
Primo International has expanded its
Chinese bedding program with five new beds, plus an
adjustable bed that targets the $899 retail price
point. John DeFalco, vice president of sales and marketing,
said the reaction to the beds "has been fantastic.
We've gotten a great response and great placements."
Chinese bedding major Xilinmen, in a new showroom
in the International Home Furnishings Center, G-466,
has added toppers to its bedding line. The toppers
are offered with goosedown and memory foam.
Export manager Sharon Zhang said the company is pleased
with its progress in the U.S. market. "We are
focusing on the middle to high-end because of the
cost of freight," she said.
Xilinmen sells in the United States through Excel
Bedding, its U.S. agent.
Natura entered the Chinese bedding arena with a sharply
priced visco mattress shipped in a compressed roll.
Ralph Rossdeutscher, president, said the mattress
offers "excellent quality — better quality
than some of the visco we get over here."
Natura's visco import has three inches of visco and
five inches of polyurethane foam and is part of the
company's Natura-pedic line. The mattress retails
from $699 to $799, and completely recovers from the
compression process, Rossdeutscher said.
Hamilton & Spill is making a high-profile push
into the category this market, showing six beds from
China that retail from $899 to $1,399.
The encased coil beds include both single- and two-sided
versions, have 10-year non-prorated warranties, and
use HR foams, memory foams and pillowed down.
Gary Harmon, newly named vice president of sales
and merchandising at Hamilton & Spill, said the
Chinese-made bedding line is "a natural fit"
for the company.
"Chinese (bedding) product, if designed and
marketed properly, has the potential to take a significant
chunk of market share in the premium market,"
Harmon said.
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