Is Heat the Achilles Heel Of The Tempurpedic Mattress?

Unless you've been living on Mars, you've probably heard about memory foam mattresses and the amazing support they give you when sleeping. The Tempurpedic mattress was the first and - many would claim - the best on the market. But there have been comments made that Tempurpedic mattresses sleep hot. Is it true? Has the fantastic support it offers been compromised by excessive heat?

A conventional foam mattress has closed air bubbles that compress when pressure is applied. A memory foam mattress has air bubbles that are open or linked together. This is an important part of the design in that it means air can flow from one cell to another. This ability lets the foam mould to the exact shape of whatever is placed on it. Coupled with this cell technology, the Tempurpedic mattress is also heat-responsive to give even better contouring and support.

The sleeper is given better support than either a conventional or foam mattress as there is more contact between the body and mattress - as much as 30% more. But this extra contact decreases the amount of body exposed to air. Evaporation is reduced, which in turn leads to a build up of body heat. The problem is exacerbated because tossing and turning, which helps evaporation, is greatly reduced when sleeping on a Tempurpedic mattress.

So, while many people concur about the support benefits offered by a Tempurpedic mattress, some also report of sleep loss due to excessive heat - a sort of catch-22 situation.

In response, memory foam manufacturers, including Tempurpedic, have introduced a convoluted layer of visco-elastic foam at the base of the mattress to help draw away air and heat.

While this definitely helps, some customers still report a temperature problem. Unfortunately for those who experience being uncomfortably hot, there is little to be done as the very structure of a memory foam mattress can't be changed.

The best advice to reduce heat while sleeping on a Tempurpedic mattress is to try reducing the number of blankets or changing to a lighter one. Although the cover that comes with the Tempurpedic mattress is breathable, it does prevent moisture escape; you could try removing the cover and put a plain sheet directly on top of the mattress.

Other manufacturers have claimed to have solved the problem but they are also using a convoluted piece of foam in conjunction with the memory foam, so you're going to have the same problem to a less or greater extent.

A memory foam mattress isn't going to be suitable for everyone. If heat is something you already suffer from in your old mattress, you might be best advised to stay with a conventional spring mattress. If you've been sleeping on your old one for many years you'll amazed at how box spring mattresses have improved in terms of comfort and support.

But remember, most people feel no discernable increase in heat when sleeping on memory foam, so if you're thinking about buying a new mattress you should definitely take a look at a Tempurpedic mattress.

Source: American Chronicle, 11/28/07

Veteran salespeople share insights on sales success

To sell Aireloom bedding at Sit 'n Sleep, sales associate Emil Dobrescu talks about Earl Kluft, the bedding veteran who makes the line.

"I wouldn't be able to sell Aireloom without telling Earl Kluft's story," Dobrescu said. "I emphasize this is a family owned business with tradition and craftsmanship."

One of the keys to selling bedding, says Dobrescu, who has been doing so for six years, is to tell stories. "To create an emotional connection with the consumer," he said, "you need to tell stories."

But those stories, like the one about Earl Kluft and his history of making fine bedding, must be believable, Dobrescu said. Consumers will see through stories that are made up simply to impress them, he said. "If a story is fake, it won't stick," he said. "You can't make up fairy tales. The consumer will cancel the sale and they won't come back to you. I don't want to compromise my integrity."

Integrity is a key word at Sit 'n Sleep. The retailer prides itself on a sales force that operates professionally at all times.

Mattress Retailing 101Dobrescu shared several of his keys to success in an interview at the retailer's store here. The process starts, significantly, with a friendly greeting. "It would be a lack of respect not to greet them," he says of his customers. He aims to greet them within seconds of their entrance into the store. "I say 'hi' and welcome them to Sit 'n Sleep," he said.

One of the most important parts of the selling process is the ability to listen, according to Dobrescu. "I listen a lot," he said. "I try to come up with the best solution based on comfort and price. I don't push them over the edge. I'm not always going for the most expensive bed unless they give me an indication they can afford it."

Consumers shopping at Sit 'n Sleep can be overwhelmed by the vast selection of beds: the retailer has about 140 beds on a typical sales floor. Dobrescu determines his customers' comfort preference by having them try three beds. Then he knows where to focus.

When showing beds, he talks about the benefits a new mattress provides. For example, he noted that foam provides pressure relief and offers comfort. He's had good success selling Tempur-Pedic in that arena, he said.

Dobrescu said it's important to remain current on the latest mattress constructions. "You need to know the mattresses inside and out," he said. "You need to be up on the newest trends. We are ahead of the game here. We are educating the market."

Arthur: Humor puts the customer at ease

Laguna Hills, Calif. — Roger Arthur, store manager and mattress salesman at the Sit 'n Sleep store here, uses humor to put his customers in a relaxed mood.

"I'm not here to sell you anything," he says. "I tell them, 'We don't have to pay for it or sleep on it.' It blows them away when I tell them that."

If he feels he has established enough rapport with a customer, he may take the humor to another level. When he is asked what type of mattress he sleeps on (a common question), he has a quip ready: "My mattress is the most important piece of furniture in my house. You are not sleeping in my house. You are not getting my mattress."

That brings a laugh — and it underscores the importance of a good mattress.

"Humor is very important," Arthur said. "If a customer doesn't think this is relatively comical, you've got a problem."

He's spent nine years selling mattresses, more than five of them at Sit 'n Sleep. "That's not long enough," he says of his time with Larry Miller, president of Sit 'n Sleep. "He's the best employer in retail in the U.S.," he said. "Most employees would work for him for half the money. He lets us be honest with the customer, and the customer senses that. He also lets us be nice to our customers and be nice to each other."

Arthur said customers respond to his words of praise for Miller. They believe that a company that treats employees well will treat customers well, too, he said.

He notes that one challenge on the sales floor is to give the customer just the right amount of attention. "One of the most difficult things I've encountered is the art of ignoring the customer without really ignoring them," he said. "That is the most compelling thing you can do in this store. Customers are getting pounced upon" in other stores.

Arthur said he tries to let his customers know that he wants them to sleep better, but that he won't push them into a sale. "The customer has to genuinely believe I care about them," he said. "If they purchase a mattress from me, thank you. If they don't, I will still sleep well. I have their best interests at heart. They are making a really important investment."

Source: Furniture Today, 11/15/07

Mattress recycling program instituted by eMattress

As the American public becomes increasingly aware of the need for recycling and green manufacturing processes, one mattress manufacturer, eMattress, is taking the lead by announcing a mattress recycling program. This program will make it possible for owners of an eMattress memory foam mattress to have their old beds picked up at their homes and recycled, rather than being forced to let these items cause environmental problems in local landfills.

More than 63,000 mattresses are disposed of every year and they end up in American landfills. Because of the considerable size of these items, mattresses are the single greatest factor in pushing landfills to capacity. Each mattress takes up as much as 23 cubic feet. Clearly, a recycling program is called for: only eMattress has, thus far, been able to implement a program making this possible.

Any memory foam mattress purchased from eMattress can be returned to eMattress for dismantling and recycling. EMattress, which is an original manufacturer of memory foam bedding, will break the mattress down into its original components and recycle the materials safely and in an environmentally sound manner. From the owner’s perspective, recycling the mattress is easy: a phone call to eMattress results in obtaining a recycling RA (return authorization) number. EMattress will arrange for the pick up of the mattress and handle all the work. Customers are responsible for shipping and handling fees, but the consensus of early adopters is that this is a worthy investment in the environmental cause.

Studies have indicated that many local landfills receive as many as 300 old mattresses and box springs in one day. This is a vast amount of material which, if extended from head to toe in a line, would stretch for more than a third of a mile. One day’s worth of bedding is a lot; imagining years’ worth of this and it’s clear that a better solution to bedding disposal is necessary. Mattresses are bulky and difficult to recycle, but there are solutions available to the consumer.

EMattress has always used natural mattress covers, relying on materials such as 100% natural virgin Australian wool, which has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-dust mite properties; another material used in mattress covers, Innofa, is manufactured in part from natural bamboo. Not all companies operate with the environment firmly in mind, but eMattress has made the brave choice to forge ahead with its recycling program because it knows that its clientele already leans toward the green. EMattress is proud of its customers for being so environmentally aware, and it is proud of its ability to offer this extended service to loyal memory foam mattress users.

Source: eMattress, 11/08/07

Taking a nap may be good for your heart

The next time the boss finds you leaning back in your chair, feet up, eyes shut, tell her that you're napping for medical purposes.

Science won't definitively back you up yet, but the evidence is mounting that a short afternoon nap, for an otherwise well-rested, healthy person, is good for the heart.

"I love to nap," says Dr. Robert Downey III, chief of sleep medicine at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Southern California. "I recommend napping."

Among his fellow researchers, it's still controversial whether napping has cardiovascular benefits. Early studies of possible heart benefits of siestas in Mediterranean and Latin American countries, where short afternoon naps are typical, have had mixed results. But a recent large study of 23,000 people in Greece, published in the Feb. 12 Archives of Internal Medicine, showed a 37 percent reduction in heart attacks among people who napped at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. That study was the first to weed out sick and sedentary nappers and control for physical activity and diet, which might have colored results of other studies showing no benefit.

Now a study, in a recent online edition of the Journal of Applied Physiology, offers a clue about why a nap might be good.

The new study tested nine healthy volunteers who did not usually nap. After sleeping for four hours the night before, each was hooked up to check for blood pressure under three conditions. In two sessions the volunteers relaxed, one time standing and once lying down, but didn't sleep. In the third session, the subjects fell asleep for no more than an hour.

The researchers found a significant drop in blood pressure when the volunteers slept, but not when they merely relaxed. And the drop in blood pressure when they napped occurred in that sleepy window of time right before falling asleep, not during the nap itself.

It's the brief period of anticipation of the coming snooze where cardiovascular benefits take place. Just lying awake, even if relaxed, doesn't do the trick, says Greg Atkinson, chronobiologist with the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University and an author of the study.

That makes sense to Downey. "Anything you gain in [a restful state] would be magnified by going to sleep," he says. But he cautions that for a nap to result in increased alertness, it probably should last 20 to 30 minutes.

"With a light nap, you get that soothing, biological benefit, but you don't have to fight your way back to consciousness," he says. That's because brain waves slow considerably as you get drowsy, more so when you sleep. But after about 30 or 40 minutes, the brain goes into still-deeper sleep, and waking can make a person feel more groggy than rested.

Younger children, and adults who are sleep deprived, go into deeper states of sleep quicker, so a short nap for them might be more likely to result in a groggy awakening. And insomniacs are generally advised not to nap, Downey says, to give them a better shot at sleeping at night.

Inadequate sleep -- seven to eight hours is recommended for the average adult -- as well as disorders such as sleep apnea are pervasive in American society, and people who feel sleepy throughout the day should talk to their physician, says Michael Twery, director of the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. "If sleepiness is affecting what they do, controlling their lives, or if they wake up with morning headaches, maybe they need a medical evaluation," he says.

But for healthy people who get a good night's sleep, the human circadian clock is set to want a brief nap in the early afternoon. It feels good, and it just might be good for the heart, to indulge that post-lunch loss of energy. Go ahead. Put your feet up and close your eyes.

Source: Baltimore Sun, 11/1/07

Quaint daybeds are sneaking back into the modern landscape

In state-of-the-art homes teeming with technological toys, the notion of a daybed is almost anachronistic. Even the word seems oddly old-fashioned.

But despite its quaint label, the daybed has been inching its way back into the design lexicon and retail stores for the last few years. Often deeper than a sofa, or slim as a twin bed with or without sides, it's more a generous settee than a one-sided chaise.

Designed for more than sitting, it beckons. Whether you sit, sprawl or flat out nap on it, the daybed is the ultimate piece of cocooning furniture.

The full realization of what the daybed can be actually came to the fore outdoors, where it can take on a seductive, exotic look. Recently featured in Gump's catalog was the glamorous Sulu canopy, a four-post daybed crafted from Philippine mahogany with grid-like insets of woven abaca on the sides and front base. Fitted with a thick mattress and appointed with back cushions and throw pillows, it's topped with a billowy sheer cotton canopy, and the look can evoke South Beach to South Seas.

At $1,995, the Sulu is a more affordable version of the glam canopied four-post that Long Beach, Calif., designer Richard Frinier designed for Dedon in 2003. That romantic piece, with its Moorish-style weave of Hularo, a resin fiber, was designed, as Frinier said, "with the same comfort level as an indoor bed." With gauzy fabric panels that envelop it, the daybed, appropriately named Daydream, retails for $9,000.

That such sophisticated daybeds are available for furnishing outdoor rooms attests to their newfound trend status.

"The reason I think daybeds are so popular," says Tom Delavan, editor-at-large for Domino magazine, "is because they do double duty. By definition, a daybed is a bed and seating."

Versatile enough to take the place of sofa beds and even sofas, daybeds are especially useful with trundles or storage tucked beneath.

"They're really great for studio apartments, where there's no room both for sofas and beds," Delavan says. Affordability is another selling point, at just under $400 for the low end to around $2,500, with an average between $1,000 and $1,500.

And with styling that ranges from simple to sumptuous, from streamlined to cottage-style to baroque, daybeds easily move into family rooms or dens, sunrooms, home offices, guest bedrooms and even living rooms. A mix of materials, from dark woods such as mahogany to maple, makes daybeds fit both in casual and dressy environments.

From retailers such as Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, West Elm and Horchow Home, you'll find cottage country with beadboard panels and wood finials, slip-covered models that feature machine-washable covers, classic curvy sleighs, bamboo look-alikes, mid-century modern styles that often are upholstered, and canopied versions that resemble scaled-down four-poster beds. Ballard Designs has a handsome black honey-finished English Colony daybed with caned sides.

Possibly the longest daybed at 101 inches is the Wells studio sofa from Room and Board. The simple design, open backed with low, top-stitched, button-tufted arms, sits on platform legs and is available in a choice of supple leathers for $2,799.

Even fancy baroque is an option from Pulaski Furniture. Its Edward daybed is made of heavily carved mahogany with acanthus leaf and bead molding and scrolled, fluted melon feet.

The considerable range of current styles may surprise baby boomers who recall grandma's uncomfortable Victorian-inspired metal daybeds or plain unadorned pieces that were no more than mattresses on casters. But the design roots are rich.

"The trundle gave daybeds a bad name," Delavan says. "The metal trundle apparatus often was visible beneath the mattress and not only was unattractive, it looked flimsy. It also added a (visual) heaviness to the lower half."

Today's trundles are more cleverly hidden, more integral to the overall design or totally covered with skirts. And gliding or pop-up mechanisms generally are smoother.

Actually, it wasn't until the industrial age that significant distinction was made between beds and sofas.

"The couch or sofa as we know it really is a Victorian invention," Delavan says.

Primitive daybeds were no more than slabs of stone or wood, but sometimes they were embellished with considerable carving. Early primitive Egyptian models were made of palm sticks or palm leaf wicker laced together with rawhide. In first dynasty Egyptian tombs (about 3100 to 2890 B.C.), craftsmanship often featured wood frames standing on carved animal legs, gazelle-like hooves or lion's paws. Veneers included inlays of ivory or ebony, and bases were woven with leather strips.

Beds found in the tomb of Tutankhamen (1336-1327 B.C.) were made of gilded or gesso-coated wood, some with sides in animal shapes.

In ancient Greece, daybeds were an integral part of socializing. Drinking, game playing and even eating centered on a piece of furniture called the kline, a daybed. Around the eighth century B.C., the Greeks took to reclining while dining, a practice widely documented in art. The daybeds were dressed with plush embroidered mattresses.

The Romans borrowed daybed designs from the Greeks, but also fused Etruscan and Eastern motifs. One elegant Pompeian daybed from the first century had turned legs and decorations of bone. Simple construction often was elevated with expensive drapery or cushion fabrics.

Centuries later, the Chinese developed their own style of daybed, a platform that held no distinction between sitting or sleeping. These vintage large-scale, low-slung pieces had straight or inward-turning feet and often were topped with a tight rattan-like weave. Today they have morphed into cocktail tables, and the design has been widely reproduced.

Colorful examples of Italian daybeds from the Renaissance (1400-1600) were tented in striped fabric. By the early 20th century, modernist architects fashioned stripped-down models, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona, a sleek, tufted leather cushion on a tubular steel frame and legs, topped with a single bolster pillow. Manufactured by Knoll, the piece, designed in 1929, still is reproduced.

Daybed profiles today offer a wealth of stylistic options, as well as configurations and sizes. The cleanest design has no back or sides and can be quite slim. CB2 has a Miesian-inspired upholstered model with a clever design that allows its stacked mattresses to sleep as a twin or side by side for double-bed width.

Many daybeds resemble backless settees, with sides that can be very low or very tall. The sideboards can be straight, canted or even collapsible, as with the classic ratchet arm, which allows dropping the sides almost flat. The most familiar daybed is one that has a headboard and footboard of equal height as well as a backboard that usually is taller.

An appealing feature of daybeds is that they can be chameleons.

"A lot of the daybeds are not upholstered, which means if you want to change the look, just change the bedding — seasonally or at your whim," Delavan says.

And that means the old-fashioned daybed may never go out of style.

Source: Universal Press Syndicate, 10/25/07

Consumers say sales associates don't meet their needs

Focus groups give feedback on problems

The bedding industry can boost sales and increase consumer satisfaction if retail bedding sales associates better connect with their customers. But there is much work yet to be done in that area.

Those were some of the major lessons learned by top bedding executives and consultants who spent a week listening to bedding consumers around the country. They were participants on Leggett & Platt's Spring Alive Tour, a national, grassroots tour designed to take a better sleep message to retailers and consumers. As part of the tour, focus groups gave participants insights into consumers' attitudes about bedding and the mattress shopping experience.


Those focus groups gave the bedding executives, led by Mark Quinn, group executive vice president of sales and marketing in L&P's bedding group, a warts-and-all look at consumers' mattress opinions. Some of the sessions painted a bleak picture on key issues such as retail bedding sales associates and how they are perceived. At one of the sessions, for example, the all-female panel gave sales associates failing grades.

Kurt Ling, president of Customer Kinetics, an Atlanta-based customer experience firm, led the group, asking the women what they recalled about the last person who had sold them a mattress. "Sharky," "pushy" and "a used car salesman" were some of their responses.

Ling, who formerly worked at Maytag and Simmons, kept the discussion rolling. A seasoned researcher, he established a rapport with the women and encouraged each of them to share their thoughts.

On the other side of the one-way glass in the research facility conference room, the members of the L&P delegation listened intently to the women's comments. The focus group was one of four held during the week-long Spring Alive Tour.

Each of the focus groups consisted solely of women, who are viewed as the key decision makers in the mattress purchase.

The focus group that zeroed in on sales associates found few positive feelings about them — or the mattress shopping experience. Ling asked the women what emotions they were feeling before they walked into a mattress store. One woman said she felt "excited" about the prospect of shopping, but another said she had a sense of "drudgery" and a third reported feeling "indifferent." Perhaps the strongest comments came from the woman who said: "They (the sales associates) are going to be swarming over me."

The women had various criticisms of mattress salespeople, saying they act like robots, don't connect with them on an emotional level, recite sales pitches, steer them to the most expensive beds, and accept "kickbacks" from manufacturers.

The women indicated that the sales associates were more focused on meeting their own needs — making the most money on each sale — than in meeting customers' needs. "I want to know that a salesperson is thinking about me," one consumer said.

Reflecting on what he had learned from the focus groups, Quinn said he has a renewed appreciation for the fact that consumers buy mattresses for various reasons. "This is not just a logical decision these people have to make. It is an emotional one as well. We need to understand how to communicate with consumers on that level and shine a light on the fact that the mattress-buying decision could make a huge difference in their life and play a big part in improving their quality of life."

And Ling said that, despite all the negative comments he heard from consumers, there are some positives for the industry.

"It is interesting to me how much the mattress retailing industry has improved in the 10 years that I have been in the business," he said, "and yet we still have a bad rap. Practically, I would like to blame the long purchase cycle, but that really isn't it because all of these respondents shopped in the last six to 24 months for a new mattress. I think there is a reality we have to face of the way they see us and use it to move forward and create better experiences."

He remains hopeful: "We can create a day when it isn't like today. Part of that will be when stores don't have 50 beds lined up in three rows, and another part of it will be when we talk about things that matter and do that in a way that seems helpful rather than having sales associates who are just seen as being out to make commission."

Source: Furniture Today, 10/19/07

T3 Athletic Recovery Mattress: Official Mattress of Ironman

World Triathlon Corporation, owner of the Ironman brand, announces that T3 Athletic Recovery Products will be the official sleep partner of the inaugural Ford Ironman Louisville, Ford Ironman World Championship and the Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3. The T3 Athletic Recovery Mattress, which features patented Energia technology, will be used by some of the world's top triathletes. Expect an announcement soon regarding T3's endorsement by one of the best athletes in the sport.

The T3 Athletic Recovery Mattress is a product of T3 Athletic Recovery Products. The T3 was designed to promote the deep sleep and muscular repair necessary to absorb the intense training experienced by endurance athletes.
"Ironman is synonymous with performance and one of the key elements to peak performance is rest. Ironman has partnered with T3 because of its high quality product that targets athletes and their recovery," says Sponsorship and Licensing Manager for Ironman, Andy Giancola.

"Stress, rest and recovery are critical to regular endurance training. While there is plenty of attention focused on coaching, training, nutrition and racing equipment, there is very little emphasis on products that promote and enhance true physical recovery. The T3 Athletic Recovery Mattress is the first product of its kind designed specifically for endurance athletes," says founder and triathlete, Daniel Ederer. "T3's partnership with Ironman is an exciting and essential connection to those who can benefit the most from our mattress - the dedicated endurance athlete community. As an Ironman competitor myself, it is quite satisfying to have the T3 Athletic Recovery Mattress meet the demanding standards of becoming an official product of Ironman."

Energia is the first comfort material to successfully combine high resiliency and support with the shape-conforming comfort of memory foams. The T3 utilizes a proprietary ratio of foam densities to achieve a custom-fit feel based on sleep preferences. The benefits of Energia include:
- Reduces motion transfer and sleeps cooler than pure memory foam.
- Decreases average stress on key pressure points, thereby allowing both major muscle groups and core stabilizers to relax and repair.
- Is exceptionally durable and manufactured with environmentally friendly VPF production technology.

"I have always encouraged my athletes to view a quality mattress as a key piece of training equipment. A healthy back and shoulders and proper rest are central to the success of any endurance athlete. T3 delivers a high quality, athlete-specific sleep and regeneration solution," says Lance Watson, founder of LifeSport Coaching and coach of Olympic Gold Medalists and Ironman Champions.

The T3 Athletic Recovery Mattress will be on-site at the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and Ford Ironman World Championship 70.3 in Clearwater, FL. Additionally, the T3 Athletic Recovery Mattress will soon be available for direct purchase exclusively through the T3 website, www.T3recovery.com. Information about purchasing can now be found at www.sunrisematt.com/ironman, or by calling 800-359-8144.

A mattress with wheel appeal

Michael Cote encourages bed hopping. All the better to help find that special one with which to settle down, he figures.

Cote, you see, is in the businesses of selling mattresses. He brings them to the doorsteps of homes so shoppers can try them out. If a customer wants to buy the bedding, the sales crew unloads the mattress on the spot.

His two-year-old Wicker Park neighborhood-based company, Sleep Squad LLC, quietly began shuttling mattresses via $200,000 customized mobile showroom/delivery truck to folks' homes last spring.

A former T-Mobile employee, Cote, 39, started Sleep Squad figuring mattresses were among the items most households needed but for which consumers hated to shop, bothered by price variations, hard sells and time taken off work to accommodate delivery.

"You're walking into the sea of white; all these mattresses. They all look the same, and after trying four or five of them, they all get confusing," Cote said. "People hate cheesy salespeople, and the high-pressure close. We've given our customers the sale price online up front. It's an everyday no-haggle low price."

Here's how it works:

A shopper goes to the Internet site (www.sleepsquad.com) or calls (888-767-7533) to make an appointment, and answer a couple of questions regarding preferences for brand, size and firmness to help narrow the selection of 100 Simmons and Tempur-Pedic mattresses in inventory to two or three to bring out.

Within one hour of a scheduled appointment, a two-person team -- one person doing the selling and the other usually fielding questions from passersby -- arrives in a vehicle tricked out with coffee maker, DVD player and monitor that shows informational DVDs or movies to keep tykes entertained while parents shop.

The mobile bedroom showroom, designed by Cote's architect father, is supposed to get as close to your front door as allowed.

Standard routine has the shades pulled down in the unit for privacy.

The salesman gives a spill about accessories, and provides a sheet of information, including pricing, about the selections being tested. Uniformed workers step out of the showroom while the customer tries the bed. A camera mounted in the corner captures the action.

The service allows customers to spend as much time on the bedding as they want, although the average customer typically takes between 15 and 20 minutes, said Cote, president and CEO of Sleep Squad, which has four investors, three full-time employees, and about 20 part-time workers.

In a traditional store, he figures, a customer typically spends, at most, five to 10 minutes on the mattress -- not enough time to really evaluate the piece.

The mattresses are priced 50-to-60 percent off manufacturers suggested retail prices, and there's no charge for delivery.

One expert in the retail mattress business says Cotes' business model is an unnecessary one with all the current retailers. But, added David Perry, bedding editor for Furniture/Today trade newspaper, the mattress shopping experience is generally not considered to be pleasant.

"I don't think there is a pressing need to sell beds door to door," he said. "The industry now has many, many, many bedding stores; probably too many. There's no lack of places a consumer can go and try out a new bed."

Perry said that some consumers might feel apprehensive about trying the mattresses in a mobile unit, even with the shades pulled down; or "they might feel more pressure in that sort of setting to buy than they might in a store."

Cote insists there's no pressure. He encourages shoppers to try to bed down with their shoes on and in several positions. He claims a 95 percent success rate for the 100 or so appointments Sleep Squad has had. In those cases where there's no match, the crew will head back to headquarters, and load up other selections.

Customers have been having fun with the concept, he said. "We've had people come out in pajamas and slippers. One family of four came out to lie on the bed."

Source: Chicago Sun Times, 10/01/07

Pillow Talk for the Weary

The Benjamin, a hotel in Manhattan that caters to the stylish business traveler, has introduced its latest amenity: new clothes for the beds.
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Julien Jourdes for The New York Times

Out went the Frette sheets and old bedspreads, and in came a sumptuous ensemble in ivory Egyptian cotton from Anichini with matelassé pillow shams, sateen duvet covers and 400-thread-count sheets.

Besides a choice of 12 pillow types — overseen by a sleep concierge who says she often feels like a psychiatrist — the bed comes with a money-back guarantee: if you don’t sleep as well as you do at home, you get a refund for the night. One guest has asked for his money back, but not because of the bed, said Andy Labetti, the hotel’s general manager. “It was noisy outside, and he was on a low floor.”

Like many hotels these days, from moderate to luxury, the Benjamin is engaged in bed obsession, a trend that is, oddly, relatively recent for an industry that is, after all, in the sleep business. Ever since 1999, when Westin introduced, with much fanfare, its all-white Heavenly Bed, hotels have gone to the mattresses — and pillows and sheets — to please the traveler well versed in once-arcane details like mattress height and thread counts.

Yet another wave of bed amenities is here, with lighter, softer sheets that keep you cool, and thicker mattresses that can feel better than the one you have at home. As for bedspreads, they are disappearing as rapidly as lobby pay phones, making way for washable duvet covers that are changed for each guest and are usually white to signal cleanliness.

“You don’t get the oogie factor, where you worry about who was there before you,” said Steven Samson, the vice president for room operations at Marriott International, which installed new bedding in 628,000 rooms last year.

Frequent business travelers like Elliott Grosovsky, the president and chief executive of Elliott Lauren, a women’s clothing company in New York, now expect the best in bedding. He considers great sheets “totally standard,” like 24-hour room service. “When I notice something, it’s either because it’s not up to my expectations or because it’s something extra, like a pillow menu,” he said. On a trip to India, two details caught his attention: the “amazing” duck-down pillows at the Imperial in New Delhi, and a coil that poked through the mattress at a Taj hotel in Mumbai.

Mattresses are an important way for a property or chain to set itself apart, hoteliers say. Thicker hotel mattresses are a response to residential box-spring-mattress combinations that are typically 26 to 30 inches high. (“But hotels have to make sure the height is comfortable for a shorter person,” said Mr. Samson of Marriott’s new 27-inch-thick beds.) Pillow-top mattresses, which have a cushioned layer, are a costly investment since they cannot be turned over. These are common at luxury hotels like Four Seasons, which has upgraded the mattress that Sealy designed for the company more than a decade ago.

As sales of hotel mattresses to guests have become commonplace, mattress companies are eager to link with hotels to promote their products. “Spending a night at a hotel is a great way to try out a bed,” said Debbie C. Howath, an assistant professor at Johnson & Wales University International Hotel School in Providence, R.I.

The same applies to sheets, which is one reason high-end linen manufacturers like Sferra, Anichini and Bagni Volpi Noemi are courting luxury and boutique hotels, a domain long dominated by Frette. Indeed, the Benjamin recently replaced its Frette sheets with Anichini for “something luxurious but different,” said Anya Olanska, the sleep concierge at the hotel.

“Sheets can be a deal breaker,” said D’Arcy Achziger, a merchandise director for a New York clothing company who travels for business more than three months a year. “Now the best hotel sheets are impossibly soft and cool, and go swoosh when you get in the bed.” A fan of the sheets at the Four Seasons, Ms. Achziger said, “I give hotels a B or B+ when the sheets feel like the ones I have at home.”

Thread counts indicate quality up to a point, said Lisa Rosenberg, the owner of Arrelle Fine Linens in Chicago. To achieve thread counts over 300 a square inch, manufacturers usually twist each thread “then multiply by two,” she said, turning a 200-count thread sheet into a 400-count.

“A 200-count Frette hotel sheet is a good sheet,” she added. And 100 percent cotton is ideal because it breathes.

Such sheets are not practical at large chain hotels, where cotton-polyester is the norm, said Sue A. Brush, a senior vice president at Westin Hotels and Resorts. “The bed needs a wrinkle-free appearance.” But hotels like Westin have increased the thread count and softness ante, replacing the standard T-180, a 180-count cotton-polyester warhorse, with costlier higher counts and blends favoring cotton over polyester.

As for pillows, choice rules. Chains like Westin, W, Marriott and Hyatt continue to raise quality, size and number, making watching TV or checking e-mail on a laptop a luxurious experience.

Extensive pillow menus continue to expand, mainly at high-end hotels that can sustain the cost and have the space to stockpile varieties. At the Benjamin — where the selection includes memory foam, buckwheat and the Snore-No-More, which holds the chin up to open nasal passages — 75 percent of guests try a special pillow, Ms. Olanska said.

The water pillow does not have many takers, she said, adding that it was, perhaps, too 70s. But the new music pillow that attaches to an iPod and turns into a fluff-filled speaker? A hit.

Source: New York Times, 9/17/07

Study: Sleep Deprivation May Raise the Risk for Hypertension in Women

Researchers at Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick found that women who slept five or fewer hours per night were at a increased risk for hypertension when compared to men who slept five or fewer hours.

The University of Warwick team looked at data from “The Whitehall II Cohort,” which studied volunteers from 20 London-based civil service departments. There were a total of 6,592 participants (4,199 men and 1,567 women). The Warwick team defined hypertension as blood pressure equal to or higher than 140/90 mm Hg or if the subject made regular use of antihypertensive medications.

The researchers found that the women in the study group who slept less than or equal to five hours per night were twice as likely to suffer from hypertension than women who slept for seven hours or more a night. The researchers found no difference between men sleeping less than five hours and those sleeping seven hours or more.

“Sustained sleep curtailment, ensuing excessive daytime sleepiness, and the higher cardiovascular risk are causes for concern," professor Francesco Cappuccio of the Warwick Medical School. "Emerging evidence also suggests a potential role for sleep deprivation as a predictor or risk factor for conditions like obesity and diabetes.”

Source: Fox News, 9/10/07

Serta unveils "green" baby mattress

LaJobi Industries, Inc., a designer, manufacturer and distributor of leading brands of baby furniture, recently unveiled the first environmentally friendly - or "green" - Serta crib mattress called Serta's Perfect Balance. This new addition to the Serta Baby mattress line is distributed by LaJobi and available exclusively at Babies "R" Us, the nation's premier baby products retailer.

"Today's product development trends are focused on reexamining and redefining the relationship between the consumer and the environment," said Larry Bivona, President, LaJobi Industries, Inc. "We are very proud to distribute the first Serta eco-friendly crib mattress and believe that a mattress designed with both baby and the environment in mind will be a welcome addition to any nursery."

Made with organic cotton fill, the Serta Perfect Balance crib mattress cradles baby in a healthy, natural environment. Designed with comfort and durability in mind, the mattress features continuous heavy coils, flex mesh support and six-gauge border wire. A heavily laminated cover made without Phthalates protects from dust mites and bacteria, and there are eight air vents keep the mattress fresh while providing a safe sleeping surface. The crib mattress, which also fits a toddler bed, retails for $199.99.

About LaJobi Industries, Inc.
LaJobi Industries, Inc. manufactures and distributes five top brands of juvenile furniture including Bonavita, Babi Italia, ISSI, Europa Baby and Graco, as well as Serta Crib Mattresses. Named for its founders, brothers Larry and Joe Bivona, LaJobi is known for commitment to top-quality workmanship, design, service, uncompromising dedication to quality and innovation. Proud of 13 years of steady growth and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, the Bivona brothers remain focused on providing European-inspired juvenile furniture. The company was the first to design, manufacture and introduce the Lifestyle® Crib, which was recently recognized as a Consumer's Digest Best Buy.

And, LaJobi products meet the highest standards of consumer safety certification requirements by leading organizations including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association and the American Society for Testing and Materials Standards.

Source: Press Release, 9/8/07

What is Transformational Sleep?

There is a dramatic difference between sleep and transformational sleep.

Sleep is something that may or may not be healing, therapeutic, restful, long enough, deep enough, happen in the right spot or even at the right time. Sleep basically means you're in a state of unconsciousness. But transformational sleep is more. Much more. It's the right sleep on the right bed, courtesy of the ideal sleep solution from Mattress Firm.

For some people, transformational sleep means the right kind of sleep - a sleep that can make you less tired, more alert, which in turn can make you more focused and productive at work. Result? More satisfying career.

For other people, transformational sleep means a calmer and more peaceful sleep, which in turn makes you less irritable, better able to handle stress, which can improve your interpersonal relationships.

And for some, transformational sleep may mean something as simple as sleeping in the right position which results in less back pain. And with less back pain comes increased productivity and improved overall physical health.

You see, transformational sleep can be different for everyone, but it always turns the nighttime into a time for something restorative, something positive, and something special.

That's the magic of Mattress Firm sleep solutions.

Trust - what makes a brand great

I wrote recently about trust-based marketing and the lack of trust in marketing on the Web. I was surprised at the large response I received. Most responses were from marketers, most of whom agree that trust is an issue but worry about the aggressive growth, push-based ethics of today's dot-com world, noting that balance seems impossible to achieve.

So how would you know if you are trustworthy? How do customers perceive your marketing? Are you reaching new people, or are you just irritating them? Ask yourself the following questions:

Is your language trustworthy? In a world that is post-Watergate, post-dot-com swindles, post-market crash, and post-unfulfilled promises, consumers have overdeveloped BS detection that automatically dings at the slightest hint of marketing doublespeak.

I'm still amazed at the mission statements, press releases, and ad campaigns that try to cover up faulty business models, bad news, or even good value with "written for analysts by analysts" language. Witness recent press releases by dot-coms that couch layoffs in terms like "right-sizing" (all of them) or "optimizing shareholder value" (Boeing) or "involuntary attrition" (Cisco). In a world where "Dilbert" is a top comic strip, consumers, analysts, investors, and -- most important -- your customers are not fooled by language that sounds like it comes from LeveragedSynergies.com.

Are your ads trustworthy? In a recent ad campaign, a unified messaging company showed a man on a golf course, checking his email. What? Where is the trust? Would I buy this service so that my employees can spend more time golfing? Aside from the lack of messaging about productivity, value, time or money saved, or more efficiently communicating with your customers, the ad showed a vivid illustration of where the company's own priorities were. The executives are all, like the ad, well-heeled white male golfers. This is a spectacular case of an advertisement inspiring cynicism rather than trust or value.

Is your site trustworthy? Just as ads can be exclusionary, sites that are overdesigned or poorly designed can be detrimental to your customer relationships. While researching health issues, I came across a large national health insurance company site that did not allow any viewing by browsers other than Internet Explorer, no older than one version behind. When I contacted the company, the response was, "Sorry, that's the way it's designed." I am not -- and now will not be -- a customer; it's too peculiar to alienate your audience and even existing customers through poor design.

Overdesign can, ironically, be just as alienating. As Christopher Locke has repeatedly advocated in his "gonzo marketing" theology, too many companies have gone overboard in "professionalism," leaving their sites, press releases, and ads without any hint of the company's personality, culture, or human side. I appreciate sites that are thoroughly edited, clean, and exact. But I'm also bored stiff by sites that refuse to take a design risk, never make a joke, don't illustrate well, or don't reveal who its employees are or why it's a unique community.

Do you let the customer talk? The Web is supposed to be uniquely two-way. Is it? Too many sites assume that Web- or email-based interaction is enough. Have a question? Send an email, or fill out this form. Want to buy something? Fill out this form, or send an email.

This is all hugely convenient because it's available 24/7 and takes very little additional staffing, compared with a call center. But no amount of usability testing or Web interactivity is as useful as a mere phone call. In a recent revision of a client's site, my firm made a simple change: We added a field to each form on the site (support, ordering, inquiries, etc.), asking customers if they preferred a reply by email, phone, or fax. A significant portion continue to select phone, despite their obvious access to the Internet.

A recent article cited a small-business owner who said that adding an 800-number to every page of the company's site increased orders by 30 percent, almost instantly. Why? Because in a virtual world, people like to know who is behind the site. Because the fastest email response time is still slower than a phone call. Because one 3-minute phone call can often clear up questions that would take multiple emails.

Are your policies trustworthy? Online ordering is still uncomfortable for some consumers, believe it or not. A reluctance to give out credit card numbers lingers, and all the security measures in the world won't counter a story about stolen identities on "Dateline." It doesn't matter if it's rational or not. Thus, the importance of alternatives: ordering by fax or ordering by phone.

These solutions may be less convenient to you, but they can be more comfortable introductions to a relationship for the customer -- once customers trust you, you have a better chance of converting them to simple Web-based ordering later. You can also comfort them with comprehensive policies to cover guarantees, quality, product samples, returns, product loss or damage in shipping, and even your technical security measures. It's just verbiage to some, but to others, it's the difference between taking a risk and skipping to the next site with a better name.

Is your brand trustworthy? Your brand is either trustworthy or it's not. If you are not inspiring trust, you are inspiring suspicion. The dot-coms that blew millions on brand building had their business model all wrong, but they were right about the importance of branding. Everything about your brand has to be trust-driven, familiar, and recognizable: your logo, your marketing, your language, your hiring policies, your management, your salespeople, your designers, your press releases, your advertising.

Are you actually addressing people's needs? Do they believe you? The simplest test is to ask your customers. Or look at your most successful competitor: Is its advantage a real-world presence, a long-lived customer base, a more consistent business model, better quality? Then that's what the customers are valuing over Web-based convenience, lower pricing, or a brand-new idea.

The simple truth of trust-based marketing is obvious: Be trustworthy. I have worked with many companies in pre-launch, early-stage, start-up, small-business, big-business, and big-brand categories. Many small businesses, and especially the dot-coms that have been in turmoil over the last year, have inadvertently or even with strategic intent screwed over an investor, a customer, and whole groups of employees. Every time it has been a sign that the company is bad juju for everyone, and it's only a matter of time before its customers figure that out. If you disappoint a customer now, let a hacker in, or treat your employees badly, the karma will come back to haunt your brand later.

Perhaps it's obvious, but it bears repeating in the cutthroat, do-or-die world of Internet marketing these days: Trust-based marketing starts with trustworthiness. As your Mom once told you back in kindergarten, "Play nice, then you'll make friends."

L&P to tour stores to promote better sleep

CARTHAGE, Mo. — Bedding components giant Leggett & Platt is taking its message about the importance of better sleep on the road next month for a national retail tour.

On Sept. 17, L&P will launch its first Spring Alive Tour, a coast-to-coast trip that will promote the health benefits of a good night’s sleep and outline the role that innersprings play in delivering such sleep.

A delegation of L&P officials and bedding industry consultants will spend five days calling on retailers to educate salespeople and consumers on the sleep/health connection. The grassroots tour is a first for the industry, L&P said.

The tour schedule will be released later.

The L&P team includes Mark Quinn, group executive vice president of sales and marketing for L&P’s bedding division.

“Research from the Better Sleep Council shows that poor sleep not only directly affects your health, but is also directly related to the age of your mattress,” Quinn said. “For years, the industry has focused on the price of a mattress instead of the benefits to a consumer’s life. Leggett & Platt wants to help change that message so we can make a better connection with the end user.”

Bedding experts slated for the tour include Craig McAndrews of the Innovative Retail Group, who will provide retail sales training. He will meet with salespeople to share consumer insights from his research, as well as methods for selling a better night’s sleep at the point of sale, rather than focusing on price and product specifications.

A recent study conducted by Innovative Retail Group found that when retail sales associates emphasized the importance of improving sleep quality with consumers, the mattress shopping experience was 50% more enjoyable than when the emphasis was on product or price.

“My goal is to help each retail sales associate I meet on this tour have a greater understanding of today’s consumer and, more importantly, a better understanding of how to communicate the better sleep story,” McAndrews said. “In doing so, they will not only improve the lives of consumers, but they also will deliver a more dynamic experience in the store.”

Also joining the tour is research specialist and bedding veteran Kurt Ling, president of Customer Kinetics, who will work with L&P to conduct consumer focus groups that explore retailers’ concerns regarding their customers’ perception of the mattress shopping experience.

“We are going to learn valuable information during this tour,” Ling said. “That information will be useful to Leggett and will include insights that will be beneficial to retailers, as well as specifics that will be advantageous to retail sales associates.”

L&P has created materials to support the tour, including brochures, pocket cards and Sleep Kits to help retailers and consumers understand the link between better sleep and improved health.

A Web site, www.LeggettSleep.com, will be launched when the tour starts. The site also will enable retailers to order educational materials for salespeople and consumers, and will feature information on innersprings and the “Active Support Technology” story.

“No one in the industry has taken such a grassroots approach to addressing the sleep/health link,” Quinn said. “If we all tell the story, we will benefit our consumers and our businesses.”

A good mattress does your health a favor

Your back hurts. Your neck feels stiff. Your shoulder is tight.

You and your doctor will have to determine the underlying cause, but an old, lumpy mattress could be contributing to the problem.

Choosing a new mattress, however, may be harder than it sounds. We spend a third of our lives in bed — surely scientists have figured out what works and what doesn't in regard to mattresses?

Actually, they have not. Little research exists on the topic.

But conventional wisdom dictates that a firm mattress is best for everyone, right?

As it turns out, conventional wisdom may be wrong.

"The latest research reports that a medium-firm mattress is best for people with back, neck and shoulder problems," says Laura O'Connor, a physical therapist at Heritage Physical Therapy in Des Peres. "A study showed that people sleeping on a medium-firm mattress get up more easily, have less overall stiffness and do better throughout the day."

O'Connor's best advice — besides tossing out lumpy mattresses that can cause, as well as contribute, to pain — is to avoid soft mattresses.

"You don't want a mattress that you sink into, like a couch," she says. "Anyone who has ever spent the night on a couch knows just how bad that feels. You also don't want a mattress as hard as your kitchen table."

Jeff Wright, a physical therapist at St. John's Mercy Sports and Therapy in west St. Louis County, says sleep position is also important.

"The best position is on your side, with an extra pillow between the knees," Wright says. "That keeps the spine in a neutral position and avoids twisting of the lower spine."

So should you buy a conventional mattress? A foam mattress? An air mattress? A waterbed?

"The answer is different for everyone," Wright says. "What you need most of all is a supportive mattress. Saggy springs are not good for anybody."

If you suffer from arthritis or joint pain, you may want to buy a mattress with extra padding, such as a pillow-top or feather-top, Wright says. The Arthritis Foundation's website (www.arthritis.org) recommends only that you get a "good" mattress.

What does a "good" mattress cost? O'Connor and Wright both insist that a good mattress, a mattress that will support your body and provide restful sleep, does not have to cost more than all of the furniture in the bedroom. Shop around, they say, and be sure to spend time testing any mattress you're thinking of buying.

Both physical therapists note that bad pillows can cause as much discomfort as bad mattresses. Wright recommends just one pillow per head — don't pile them up. For optimum support, O'Connor recommends a pillow 4 to 6 inches thick.

"And some people," she says, "do great with no pillow at all."

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 8/20/07