Imported Mattresses- faq
The erosion of our United States manufacturing base keeps building steam, and our mattress manufacturing industry is no exception. Finished mattress from China arrived in 2005 and eventually will be the second huge nail in the coffin of “independent US mattress manufacturers. ( the other nail is the new federal bedding law to take effect in 2007).
Imported Chinese mattress will soon dominate US market
CHINA MATTRESS INDUSTRY
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.