Here’s an interesting piece from Furniture Today which tackles on the power of advertising in business, especially in the mattress retail industry.

Speaking before a group of retailers last May, advertising executive Jon Parks says that mattress stores “shouldn’t shortchange their advertising programs” as research have proven that even with today’s economic climate all over America, companies who cut on their advertising budget are “outperformed” by those who don’t.

The report also assessed trends in online marketing, specifically, shopping for mattresses on the internet, to which Parks noted:

60% of consumers have used the Internet to do product research. So retailers need to leverage their strengths — the “bricks” of their stores — with the clicks that consumers will be making online to learn more about mattresses.

How can retailers beef up their advertising in today’s trend? More tips may be found here.

While other companies are struggling with keeping earnings steady in the current economic climate, raising their end product to cover costs, Five Star Mattress is actually considering cutting back the prices of their mattresses by as much as 32%, in an effort to be more competitive.

Says Five Star Mattress’ President, Donna Zett — “This is not a temporary rollback, but new, more competitive pricing that will rock the industry, providing higher margins for dealers than was ever thought possible. We are making a big push to gain additional business. We are the only producer in the industry that is lowering prices. We’ve got six months’ of experience under our belt. We know where the balance of our mix is. We can target the right prices at the popular price points.”

Five Star Mattresses are priced between $299 to $999. It is perhaps setting a new trend in the industry.

“We are making a statement. We are looking out for our dealers.” Zett adds.

Via Furniture Today

Mattress Firm has reached another milestone when it opened its 500th store in San Antonio this week, considering the current economic climate in America today.

The company nearly doubled its store count over the past two years through both organic growth and acquisitions and its footprint now covers 38 markets in 21 states.

“I believe that 500 stores is just the beginning for us as we continue our efforts to expand border-to-border and coast to coast,” says Gary Fazio, Mattress Firm chief executive officer. “There are many markets we are interested in establishing a presence in, and we will continue to move forward with our growth plans to expand in current markets and penetrate new ones.”

Via Biz Journals