AgrowingnumberofimportersareintroducingthosemattressesintotheU.S.market,andonememberofbedding’sBigFour,SpringAir,hasgonepublicwithitstestsofChinese-madebedsintheUnitedStates.
Atthispoint,leadingU.S.beddingmakersgenerallydon’tbelievethatChinesebedswillarrivethisyearinlevelshighenoughtobeconsideredsignificant.
“ChinawillcontinuetogrowasafactorintheU.S.beddingmarket,but‘significant’isprobablytoostrong”aword,saidSealyCEODaveMcIlqu-ham.
“Idon’tthinkitwillreachthelevelofbeingsignificantin2005,”saidSpringAirPresidentJimNation.Buthewasquicktoadd:“By2010,ithasthepotentialtobesignificant.”
Similarly,JimmyOrders,presidentofParkPlaceCorp.,doesn’tthinkChinese-mademattresseswillbeasignificantforcethisyear.But,hesuggested:“Askthesamequestionagainatthistimenextyear.”
Withthisspecialreport,Furniture/TodayissteppingupitscoverageoftheChinesebeddingscene.We’vewrittenanumberofstoriesonthistopicinthepastfewyears,butthisreportmarksourmostcomprehensiveexaminationtodate.
Inadditiontopresentingtheassessmentsofmorethanadozendomesticbeddingproducers,welookatthegrowingnumberofChinesebeddinglinesshowingupinthemarketplace.
Wepresentanin-depthupdateonExcelBedding,apioneerinbringingChinese-madebedstotheUnitedStates.Andwealsohaveaquestion-and-answersessionwithformerRestonicCEOEdScott,whoisheadingupanewChinesebeddingventure.
Also,weexplainhowsomeChinesebeddingproducersarereducingcostsbycompressingtheirmattressesforshipment.
Theissuesraisedinthisreportareonesthatwarrantclosescrutiny.TheChinalioncannotbedismissed. (David Perry)
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