COVER STORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Futon Mattresses — The State of The Art It’s All About Comfort

We have come a long way from the days of the hand tufted, hand closed, hand made futon mattresses of the seventies. Most of these mattresses were made by true believers who discovered an efficiency of design and function that delivered comfort and an aesthetic sense of peace reserved for the quiet time spent in one’s personal and private space. The use of the word industry meant carefully hand picking cotton batting, and building an individual mattress for an individual customer. Asian themes and cultural ideals came along for the ride. The customer was also interested in the alternative, minimalist lifestyle that accompanied the hand crafted nature of the product. It was all so simple and that was the point.

Today, simple has been replaced by sleep science, and individually hand crafted futon mattresses are as rare as an original Brouwer Bed.

Through all the changes of the past twenty or so years the futon mattress has retained much of what earned it its early success. Cotton, a natural fiber, is still an important part of the mix, and with some of the new processing techniques being touted today it will remain a major filling material in the future. Natural, unbleached, cotton/polyester muslin is still the ticking of choice, though some of the new premium units sport damask or the new knits seen on many traditional mattresses. Lace tufting, a part of the process abandoned long ago by the innerspring mainstream, is still a visible and physical characteristic of today’s futon mattresses that give them a feel and comfort level of products four or five times the price. And the ability to fold, a sometimes overlooked but integral aspect of this particular hybrid, is central to the continued success of what many said would be passing trend.

As Mark Twain once said*, “The report of my death was an exaggeration,” and so it is with the futon mattress business.

Today some manufacturers have moved totally away from natural fibers. “Our best sellers are now all synthetic fibers and foam,” said Jack Roma, Jr. of Otis Bed. The company’s Haley and Moonshadow models are high tech marvels with the comfort to match. And that’s just the beginning of the story.

We spoke to nine major futon mattress manufacturer here in the states and asked each four questions. We wanted to find out what is currently happening with new innovations and components, what models have the best sell through and at what price points, what migration exists, if any, of futon mattresses into the bedroom (either on platform beds which seem to be becoming more popular, or as primary sleep surfaces, replacing overpriced and understuffed innerspring products on top of a box spring or foundation), and lastly what do they think the future holds for our category in a bedding and comfort world that is rapidly morphing (at almost internet speed) into something very different than it was even two or three years ago? Hey, who ever thought factory direct would be the wunderkind of the new millennium? How about Dave Young and Ron Passaglia for starters?

Star Futon’s Encased Coil (top) and Intelligel (bottom) products top their lineup of impressive premium futon mattresses

“All the comfort comes from the mattress. Period!,” said Bob Naboicheck, of Gold Bond Futon in Hartford, the industry’s largest futon mattress manufacturer. “With all due respect for what SIS and Omni are doing with the covers in the fashion arena, and the beautiful frames, solid cherry, solid oak and ash, and they are beautiful, … but if we don’t make a comfortable product for people to sit their tushes on then we are shooting ourselves in the foot. And that’s the most important part of our value proposition as an industry,” he said.

Others agree, and they are stepping up to the plate with some awesome new products that may propel these manufacturers and the dual purpose futon back into the limelight in a changing home furnishings marketplace.

“The latest and greatest for us is the enclosed coil,” said Bob Pecoraro of Big Sleep in Los Angeles. “It offers our customers a great ‘do not disturb your bed partner’ story. This is the hottest item we have, and it’s our best seller.” Pecoraro reports that over fifty percent of all his futon mattress sales are innerspring models. “We have also taken the welt cord and added a level of sophistication to the mattress so when you put it on a frame it looks like a sofa cushion,” he said. Mr. & Mrs. Consumer understand the concept and Big Sleep/Big Tree have made their mark by successfully innovating the sofa look into the futon category.

“Our futon concepts continually evolve,” said Wendi Hartsoe of Hickory Springs. “Since we are so closely aligned with upper-end home furnishings, these trends work their way into our futon innovations. The latest trend we see is the utilization of softer, more supple foams in conjunction with super-slick fibers. We are testing several modifications in dual-density fibers for streamlined “no fat” mattresses. We foresee a time when the weight of a mattress will be a problem and tastes will run toward lower profiles, still packed with comfort,” she said.

Anne Newmark of Star Futon, in New York, echoed the fact that premium futons are the current trend. “There has been a huge jump in the sales of my premium units, premium is hot right now,” she said. Newmark added, “When I first started in this business ten or so years ago my best customers were the specialty stores, the Door Store, the Loft Bed store. Today it’s moving into the traditional furniture store. People like Brookstone and Tempurpedic had a lot to do with getting the higher end alternative mattress into the purview of the general consumer, and now that is paying off for us.”

Wolf Corporation, of Fort Wayne, Indiana is very excited about its newest innovation. Tony Wolf, company President and head cheerleader let us know in no uncertain terms that what they have is revolutionary.

Otis’ moonshadow is a total departure from the all cotton mattress that was the beginning of a long line of futon comfort solutions

“We are bringing a totally new technology to the category,” said Wolf. The new process, two years in the making, adds an almost permanent new level of loft to natural cotton. The patented product, yet to be named, “is the plushest, neatest thing you have ever sat or slept on,” Wolf said. “This process allows us to produce a cotton batt that is extremely lively and extremely resilient.

It lightens the futon mattress while adding loft, and is a tangible answer to those retailers who are looking for a new and improved product to put on their floors. This isn’t a new name, this is a totally new product,” he said.

While some innovate the product others work to improve the process. Marcus Grimm, of United Sleep Products, in Denver, Pennsylvania (the manufacturer of the Simmons line) spoke about the company’s ISO certification. “During the past year, we have started the painstaking process of getting ISO certification. This process has had a direct impact on raw material selection. We have formal written procedures for cotton and foam inspection.

Otis’ innovations have always pushed the comfort envelope. The haley is no exception

We have cataloged raw material defects and finished product defects, and by doing this, we have raised our quality and consistency to a higher level than ever.”

“We have come a long way with our mattress line,” said Mark Schlichter, president of August Lotz, the industry’s premium futon frame manufacturer who also happens to be in the mattress business. “It isn’t new this season, but our hinged mattress provides a premium level of comfort with the technology and the engineering on the inside so it folds correctly. This has been a constant issue with many of the premium mattresses in the marketplace. They are so well made that they don’t fold on the frame as they should. We are experimenting with other seat and back specialty items that we will be bringing to market this year,” Schlichter said.

“Acrylics, you want to know what’s new, acrylics,” said Tom Tedesco, of Devon Chase in Orlando, Florida. “We have developed a new resin pad made from acrylic fibers, Teflon coated acrylic fibers, and we hope it will be ready for the Las Vegas market. We are also looking at an all cotton futon mattress with all the characteristics of foam. It’s a random pattern ‘Vertalap’ cotton, and due to the technique by which they garnet and lap the batting it has the resiliency of foam. The ‘high tech’ futon mattress is coming of age,” Tedesco said. The company is also producing products with “profiled foam”. This profiled product allows Devon Chase to cut foam with the ergonomics of the human body in mind and produce a slab of foam with built in contours for lumbar support, head rests and other body cradling shapes.“Profiled foam, laminating different foam densities, polyester wraps, all tufted together to give a level of comfort you just can’t get in a mattress at three or four times the price,” added Tedesco.

We heard that theme often. The futon mattress in its most basic and simple form delivers a level of comfort and value at a price that sometimes scares retailers away. This is why there is a very strong movement across the board to develop premium products at higher price points. This is being done by using the filling materials that warrant those higher prices.

With all this movement towards premium quality, innovative comfort solutions, and giving people the steak as well as the sizzle we asked each of these leading manufacturers if they see the futon migrating into the bedroom.

“It already is,” said Bob Naboicheck. “When people have a positive experience with the product now, when they are primarily sitting on it, the natural evolution is that these same people are going to want to sleep on it. If you look at the more established retailers out there it is obvious that it is happening. One of my customers (Matt Kalman) in Portland Maine didn’t have a single bed on his floor eight years ago when he started. Now he has three platform beds and other people are moving in this direction too,” he said.

“People have to understand that what we are making and selling here is real comfort for the bedroom, ” said Bob Pecoraro of Big Sleep. He added, “Right now the industry is not focused on presenting itself this way. We need to let people know that the futon mattress is the perfect mattress to put on top of a box spring.”

Gold Bond’s Latex plus offers true luxury and comfort at an awesome “value” price point

Projecting this image of great sleep at a great value has not been successfully done to date by the industry, though this publication and the (Futon) Association have tried at times to open the door. I am convinced that this part of the market should be a prime target for gaining an increased market share in a large segment we currently aren’t competitive in as an industry.

“We are much more sophisticated as manufacturers today than in the past,” said Anne Newmark of Star Futon. When all dealers wanted was volume the manufacturers kept it simple, but today, with competition heating up and market share harder to come by these same manufacturers are getting creative. They have discovered the better business model is to sell a higher quality mattress while maintaining the value proposition futons already have, albeit at higher price points and higher margins, a position neither side is complaining about.

“We are finding that some of the premium (futon mattress) products we are now making rival our innerspring mattresses in comfort and value,” said Tony Wolf. Wolf sees migration to the new platform beds as a natural “lifestyle” move but added that he doesn’t see the ticking or basic construction of the futon radically changing any time soon.

Mark Schlichter of August Lotz agreed, “For the platform bed it (the futon) does a great job, but on a traditional bed I don’t see it going there yet.”

Otis Bed is taking the bull by the horns when it comes to helping themselves to a piece of the innerspring pie. Their new product (seen on this issue’s cover) is designed to tap right into the bedroom environment. “We are making the claim that a futon sleep system is better than a traditional innerspring,” said Jack Roma of Otis. “When it comes to innovation ours is what’s under the mattress not what’s inside it,” he said. The new system is comprised of three component parts: a five inch base frame; a four inch low profile innerspring mattress support pad; and an eight inch futon mattress. Roma expects to debut the new system at the show in Las Vegas.

The future of the futon mattress will continue to unfold (sorry), but all things still point to several years of continued growth and change. The growth will be slower than the past five years and will require manufacturers to become much sharper and daring with their marketing strategies both to retailers (who may have historical biases or who just don’t understand the category) and in general in the trade. Consumers still love the product. “We are commanding a much larger consumer mind share,” said Tom Tedesco, president of the Futon Association International. “Futons are turning up in television shows and in TV commercials, and the retailer is beginning to understand too, there is a higher end with the futon mattress.”

Bottom Line: I am convinced that the futon mattress is not only here to stay but because of its wonderful combination of great comfort and awesome value it will continue to slowly garner market share in both the sleeper sofa and daybed market, and on into the innerspring dominated bedroom. Perceptions though, must change for our premium products to make the cut. This will mean unifying as a category to work together to change the current perception that a futon is a $99 bed in a box at Wal-Mart. The waterbed industry faced a similar situation several years ago and wasn’t able to turn things around. After talking to the men and women in our industry I see a very different outcome for us. FL

* This often misquoted Twainism can be found at the following URL: http://www.twainquotes.com/Death.html.