Bedding in the Furniture Trade News

Bedding has exploded as a category in the home furnishing industry and EVERYONE is getting into it. You will see more brands, more choices, and more confusion in this category, along with more stores carrying an array of choices. Every issue of FURNITURE TODAY has news about bedding, and statistics. This was in the issue of the one that arrived today, and has to do with Pain Relief when shopping bedding.

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And now I want to tell you a story. Anyone who has ever come to my store in person knows I am not a hard sell. I'd rather have a conversation than give you a sales pitch, and as such I think its a relaxing environment for many rather than stressful. That also means I get to know many of my customers and some have very interesting professions. Three of my customers are well-known Orthopedic Surgeons who buy their Royal Pedic bedding from my store, including one who is the ortho doc for a certain professional football team in town. I read this propaganda the bedding industry puts out on their beds as theirs being 'orthopedically correct' . So I have asked each one of them about bedding and if a new bed *can* relieve back pain? Every one of them says: "The key to relieving back pain is to exercise and lose weight, and get those back muscles in shape" and I say "I don't think people want to hear that..." And then we both get a good laugh out of that.

I find it distressing that people in this industry will pitch a new bed to a consumer as being able to relieve their pain. That's not right, and this article written for the retailer tends to encourage that without directly saying so. Moral of the story from my perspective is that you should realize this is a sales pitch, and filter it accordingly. While a used up bed that is broke down won't give you a good night's sleep, a new bed from anyone is not magic, either.