By: Dale T. Read, Editor-in-Chief

Two months ago, Bedding & Specialty BEDROOM Magazine wrote a story about Comfortaire stating that not all players are equal in the airbed industry. Put bluntly, airbeds are not an easy product for just any mattress/bedding manufacturer to make and market. At the time we reported: “Comfortaire also knows that a properly developed airbed program featuring the right product mix, focused retailer training, proper marketing and a dedicated and committed retailer can yield significant benefits to both the retailer and consumers looking for increased sleeping comfort, reduced surface pressure and individual preference . . . Comfortaire completely agrees with the statement that creating and managing an airbed program is not easy. They’ve spent decades carefully designing and creating excellent products and programs. Pardon the pun, but airbeds are not something to be taken lightly. Nevertheless it would be absolutely wrong to suggest the only way to sell air is direct or through the huge national brand that primarily sells through its own retail stores. A well run airbed program can be operated and managed by independent home furnishings and sleep retail dealers.”

According to Eric Rose, Comfortaire’s vice president of marketing and sales, two overall occurrences have led to astronomical opportunity and growth for the airbed company. The first was that Comfortaire has a seventeen-year patent on the unique surface or top of comfort layers technology with the company’s three-inch urethane core topper. The second is that the leading nationally branded mass media airbed company has significantly reduced its marketing and distribution through independent retailers. According to independent sources the mass marketer has abandoned a lot of their dealer relationships including some of the top 100 retailers who have sold airbeds to consumers.

“We are the logical choice for some of these top retailers who already sell air sleep and now need a source. We’ve been able to land several of these top 100 retailer relationships, and things are going extremely well,” says Rose.

“The fact is there are not a lot of companies that present a complete air program with a correct posture control solution. Companies without our patented system have to create a full air core, they have to bury air cores deep, or they have to create tri-zone systems to prevent hammocking or lack of support. Eight years ago we offered a very similar full core product. However we overcame our early design prejudices, and we took a hard look at what was working after 17 years in the business, and what was not working. Our technology was re-invented 8 years ago to address what consumers really wanted in an airbed. This decision spawned the research and the patents, creating what we know is the best use of air today. We now market our three-inch urethane air core on a base of high-density support foam to prevent sagging and hammocking,” states Rose.

“Our airbeds feature a simple patented low-profile system that works because we offer the top-of-bed solution. Very few companies are able to use air technology correctly. Comfortaire, with our patented technology, is using air at the top of the mattress. It is the simplest way to control posture. We offer retailers air systems that work properly and products that deliver; their sales people embrace our system quickly, and they tell us customers like them,” says Rose.

Typically, Comfortaire will replace the outgoing mass-marketed airbed with their baseline GS 500™, which is comparable to a similar model from the large national mass marketer. Then they may add the GS900™ and the GS1100™ to round out the presentation with three models. “We know, based on experience,” says Rose, “that once we get the consumer convinced, we convert them . . . we win them over and close the sale. We must be doing something right because we are experiencing a phenomenal growth rate that is far exceeding the projected growth rate for the mattress industry as a whole.”

Rose also notes that when you compare the Comfortaire product, price point for price point, with the mass-marketed national brand, Comfortaire offers better features, better performance and an effective “worry-free” warranty program. Our program is designed to make it work at the retail store level for retailers who are committed to and believe in air sleep,” says Rose. “Comfortaire is the obvious choice for retailers; we’ve done it for decades, we’re doing it now, and we’ll be doing it for years to come!”