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Louisville Bedding and PROTECT-A-BED Offer New Fire Defender™ Fire Resistant Mattress Pad and Box Spring Cover to Mattress and Top-of-Bed Retailers
By: Dale T. Read, Editor-in-Chief
Louisville Bedding™ Company and their mattress/bedding marketing and distribution channel partner PROTECT-A-BED® are providing a two-piece mattress pad and box spring cover solution to those consumers who currently own mattresses purchased prior to the new Federal (U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission / CPSC) Fire Retardance regulations due to take effect on July 1, 2007. Louisville Bedding introduced their new FIRE DEFENDER™ (patent pending) Fire Resistant Mattress Pad and Box Spring Cover sleep set at both their show space as well as at the PROTECT-A-BED show locations at the winter Las Vegas Furniture Market.
Scott Walters, National Merchandising Manager and Don Hofmann a consultant to Louisville Bedding as well as James Bell of PROTECT-A-BED revealed research that there are 20,800 fires each year attributed to mattress/bedding fires alone resulting in 380 deaths and 2200 injuries, as well as $295 million in property damage. Many of these deaths are attributable to a house/ home furnishings fire phenomenon known as “Flashover.” Flashover is the point as which a burning mattress and bed clothing can reach such a volume and temperature that the contents of the room suddenly ignite simultaneously making conditions untenable; a safe exit becomes impossible in most cases. Typically this flashover can happen in 1 to 3 minutes and the room temperature will exceed 1100º–1479º F resulting in approximately 70 per cent of fire fatalities . . . often from extremely hot air and toxic gases as opposed to direct flame.
The annual death, injury and property costs attributable to mattress fires was the driving force behind the new Federal Flammability Standard set by the U.S. CPSC. The federal government estimates that 270 lives, over 70% can be saved a year with the new standard, as well as 1,330 or over 80% of injuries can be prevented with the implementation of the new mattress flammability standards.
However, these statistics will not be achieved for years, simply with the introduction of new standards-compliant Fire Resistant (FR) mattresses by mattress manufacturers. The reason is simple: the vast majority of mattresses in homes for the next few years have already been purchased, and they were purchased before there was any federal government standard.
An Opportunity to Save Lives, Loss and to Increase Mattress Retailers’ Sales and Profit Margins This is where Louisville Bedding’s and PROTECT-A-BED’s joint Fire Defender™ Sleep Systems program, marketed under the slogan “Your Silent Firefighter™” comes into play. Research shared with BEDROOM Magazine demonstrates very clearly that there is a huge after market opportunity for mattress/bedding retailers who are willing to market this new fire resistant mattress pad and box spring/ foundation cover. The Fire Defender mattress pad fully meets the federal CPSC 1633 open flame test requirements. Company literature states that the pad on a mattress will allow the mattress to sit and burn for 30 minutes (as opposed to 1 to 3 minutes to flashover). The total heat release is substantially reduced. One company slide suggests that the product can offer a family “peace of mind” knowing they can have up to 30 minutes to get out of the house and contact fire fighters.
Alert, creative retailers can add to their business, build good will and reconnect with mattress customers who purchased beds before the new standard takes affect. Louisville Bedding and PROTECT-A-BED offer evidence that target consumers are willing to purchase fire protection and safety for their families. Typically women who are 25 years of age or older and married stated that 80.1% of their mattresses/box springs were 8 years or less in age. Surprisingly for mattress retailers 64% of these women said that they would consider buying a new mattress after learning about the news concerning the new FR regulations, and that they anticipated paying over $500 for the new FR compliant mattress (a surprising 28% said they expected to pay over $1000.). However of the 36% of targeted customers who said they would not buy a new mattress, 84% of these women said they would buy a new FR mattress pad. That means with the high level of awareness of FR standards, a full 30% of all existing mattress owners said they would purchase a mattress pad to assure safety and peace of mind for themselves and their families. Savvy mattress retailers will immediately project the numbers: that if 87 million consumers purchased a mattress prior to the FR standard, and 30% of these consumers are open to purchasing the Fire Defender system for upgrading their current mattress, this means there are a potential 26 million mattress pad/box spring cover sales!
A final note, Louisville Bedding and PROTECT-A-BED have made this easy for retailers and consumers. The Fire Defender mattress pads and the patented Expand-A-Grip® skirt system and non-skid box spring cover panel will fit mattresses that are 15” deep and box springs that are 8” deep. The Fire Defender System is a fraction of the cost of a new mattress, yet meets the federal standards. Finally the product is available in twin, full, queen king and California king sizes.
Retailers interested in carrying the Fire Defender Mattress Pad and Box Spring Cover system should contact: Louisville Bedding Company (800) 626-2594 Or PROTECT-A-BED 1-866-886-2788 |
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Company spokespersons for both Louisville
Bedding and PROTECT-A-BED were very upbeat about the prospects for
this new aftermarket mattress pad product sharing compelling
research with BEDROOM Magazine. The opportunities to meet both the
demands and concerns of safety-conscious consumers, as well as the
marketing and sales opportunities for mattress, bedding and
top-of-bed retailers, seem quite extensive.