Judging from the very favorable reaction Eastman House received, this January, at the Specialty Sleep Association show in Las Vegas, there is a huge opportunity for this ultra-premium mattress line to succeed in today’s market place.

Eastman House, the renowned flagship line of the Chittenden & Eastman Company, has been finely handcrafting mattresses since 1866 (The year after the Civil War ended). Through its tumultuous early years of growth and brand development to its more recent successes, Eastman House has never forgotten its commitment to quality. Built on a reputation for comfort, support, and durability, this ultra premium mattress brand was acquired by Mattress Development Company (the parent company of Eclipse International) from a private equity firm in late 2007.

Eastman House, under the direction of President Ken Wilschek, will continue the tradition of producing the finest in premium and ultra premium bedding with its eight bed line up ranging in price points from $799.00 up to $5,000.00. Wilschek who was named President of Eastman House in January 2008, comes from a strong bedding background. He has held a position on the board of directors at Therapedic International for 15 years and was in charge of marketing through the 1990’s. Wilscheck is currently president of Eclipse of the Great Lakes and Eastman House Great Lakes located in Cleveland, Ohio. He informs BEDROOM Magazine that the company displayed six of the eight bed line up in Vegas, and received a high level of interest for the mattresses in the $1499 to $2499 price range. “Retailers are looking for a higher end line that offers excellent design features, performance and quality as well as good margins and a solid higher end story for their customers. The fact that Eastman House has been a well recognized quality brand for over 140 years helps us too,” says Wislchek. “We also offer beds in the $799 to $999, price range as well as models that are above $3000, but our $1499 to $2499 beds really drew a lot of attention in Vegas.”

Wilschek explains that the eight bed line up features foam encasement expanding usable side-to-side sleeping area, offering both one-sided and two-sided models that never require turning. These new models feature Quitlflex® foam helping to reduce body impressions and also Multi-Zone foam with posturized comfort zones ensuring individualized support for the sleeper.

The Eastman House line features a new triple coil-on-coil sleep system with the mattress sitting on a flexible boxspring. The box spring, designed by Leggett and Platt and Eastman House management, features a twenty slat frame with each row of offset coils supported by an individual slat of lumber and fourteen double edge supports. The company also touts the heaviest spring unit in the industry. The mattress is hand tufted and employs a coil on coil construction using a 900 total offset –6-turn–12 ½ gauge spring unit (in queen).

Keying into the latest trend in eco-friendly product lines, Eastman House is using soy based Ultra Cell Hi Density foams along with pure latex, cashmere, silk and Joma wool quilts. The FR materials used are not chemically treated, but instead, possess naturally inherent flame retardant characteristics. Certain models in the Eastman House line up will be completely organic.

Even though the recent launch of the latest Eastman House line has met with significant interest, Wilschek explains that the company is looking for the right fully committed retail partners to carry the line. Built on a history of quality and value, the brand will be sold to select dealers on a limited distribution basis.

In addition, like its sister company, Eclipse International, the Eastman House brand is now signing on new licensing members to join its ultra-premium bedding group.

Bedding retailers and manufacturers are encouraged to visit Eastman House which will be showing with Eclipse International at Show Space 519 on the main floor at the ISPA EXPO

For more information on Eastman House, contact Ken Wilschek at (216) 408-4800.