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Spring Air adds bounce to two key product lines

By David Perry
Publication: Furniture Today
Date: Monday, November 10 2003

Elk Grove Village, Ill.— Spring Air is revamping two of its key product lines, adding several new features, as it strengthens its commitment to single-sided bedding.

The manufacturer, based here, is boosting its fast-growing ComfortFlex Collection and its flagship Back Supporter line

with new covers, new foam and innerspring applications, and upgraded aesthetics.

Spring Air is taking the mattress labels off the sleep surface and putting them on the mattress border. And it's introducing a "crystal lens" plastic label for use on retail floors to give its products a more upscale look. That new labeling will be offered on most Spring Air lines.

The new Spring Air models also feature coordinated borders on the mattress and box springs.

"We're cutting down 75% to 80% of the SKUs for the retailer," said Jim Nation, Spring Air president.

All the new Spring Air models are one-sided, a design the company was quick to embrace. "The only time we do two-sided beds is when a retailer has to have them," Nation said.

Spring Air is incorporating its Dual Response coil system throughout its ComfortFlex collection of encased-coil bedding for the first time. That system uses alternating tall and short coils to create improved body conformance and support, Spring Air said. Tall coils are placed close to the mattress surface to provide "a unique, comfortable feel," and also on the sides of the unit to provide extra support at the mattress edge.

The ComfortFlex mattress boasts the first encased coil system design for a one-sided mattress, a Leggett & Platt unit exclusive to Spring Air, the producer said.

"This collection is the fastest-growing product line in our portfolio," Nation said. "Couples are learning that it's possible to get a good night's sleep with uninterrupted rest and also experience a high level of body conformance and support with the ComfortFlex Collection."

ComfortFlex models retail from $699 to $1,299.

ComfortFlex European Class models use large- and small-diameter coils to provide additional conforming characteristics. The high-end beds are cushioned with various combinations of latex and visco-elastic foam and retail from $1,299 to $2,599. Microfiber suedes cover the top two models. "These suedes offer a texture you don't normally find on a mattress and are a hot look in upholstery," Nation said.

The new models offer higher profiles, capitalizing on the consumer's "thicker is better" mentality, he said.

Both the new Back Supporter and ComfortFlex models feature the producer's foam-encased wireless edge, which expands the total usable sleeping surface by 20% while reducing edge sagging, Spring Air said.

Both collections also feature the first use of Conforma Touch foam, a pincushion convoluted foam in pyramid shapes. Other Back Supporter enhancements include new covers and a higher-profile foundation to create a more upscale look.

The Conforma Touch foam features thousands of pyramids that serve as "tiny contact points that create unparalleled conformance for every part of the body," Spring Air said.

The Back Supporter line retails from $599 to $999. Back Supporter Comfort Caress models retail from $1,299 to $2,499. Back Supporter is the biggest seller in Spring Air's portfolio.

The new lines are being shown to retailers now and begin shipping in December.

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