Dormia Mattresses Hires Connie Post Companies To Update Retail Concept

Furniture World Magazine

Following an extensive review process, Dormia Mattresses, a leading manufacturer and retailer of premium specialty sleep surfaces, has chosen the Connie Post Companies to recreate its growing, upscale, mall-based retail concept. Specializing in premium visco-elastic foam and latex mattresses retailing from $1,000 to $7,000, Dormia is manufactured by Classic Sleep Products.. The firm currently operates 21 stores in nine states, and plans to open nine more stores this year, with a more come. The Connie Post Companies is a portfolio of businesses that comprise the leading design and strategic brand development firm in the home furnishings industry. Says Mike Zippelli, chief executive of Classic Sleep Products, “Our goal in seeking a design firm to assist us with the Dormia stores was to improve the productivity in the existing stores, and to create a retail concept suitable for nationwide rollout. We sought the Connie Post Companies because Connie has such a strong track record in our industry and we knew the stores needed more feminine appeal. We’re convinced her ideas about how to differentiate the stores and how to help us improve the brand image and experience are right on.” For her part, Post is excited about working with the retailer. She relates, “For a long time, few in the business thought that people would be willing to spend more than $1,000 on a mattress, but it’s no secret that retailers across our industry have been breaking the ceiling on bedding price points in the past few years and we see tremendous opportunity in the better end of the market. In all product categories, the luxury market has been exceeding expectations. As recent as last month, same-store sales at luxury stores grew 6.4 percent over the holidays, while discounters ticked up just 2.6 percent. There’s no question that the luxury-minded consumer, and those consumers aspiring to a luxury lifestyle—the people who buy Lexus and Mercedes, who wear Polo and Coach, who see brands as signs and seals of their success—will spend $3,000 to $5,000 for a mattress. That is, if we send them the right messages about the brand, and we wrap the brand in a shopping experience that befits the product.” Although Dormia “offers a great product with superior technology, the company has a special challenge in that the stores are mall-based,” Post says. “With so many distractions, and so many retailers vying for shoppers’ attention in a mall, the bar is raised very high in terms of guest experience and the appearance of the stores from the exterior to the interior. Essentially, they compete with entrance after entrance.” With this in mind, the Connie Post Companies has developed “an inviting, traffic-worthy retail environment that will focus on well-being and tap into all of shoppers’ senses, from sight to smell to hearing and touch,” she continues. “The brand stands for the natural, healthy benefits of sleep and the new guest experience will now reflect that,” she says. “It is going to be a unique statement in the marketplace.” According to Zippelli, shoppers will encounter the concept in a newly opened Dormia store in Dayton, Ohio, this spring, followed quickly by Raleigh, N.C., and Atlanta GA. A time-line has also been established to retrofit older stores in the chain to reflect the new brand image.