Top 10 bedding producer Kingsdown has established a new value-priced bedding line under the Sleep Comfort banner. Retails range from $199 to $799.
The line launched last fall and is positioned as a high-quality option in the low-cost mattress market, officials said. Kingsdown, best known for its higher-priced bedding lines, has created the Sleep Comfort International Division to market that line.
The division offers half a dozen mattress options. All are manufactured by workers at Kingsdown factories, who are bringing the company's trademark styling and construction to the SCI models, giving them qualities not typically seen in low-cost mattress offerings, officials said.
The company also announced that industry veteran Mike Brown has been hired to fill the newly created position of national sales manager for the Sleep Comfort division.
With 27 years of experience in the mattress industry, Brown has extensive industry contacts and will lead efforts to expand distribution of the SCI brand, the company said. He will report to Kevin Damewood, Kingsdown's executive vice president of sales and marketing.
Brown spent nearly 20 years with American Bedding Co. in Gainesville, Ga., most recently as sales manager, overseeing 12 sales representatives.
"In selecting Mike for this position, we wanted to find an industry veteran whose strength was cultivating both the relationships and new business necessary to successfully launch the SCI brand," said Damewood. "Mike is an expert in opening new accounts because he understands how to work with dealers to improve their competitiveness even in the most difficult of markets. As a sales manager, he is the complete package. He can merchandise, price, sales train and promote. Those traits make him the ideal person to grow our retail partnerships across America."
"My goal is to introduce dealers to the SCI difference," said Brown. "They no longer have to sacrifice quality or service just because a product is competitively priced. The craftsmanship in all of our plants is exceptional and it's that superior tailoring, components and level of comfort that really gives us an advantage over other players in the value category."
