Waterbed Benefits Touted by Industry Veterans
This entry was posted on March 15, 2013.
High Point — While some in the bedding industry look at specialty sleep as a "new" category, it's actually been around for decades.
Way back in the 1970s, waterbeds entered the national consciousness. That product generated plenty of headlines with its counter-culture roots and appeal, but it gave many consumers a different way to sleep. Waterbed purists touted the benefits of hard-sided waterbeds, whose bag of water gave them a unique way to sleep. Then soft-sided waterbeds (which looked like conventional beds) gained popularity, broadening the appeal of the category.
Today, waterbeds still occupy a niche in the specialty sleep arena, but they have been largely supplanted in consumer awareness by airbeds and visco-elastic foam beds.
Several of today's leading specialty sleep producers trace their history back to the formative years of specialty sleep, and they cite that experience as giving them an edge.
Three well-known companies have at least 30 years of experience in the category. They are Boyd Specialty Sleep, InnoMax and Strobel.
Denny Boyd, president of Boyd Specialty Sleep, said his company has stood the test of time. Asked what makes Boyd different from other companies, he responded: "About 30 specialty sleep patents, 30 years of experience, a full complement of products in every specialty sleep category, 24-hour ship times, proven technology, and experienced and dedicated sales training."