On a hot morning in June, I lay flat on a bed in Soho, and my eyelids struggled high, when Henry Bernie, a gentle man with borscht\'s sense of humor, lean down and ask, \"so would you rather sleep with an Italian or a gentleman? Ed? ”Mr.
Burney is an American sales representative for Italian mattress company Magniflex, which produces the $24,000 worth of foam I lay in the Casa Poggesi bedding store on Crosby Street
His small dig is aimed at a Swedish mattress maker, Hastens, which fills its version with horse hair and charges up to $60,000.
But his focus in this temptation scene is not to destroy competition, but to win my victory, not just his product, but the seemingly absurd concept of thousands of people --Dollar mattress.
He is not alone.
Throughout the spring and summer, Hastens has been advertising in magazines like Elle Decor: a blue photoand-white-
Checked viverdus bed with a fluffy white duvet on it, a corner pull back excitedly and a pair of sharp quilts
High heels with toes on the floor next to them. The come-
It says, \"who will spend $59,750 on the bed? ”Who indeed?
What is calculus?
Economic or other-
Bring a mattress to that particular number?
In the case of Magniflex, or $24,000?
Or $50,000, which is the price tag for a bed made by Hollandia, an Israeli company opened a showroom at the Market Design Center in Philadelphia last fall and opened a flagship store at the mall in New York\'s Short HillsJ. Last Thursday
I mean, what the hell is it?
Why would someone spend so much money on a mattress?
The ad \"when someone asked him why he climbed Mount Everest, what did that person say? Said Pamela N.
Marketing consultant, let them eat cake: selling luxury goods to the public --
\"Why do people buy things they don\'t need.
Because it\'s there!
\"She said loudly.
\"I am very interested in how much they sell at this price.
I think the price is more of a positioning tool, though there are a lot of rich people.
The fastest annual income of more than $250,000
Households growing by income in this country.
We learned this from the survey. ” (Ms.
Danzier\'s company Unity Marketing tracks the luxury market in its annual survey of consumer habits and behaviors in wealthy Americans. )
Like nature, the luxury market does not like a vacuum.
But some luxury goods now sell better than others. Danziger said.
Nevertheless, driven by the unstoppable aging baby boomers (around 78 million people), the luxury market is currently the most active, she said, there are things that can be described as \"experiential\" and restorative, such as a huge new spa bath or an exotic holiday.
In addition, some baby boomers are suffering from the consequences of these exotic holidays --
Some even boarded Mount Everest themselves.
Their shoulder sleeves were torn and their knees and hips were hit.
In fact, they are more painful and tired than ever before.
As a lot of sleep research will prove, lack of sleep.
\"They don\'t want to put any more money on a new handbag . \"
Daggle continued.
\"They don\'t buy the Kelly bag.
Mattresses do bring experience to consumers.
With age, sleep is not as good as it used to be.
\"After the frenzy of boen, boomers\'s last deep love was disrupted by a series of negative news about its potentially strange side effects, including sleep --
Eat and sleep-driving (
Representative Patrick J.
Rhode Island Democrat Kennedy probably went through a late night in Washington last year)
The mattress industry cheerfully threw itself into the break, marketing the mattress to cure every disease, and even claiming that it would brake on time.
The narrator of an accelerated promotional video, with a charming Swedish accent, says its bed starts at $4,375, which will reduce wrinkles and slow down aging. (
Hollandia turned out to be a manufacturer of adjustable \"sleep systems\" for prices ranging from about $15,000 to $50,000, and neither looks nor feels high
End of hospital bed
With the German motor and 12 massage items, they seem to admit that a time-torn body can only be comforted and not reshaped.
Its marketers also claim its bed can treat snoring. )Tempur-Pedic, thefoam-
Mattress maker beds range from $1,200 to $7,299 (
Changes on Earth will accelerate)
Recently sponsored a study claiming
In the face, Americans prefer to sleep rather than exercise. this is part of their \"healthy Health\". Three of the four Americans say that sleeping well will make them feel younger, a good pillow is a better \"sleep accessory \"--
Nine times better.
Not \"sleep partner \".
\"More than three of them spend as much on mattresses as on sofas or televisions, and 17% as much on vacation.
At least, advertising at the low end of the luxury mattress market has warmed up.
Six years ago, according to the International Association for sleep products, only 2% of mattresses sold for more than $2,000, a trade group in the industry with $6.
Sales last year were 7 billion.
The purchase of 2006 to 5% exceeded $2,000. (
The Queen\'s median price-
According to a survey by Furniture Today magazine, the size of the mattress last year was $650. )
\"I think it\'s time for Americans to put the value of sleep in other aspects of their lives,\" said Tempur President Rick Anderson . \"
As every good mattress manager would not do, pedik North America added, \"After all, we spent our third life in bed. ”Mr.
Anderson has just launched a television campaign.
Tropical Islands, Misty Fjords and dreamy little sights of sparkling jungle-
Location of Temple
Pedic as a \"health brand\" and mattress as a \"night update assist.
\"If you asked someone 10 years ago what their mattress was ,\"
Anderson said: \"They will say where I sleep.
Now they want it to relieve their stress, relieve their pain and provide comfort.
This is emotional, physical, and status.
You know what they say: sleeping is new black.
Sleep is fashionable.
\"The days have passed, sir.
Anderson suggested that when the industrial giants boast about sleeping only three hours a night.
Power nap is increasing currency, he said. As proof, Mr.
Anderson points out that two nap centers like the metronome and Yelo, which operate in Manhattan, close for 20 minutes and charge $12 to $14
Eyes, as well as recent studies by the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University on nap and productivity. (
How about even having a nap?
Book from the worker from January: \"Take a nap!
Sarah C. change your life
Mednick, snooze.
Research scientist at the Salk Institute)
Ty Wenger, editor of Trader Monthly, is a lifestyle magazine, part of self-selection
Like hedge fund managers, let the super-rich agree to this paradigm shift: a good night\'s sleep is not a sign of weakness, but something to brag about.
\"My readers look at themselves in their own way, almost like athletes, and indulge themselves . \"Wenger said.
\"Good sleep means millions of dollars for them the next day.
How they prepare themselves for their work is the difference between being smart and being rich and the reason why they go all out.
They are not hedonists like those in the post-80 s.
They work crazy.
They eat the best food.
It\'s all about honing their instruments.
Will they spend tens of thousands on the mattress?
\"Of course,\" he said . \"
\"The high end exists because someone wants to spend the money.
Like a consumer dare.
\"Advertising casa Poggesi has been offering $24,000 in Magniflex Gold for a month and a half, as of yesterday afternoon, Mr.
No New Yorker ever bought it, Bernie said.
He added that the average price of the Magniflex mattress is between $1,200 and $3,000.
\"But gold let people in. ”Mr.
Bernie said his company had sold 53 gold mattresses to Russian individuals and one to a hotel in Dubai.
He said that its cost is mainly due to the fact that its cover is used 22-
Karat gold line-
\"Gold is a natural antibacterial substance,\" he said, but also a barrier against mites and bugs.
There is a cashmere bottom.
Like most mattresses, the inside of the mattress is a layer of mysterious cake.
Like every mattress sales agent.
Burney is ready for the cross section as well as charts and diagrams and a bag of science-sounding terms.
\"I know it doesn\'t make any sense to anyone . \"
Burney explained that in simpler terms, the Magniflex mattress is a foam with holes drilled on it.
So it\'s breathing, not, say, a Tempur-
The Pedic mattress has ridges, so the air will flow around the foam, but not through the foam, he said.
\"People complain about Tempur-
\"Pedick is too enthusiastic,\" he asserted . \"
He said: \"If you think the average person is sweating about a pint every night.
Warren shoul Berg, editor of furniture industry\'s trade publication Home News, believes that mattress purchases are the most \"blind\" purchases anyone has ever made.
He said: \"You buy it every 10 or 20 years, so you are completely unprepared and uneducated.
You are facing a series of white cases that look very similar.
The $500 one looks no different than the $5,000 one, or it\'s $50,000 now, and Hyundai looks different from Ferrari.
You can\'t see the attributes that distinguish this product.
\"So you have to do five. minute lie-
But you\'re too self. conscious.
Whatever the way you sleep, you can\'t sleep on the sleepy floor.
It\'s not a product that you can shop smart, it makes mattress companies everywhere.
They are a little crazy and you have to give it to them.
\"Now, there are many rich people who will spend a lot of money in order to get a good sleep.
Or a good night\'s sleep.
I think mattress man is the smartest person in the whole furniture industry.
They managed to attach emotional elements to your mattress.
Not just a layer of foam and padding.
In the classic SoHoian cast, ads for the Hastens store-
The iron building on Green Street is big and white.
This white color sets off the striking blue and white plaid ticking that covers almost all mattresses. (
Another option is white and tan plaid. )
The store\'s young manager, Lina schleinwater, listed these layers on Hasten\'s mattress: linen, wool and cotton, and horse hair, which were not only washed but also
\"Ma Mao is a hollow tube,\" she said proudly . \". “Nature’s air-conditioner.
If you think you sweat a liter every night, all of this stays in bed unless the bed can breathe.
We\'re here again.
If the promise of the foam mattress, Sir
Bernie said that by living better in chemistry, its horses acceleratedand-
Fjord image, anti-bubble-the free-range bed.
It shows the pony, Vividus, and hurts the velvet rope.
I boarded the ship with permission.
Steinwater pushed me off the shoulder.
\"You want the bed to accept you,\" she said . \".
\"You have to accept a new experience.
In response to the $60,000 question, she said: \"This is uncompromising.
Need 160 people
It takes a few hours to tidy up this bed.
Ma Mao is a hand-
For example, the option was longer and more straight than we used in other beds.
It has a deep feeling, a feeling without a bottom.
Not only that, she said, it comes with brass plates engraved with your name.
I stayed here for an hour and rolled out of bed to bed.
Viverdus is really, really comfortable, but all the mattresses have --
Aside from anything you can imagine, it should be given that most of them are more expensive than cars.
They even need maintenance like a car, especially a monthly massage and flip during the year.
\"We will call you and remind you . \"
Said schleinwater.
I fell down next to Beth fuseppe and she was dumped out on the excel sior mattress ($15,500)
Her blocked feet hung on the edge. Ms.
The 41-year-old fuseppe works for a construction company around the corner.
She said she and her husband are also an architect, coming to the bed once a month for a year, and they plan to buy it in 18 months.
Advertising \"what do you need in this city? ” she said.
\"You don\'t need a car.
We sold the car last year.
I think you need a good bed.
The pressure is too great here.
\"We sublet an apartment and slept on a futon.
I like the idea of lasting.
The feeling of this bed is almost primitive.
You feel safe in this bed.
You can\'t forget this bed.
It took two years of research and bed.
Test the 57-year-old Suzanne Durande and 62-year-old husband Everett Ferri to learn about the acceleration of the $22,950 2000 T they purchased in December. (
\"Lina asked us to take a nap on a Sunday . \"Durand said.
\"She opened the air --
The air conditioner turned off the light and gave us a quilt. ”).
They said her husband had a shoulder sleeve problem and a sore hip and they bought a mattress every four or five years.
\"I woke up stiff like a board . \"Durand said.
\"The way I rationalize costs is that it will last the rest of our lives.
I think it\'s worth it to wake up feeling better.
I feel much better. ”Mr.
Ferri said he did ask her.
If she is willing to accept the deal of BMW X3 in 05,
Erik Svensson, sales manager at Hasten in the United States, said 2000 T was the best seller of the company.
As for the sales of viverdus, he cautiously said that \"more than 15\" have been sold since its launch last fall.
Sharon Kaplan, 59, said there was a bed in effect and a few months ago she bought a $23,000 Hollandia with her 62-year-old husband, Arthur.
Or dueling hospital beds, which is how holandia looks and works: two adjustable single beds running side by side but independently.
Kaplan, a real estate developer living in Philadelphia, is not looking for a new bed, but a friend invited them to the grand opening of Hollandia last spring, one thing that led to another
\"You are at a certain age . \"
Kaplan said, \"This is one thing you can do to get yourself a good night\'s sleep.
I haven\'t slept so well for years. ”I asked Mr.
How did Kaplan rationalize costs.
\"You don\'t,\" he said.
\"This is impossible.
Then he thought, \"I used to sleep on a mattress for $6,000.
Now I sleep in a room for $23,000.
I sit on an equally expensive sofa and only sit for about 20 minutes a day.
\"On a recent Monday, David Ashe, who marketed the Hollandia bed in the United States, hosted the company\'s showroom in Philadelphia.
He said with comfort, \"Let me put you on the bed . \" He brought me a red velvet number in the window of the showroom.
With the remote on, he lifted my feet and my head up, and Maria Luo, another marketing manager, stuffed a coffin --
I have a forming blanket around me.
It has a pocket to put its feet in and two pockets to put both hands on.
Very comfortable.
\"Do you like this feeling? ” Mr. Ashe asked.
\"All our fabrics are covered with aloe vera.
\"The mandatory cross-section is dragged out, a series of stunning layers and mysterious substances.
The curly thing is coconut fiber;
Pink and cream
Color material drilled with holes like Magniflex is foam.
\"A natural foam . \"
She said quickly. What’s in it?
\"A bunch of things --—”Ms.
Rohe breaks the door and enters: \"This is a proprietary mixture of materials.
Then, like a gentlemanBurney, Mr.
She started tearing Tempur-Pedic.
\"Bring a memory bubble,\" he began.
\"It\'s synthetic, it\'s dense, it\'s not breathing, it\'s hot, and you end up lying in your own sweat pool.
\"Sweating again.
How much is Sir?
She estimates that on average everyone is lying in bed every night?
Yeah, I quoted it.
A liter, schleinwater?
\"It\'s disgusting,\" he said.
\"I didn\'t sleep with you.
I\'m talking about the cup, max. ”Fine.
Where is the bed for $50,000?
We talked about it on the phone.
Its mohair cover, its built-in-
IPod jack and TV. I was ready.
\"It\'s not here,\" Mr. Ashe said.
\"It\'s in Israel.
Will be here in a year.
I still have $35,000 next week. . .
This is the old switch-eroo. Mr.
She said in a conciliatory tone, \"You know, I can get you a good night\'s sleep on a $17,000 bed.
On July 12, an article about mattresses misspelled the name of the American sales manager of Swedish manufacturer Hastens.
He\'s Eric Swenson, not Eric.
A version of the article appears on the New York edition F1 page with the title: money on the mattress.
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