Joshua Eves had been thinking about improving the look of his sleep shop in South Windham, Connecticut. When he heard a dynamic mattress presentation at a BrandSource meeting a few months ago, he decided to get going on his plans.
The result, I am happy to report, is a striking wall of chalk art that helps consumers find their perfect mattress. As you can see, this is a consumer-friendly, attractive presentation — a significant upgrade over the bland walls that characterize far too many mattress stores.
The BrandSource mattress speaker, who happened to be yours truly, made the case for retailers to put some pizzazz on their store walls and to get away from the boring lifestyle photos that many mattress retailers favor. As I said in that talk, walls are blank canvases that can feature dramatic displays. And that message struck a chord with Eves, the owner of All Sleep, a furniture and mattress store that touts “the largest variety of mattresses in Eastern Connecticut.”
“I’ve been thinking about putting a chalk wall in my store for a while, and your BrandSource presentation really encouraged me to get it done,” Eves told me the other day.
All Sleep tests its mattresses to determine their firmness and uses those results to merchandise its mattress lineup. A program introduced by Bedding Industries of America expands that concept by offering a “Fab Five” lineup of five different mattress comfort levels at the same price point.
The chalk wall walks consumers through those five mattress choices.
“This helps us qualify the customer’s comfort preference so they don’t feel that they have to try all 60 beds that we have on display,” Eves said. “The new wall helps us with this sales technique even when the customer wants to be left alone. All they have to do is find the number/color that feels the best for them and then find the corresponding number/color on the other mattresses.”
Giving the customer a way to navigate the store herself is a smart move, especially when there are several customers shopping at one time and the sales associate must juggle shoppers.
The chalk wall is off to a good start.
“Business has been a roller-coaster for us since the tariffs were announced, but we just had our biggest week in the store’s history,” Eves said.
He’s got an interesting mattress history. He started working at All Sleep in 2001 as a delivery helper. He credits then-owner Mark Gadarowski for seeing the potential in him to grow in his company. “He afforded me every opportunity to advance,” Eves noted.
“Now that I own the store, I feel privileged to carry on the legacy that Mark started when he first helped to create this company in 1974,” Eves said. “Guaranteed lowest prices and unparalleled service are part of that legacy.”
And now there’s a new addition to that legacy: A nice wall of chalk art. Well done, Joshua Eves!
