In the bedding industry, holidays like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day weekend are important selling holidays. Based on the retailers I spoke with after those last two sales weekends, however, many were hesitant to talk at all, and what I did hear was mixed.
In some welcome news for the bedding industry, which has—for the most part—been lamenting a downturn for the majority of the year, sleep products seemed to be a bright spot over Labor Day weekend. And premium sleep systems, motion and accessories were highlights.
Povison, known for fully assembled furniture mainly available online and at its flagship store in Los Angeles, ran a site-wide spend-and-save with limited-time discounts on select pieces. According to the retailer, its sales were up 300% over the same period in 2025. Among Povison’s strongest categories for its Labor Day promotional period were its electric sofa beds, which range from $1,500 to $2,500.
A statement from the retailer read: “Customers are increasingly gravitating toward mid-priced and premium tiers. As brand trust and category depth grow, more customers are trading up to higher-priced pieces, buying multiple items at once, or returning for repeat purchases of the products they need.”
At Jacksonville Furniture Mart in Jacksonville, Florida, owner RJ Williams said he tried to keep the Labor Day promotion straightforward with a save up to 50% offer on core brands.
“We really tried not to overcomplicate the message this year,” he said. The retailer finished the weekend up 141% over last year, which he said exceeded his expectations. Mattresses and adjustable bases led the weekend, and pillow sales were stronger than the previous year. Williams said their average ticket was “phenomenal.” According to Williams, better-than-mid-range products and luxury products were front-runners.
“Customers were willing to invest in better sleep rather than simply shop for the lowest price,” he said.
He believes his Labor Day weekend results were affected by two things. “It was a rainy weekend, and that always helps get people inside,” Williams said. “I’m honestly very pleasantly surprised by both the traffic and the numbers this year. I think having a tighter, more cohesive marketing message made a difference, along with our product mix. For us, a strong DTC presence paired with legacy anchor brands still seems to be the right mix.”
Simplified messaging was also a hit at HOM Furniture, based in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The retailer has 18 locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and South Dakota.
HOM Furniture ran up to 15% off the HOM price, plus three-year special financing with no minimum purchase at 9.99% APR. The retailer also offered 12 months interest-free financing.
Kyle Johansen, executive vice president at HOM Furniture, said that the retailer was up on a same store basis over Labor Day 2025 by single digits. Mattresses and leather motion were the company’s strongest categories.
Johansen said HOM Furniture offered some special buys on lower-priced items. However, he said that the lower-priced goods underperformed expectations, while the premium goods in HOM’s showrooms performed better than expected, especially premium mattresses.
Johansen said he and his team, like Williams, were surprised to see increased traffic in the stores.
“We felt we underperformed slightly relative to our traffic increase, but many of our stores reported back that customers ‘were really shopping around’ to make a decision,” Johansen added.
He hesitated to extrapolate what the company’s Labor Day results—although positive—mean heading into the rest of the year, due to the variety of macroeconomic situations occurring that are influencing business, including the Iran war, fuel prices, the Federal Reserve raising short-term rates from 3.75% to 4% on Sept. 16, and the upcoming elections.
“I remain cautiously optimistic going into the 4th quarter; usually, October and November are pretty good months for us and our industry,” Johansen said.
It will be interesting to see if late summer and back-to-school shopping was the final push of the year or simply another boost heading into the rest of the year and the holidays.
