Memorial Day marks the start of the summer mattress sales season. And while no one knew how the holiday would look this year because of economic uncertainty, retailers we spoke with were satisfied with the results.
Vernon Williams, co-owner of Jacksonville Bedding, Mattresses and More, says his store’s Memorial Day sales were nothing short of incredible.
“Weekend sales were up 168%, and we saw a 312% increase for the month compared to last year,” he says. “Store traffic remained steady throughout the holiday, but what stood out was the higher average ticket size and the sheer volume of essentials and adjustable bases we moved. Customers came ready to invest in better sleep.”
That’s a theme that Michael Wipfler, director of sales at Mueller Furniture, saw as well. He says mattress business at the stores — two of which are in Missouri and the other two in Illinois — were up significantly compared to last year.
“Our average ticket was up as far as sleep systems go,” he says. “We were selling nicer sleep systems, and there wasn’t a rush of low-end sleep sales. We had a lot of people there to invest in their sleep, and that was great to see.”
Tim McDonald, general manager for At Home Furniture and Mattress superstore in Albany, Oregon, says door swings were down, but the tickets and number of serious buyers were “through the roof.”
“We ended up with a 42% increase over last year, which put us about $80,000 ahead of last year. And what’s crazy is last year we were about 28% mattress to furniture, and this year we were 46% mattress to furniture. I think the reason we had such great success is our selling top-down process. We fill the need, versus just selling furniture and mattresses.”
McDonald attributes the quality of sales to the brand’s marketing efforts.
We were marketing our high-end, quality product — $5,000 beds versus the $999 special. Everything was 75% off and our long-term financing was used by many.”
He says it seemed that more people were using financing this year than in the past because the tickets were so high. “We were turning opportunities for basic recliners into split-king mattress sales — $1,000 tickets into $7,000 tickets.”
For McDonald, May started slow, but for others, like Greg Jent, co-owner of two-store Discount Mattress Outlet in Bowling Green, Kentucky, May was a successful month. For one of the stores.
“We saw a 50% increase year over year at one store, and the other store stayed flat,” Jent says. “But the one that didn’t see the holiday increase saw a 100% month-over-month increase in May.”
While Jent says he kept his expectations low, he was pleasantly surprised with the turnout. “There’s a lot of uncertainty in the market, but I’ve talked to a lot of dealers and most of them were either flat or up,” he adds.
Jeff Giagnocavo, co-owner of Gardners Mattress and More in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, says the holiday brought 50% more sales year over year, which was record-breaking for his store.
“We continue to put out a consistent message and then support it with action and customer affirmation to invest in a quality set to wake up happy with reduced pain to get better sleep. We dug into that message this year, so I feel our advertising was probably stronger this year compared to last.”
He says May has always been a strong month for his store and that he anticipated success based on the popular DTC brands his store carries.
“Consumers recognize those names, and our advertising in addition to theirs creates awareness,” he says. “Consumers recognize big S brands but they don’t have the same connection to them as they do with DTC brands.”
The store’s advertising also focused on how financing makes things manageable, and Giagnocavo says that paid off.
“An adjustable Tempur-Pedic sets for 100 bucks a month with 60 months financing,” he says. “But we don’t want to force anyone to do it or get them into debt. We have an honest, upfront conversation about financing and it’s on the uptick.”
It’s still unknown if a successful Memorial Day is a sign of a positive summer selling season to come, but it’s not discouraging. Only time will tell.
