Boyd Likes Platform Frames
David Perry — Furniture Today – 05/21/12
Bedding pioneer Denny Boyd believes that decorative and functional bed bases are the “foundations of the future.” And he’s putting that belief into action, rapidly expanding his platform frame offerings.
ollowing the successful introduction and retail placement of as many as 10 UPS-able platform frames in less than a year, Boyd Specialty Sleep will further broaden its line this year.
The producer of mattresses, sleep accessories and furniture is developing new steel frame designs to round out its collection of bed platforms that retail from $299 to $599 in queen. “Not only is there brisk demand for decorative, shippable bed frames among Internet retailers, but demand is quickly increasing among brick-and-mortar sleep shops and furniture stores,” said Boyd, president of Boyd Specialty Sleep. “It’s a matter of being able to offer both form and function at affordable price points. A platform performs the same function as a standard box spring and frame in that it keeps the bed off the floor. But if that can be accomplished in a way that’s simpler, equally or more durable, more visually arresting and easily distributed – for at or near the same cost – then it delivers far more than mere function,” he said.
Boyd said foundations and box springs have generally become commodity products that are spacers between the mattress and frame. But he said that stylish frames “enhance the consumer’s shopping experience and we’re seeing many retailers reexamine their rationale for selling traditional sets over versatile platforms.”
Boyd’s new all-steel designs will fall within the key $299 to $599 range, expanding a collection that already includes decorative steel bases in silver, brushed nickel and black, as well as solid wood versions in light and dark finishes. Offered in contemporary, metropolitan and Scandinavian styles, the series includes padded or decorative steel headboard options and attached bedside tables with certain models.
The company’s most successful design, Boyd said, has been its manually adjustable Easy Adjust base. The patent-pending platform enables sleepers to enjoy the benefits of adjustable comfort at 25% of the cost of a power base, he said. The UPS-able base, which has 15 settings at the head end and requires no tools for set up, has generated a 100% close ratio among Internet retailers and an 80% placement rate among traditional stores since its January 2012 introduction, according to Boyd. Easy Adjust is also the industry’s first such product that’s available in a true king size, in addition to twin XL and queen sizes, the company said. The king model can be independently adjusted when adjacent twin XLs are not connected.
“Mattress stores want versatile platforms that coordinate with most furniture and represent an add-on sale,” Boyd said. “Furniture outlets want decorative frames for their mattress departments and to show with their bedroom furniture. We believe bed bases are an industry ‘change agent’ and the best proof of that is demonstrated by Internet stores where there’s no salesperson. Online mattress shopper data shows that consumers are opting for decorative, versatile platform designs over traditional sets and frames by a substantial margin.”
To further demonstrate the “common sense logic” of platforms over standard sets and frames to both retailers and consumers, Boyd has developed a point-of-sale chart that compares prices of conventional sets, platform designs, the company’s Easy Adjust base and wired or wireless power bases. “This matrix pricing makes it easier for retail sales associates to talk to consumers about what their options really are,” Boyd said. “And because consumers like the concept of choice, it makes for a more creative and interesting shopping experience.”