Blog: Domestic industry poised to grow after import-inflicted sales slump

Is this the bounce back year for the domestic bedding industry? Probably so.

Despite the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, the domestic industry seems poised to break out of a three-year slump this year, bedding observers say. The domestic industry almost went positive in mattress dollars and units last year, with dollars up modestly and units falling just short.

Time was when U.S. bedding producers churned out impressive growth numbers year after year, with only an occasional economic recession dampening their growth prospects.

Domestic mattresses were up 5.5% in dollars in 2010, following the recession of 2008-2009. That was followed by mattress dollar growth of 9.4%, 10.7%, 4.2%, 8.7%, 8.5% and 4.4% in 2016. Unit mattress growth was more modest but followed a similar trend, according to the International Sleep Products Assn.

But then the domestic industry went south in 2017, where it has largely been ever since.

Mattress dollars were down 0.1% in 2017, were down 1.1% in 2018 and only turned positive last year, rising by 2.2%. Mattress units were down 3.3% in 2017, were up 0.7% in 2018 and were down 0.7% last year.

What happened to the happy hunting grounds once commanded by the domestic bedding producers?

Four things, primarily, all related.

First was a flood of low-priced mattress imports that disrupted the traditional bedding marketplace. China emerged as a mattress powerhouse but lost its mojo when an antidumping push slowed Chinese imports to a trickle. But then imports from Vietnam and other Asian countries rapidly gained ground.

Second, the rise of mattress imports helped spur the emergence of some leading bedding e-tailers, including a monster based in Seattle. The boxed bed phenomenon accelerated the flood of imports.

Third, new players emerged domestically to supply many of the new e-tail players, and other retailers, and their contributions have not always been well represented in industry statistics, bedding observers say.

Fourth, consumer preferences have shifted toward the online channel, which now accounts for more than 21% of bedding dollar sales, almost doubling its share in just two years.

Domestic bedding manufacturers say the COVID-19 pandemic is putting more focus on domestic bedding lines, which is part of their reason for optimism about a bedding comeback.

But a bigger reason for their optimism is the broad antidumping push that targets Vietnam and several other countries, which U.S. producers believe will significantly slow mattress imports from those countries.

Despite the disruption in the market, U.S. mattresses managed to post modest dollar growth last year. With the flood of lower-priced imports drying up, that should enable the domestic industry to realize more dollar growth this year, and it should see domestic mattress units swing back into positive territory.

That’s what U.S. bedding producers are hoping, in any event. This will be an important storyline to follow throughout the year.