SSA Las Vegas Seminars to Examine Selling to "Green" Consumers

July 27, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Bedding on July 28, 2010

Specialty Sleep Association consultant Vicki Worden will hold a series of special briefings for manufacturers and retailers at next week's Las Vegas Furniture Market.

"These seminars are an opportunity to reach manufacturers and retailers to talk about a credible solution to the green washing that takes place in the market each day when it comes to selling environmentally friendly products," said Worden, a safety and environmental consultant to the SSA and president of Worden Associates Inc. "The SEP approach is a great way for the industry to engage, educate and inform consumers about a topic that is the number one concern of female consumers in particular."

The four briefings will educate participants on how to sell more sleep products by addressing the safety and environmental concerns of consumers. Worden's sessions will coach retailers on using the right terminology and how to use the recently released safety and environmental program seal to help them sell more environmentally friendly products to consumers.

The seminars will take place in the SSA showroom (C-1350) on Monday, August 2, 2-3 p.m.; Tuesday, August 3, 10-11 a.m. and 2-3 p.m.; and Wednesday, August 4, 4-5 p.m.

After more than a year of research and industry involvement, the SSA created a two-step label and seal that will appear on mattresses from manufacturers who join the program that informs the consumer about the minimum environmental and safety compliance levels the particular product adheres to, along with a label that lists components in the mattress.

Manufacturers in the program pay a fee to the SSA to use the label and seal, and complete an extensive application process with documentation that backs up claims. Consumers wanting further information beyond the seal and label will be able to go the SSA's Web site for more detailed information and can contact the organization if they wish to learn more about a specific manufacturer's component filing.