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The Straight Scoop
July 19,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on July 2012
Amid the din of bedding ads and circulars trumpeting the latest BIG SALEand aggressive selling tactics that greet consumers in many mattress storesone Washington state retailer has found success with a decidedly laid-back philosophy.
Northwest Sleep Solutions, a single-store bedding retailer based in the historic Fairhaven section of Bellingham, Wash., has quietly grown its business by being the antidote to the hard sell. Store owner Scott Caseria and his co-owner wife LeAnn wouldnt have it any other way.
Enter the Mattress Zone
Since the Caserias opened their store in 2008, they have yet to advertise a sales promotion. In our five years in this location, we have never had a sale, not once, said Scott Caseria. We just dont do that. Were careful not to use the word salewell use savings. People save money buying here, even though its a pretty store, but were not going to mislead people. If were going to mislead people in our advertising, I would assume that they would think I would mislead them once they get here, so were just not going to go there.
That doesnt mean the store doesnt promote aggressively. We do a lot of advertising, Caseria said. I do a lot of radio spots. Were always pounding the idea that the straight scoop is what youre going to get here. ¦ We did a cute Twilight Zone commercial saying Youre entering the Mattress Zone, where the laws of mathematics do not apply.
Were trying to be the voice of sanity, he added. The advertisings just gone out of control on beds, and its almost become a joke, where 10 percent off 25 years ago was a legitimate dealnow, if youre not 80 percent off, youre not in the game. The ridiculous thing is, no one is 80 percent off, they just say they are and its very frustrating, so we dont do that.
Scouting Missions Encouraged
The low-key tone of Northwest Sleep Solutions ad campaigns is reflected in the sales approach consumers will encounter upon entering the store.
The first thing we do is make you feel that its OK to be just looking, Caseria said. Weve coined a little phrase here we call scouting missions, and you can just see the walls come down from the people. There are people that come in that truly are just looking, but there are also people where thats their first statement, because they want to fend you off. We just say We encourage scouting missions, we want you to take your time, youll make a better decisionthats why were here.
The places I ran for other people before, if you didnt sell them that first day, you never sold them. Our average customer is
in here two to three, sometimes four, times before they buy, and the idea is making them comfortablethat its OK to learn something about what youre going to sleep on for the next 20 years.
Realizing the Dream
Caserias interest in bedding had its origins in his days as a student. I actually lived across the street from a furniture store, he recalled, and I wanted a job as a truck guy, or something part-time while I was going to college. For some reason, the owner of the store thought that I would make a good sales guy. ¦ It went pretty well, and about a year later I was managing the store. ¦ My favorite part of that was always the bedding.
So I bounced around a few other stores, but all the time, in the back of our heads, we wanted to have our own sleep shop. We had a certain way we wanted to do it, and so the opportunity came up where a lot of the good lines came to me and said Youve got to open your own store. Id always wanted to, and I said, You know what? If we know we have the right lines going in, things that I want, were going to do it. So thats, in a nutshell, what happened.
The Good Lines
Caseria has been very selective in choosing the lines and models to sell in his store. We carry Simmons, he said. In the foam world, we carry a natural latex bed. In synthetic foam, the only one Im going to carrybecause its the only one Ive had any luck withis Tempur-Pedic. Weve carried them 10 years, and weve never had a warranty call. Thats amazing. Tempurs been fantastic for us, it really has. Well sell one, and the next thing, the (customers) neighbor or brother will come in and buy one. ¦ What we get is customer referrals. You treat people right and they take care of you.
Steady Growth
Northwest Sleep Solutions has enjoyed consistent growth since openingeven in a tough economy. They say it always take a couple of years to make a profit, Caseria said. We were making a profit in our third month. Then, when the market crashed, we didnt see anyone for two months. ¦ Suddenly we were in a spot that we werent expecting to be, but the store has survived and grown 25 to 30 percent each year.
While it may seem logical to expand into more stores, Caseria said hes in no rush. Im not a guy that really wants to have a huge chain of stores, but there are times I think, if the right location popped and we found the right people to run it the way that we want it run, theres always a chance that we could go someplace else. But this little store here, were going to keep.
Caserias main ambition for his family-owned operation is to keep it in the family: Ive got a son who does our delivery and warehouse work since we opened. Id love for him to probably take this over some day. HFB