Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
Justice, Fairness and Humility
February 28,
2013 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 2013
At first glance, it may seem like Colorado-based bedding chain Urban Mattress is doing everything ¦ well, wrong. The stores give a percentage of all sales to charity. They dont do big promotions. Theyre very selective in what they carry, avoiding most of the big mattress brands. They encourage employees to own their own franchises.
Thing is, these unconventional principles are working. The eight-store chain (with more locations in the works) is thriving, experiencing growth in a still-hurting economy, with no end in sight. How did they do it, and why is it working so well?
The driving force behind what we do ¦ our value system ¦ its really about justice, fairness and humility, said Steve Von Diest, a co-founder and franchise owner in Urban Mattress who also coaches new franchisees.
How justice plays out in the mattress industry is fairly deceiving, Von Diest continued. The bait-and-switching, even the labeling of mattresses from the same vendor between two different stores is very different ¦ so we said, What products can we choose that are going to eliminate the three-to-six-year turnaround (between beds)? We focused on products that we believe (are) right for the customer. We may not see the customers back for 10 to 20 years. That may not necessarily be right for our bottom line, but its right for them.
Were very upfront. We dont do sales (promotions) because weve noticed a pattern in the industrysales are typically a markup with a dropdown ¦ weve lowered our margins to as low as possible because were owner-operated and we can do that.
As for the second part of the equation, mercy, Von Diest defined that as the driving force for what we believe a for-profit business can do in the community. ¦ We care about our customersnot just what their mattress feels like, but also whats going on in their marriage, their lives, because it all fits into taking care of people.
We also tweak their mentality on how they too can give back to the community. So our giving program is not just me and (co-founder) Ethan Rietma giving in the background. Weve actually put it very upfront in our stores, so our customers know that 1 to 2 percent (of sales) is going to go to a local non-profit (charity), and our customer gets to choose the emphasis. ¦ In each of our stores, there are four to five local charities that the owner or their staff is passionate about.
Addressing humility, Von Diest said I wouldnt necessarily call the mattress industry a humble industry. Theres not a lot of admitting of fault and errors. Ethan and I know that many of our customers may know more than us. Theyve done research, so well humbly say were sorry, were ignorant. Well also own our mistakes, and were going to make it right with the customer. If were replacing something, we want to be very upfront.
A Chat Between Neighbors
Urban Mattress started out in 2008 as nothing more than a friendly exchange between neighbors. Billy Williams, who owns the franchise, was my neighbor and a good friend, as was Ethan, Von Diest recalls. We all lived on the same street, and Ethan and I had done non-profit work, community development, we were former pastors. ¦ Billy said Hey, Im going to start a mattress store and Id love to have you and Ethan join me to infuse the non-profit valuescaring for people, caring for the communityinto Urban Mattress. Williams launched the store in Boulder, Colo., with Von Diest and Rietma, who eventually started three more franchises.
To Von Diest, it was crucial that they bring in like-minded people to open new stores. He recalled, What Ethan and I said was Were going to take on young guysupper 20s to mid 30sand were going to teach them how to do this non-profit value set/for-profit mattress business. ¦ Well help them launch new stores of their own because I really believe that the owner-operated model allows for care and an opportunity to sell thats really different than your big box stores.
Select Vendors
The leaders of Urban Mattress bring their carefully thought-out mindset to their selection of products as well. Were an elite retailer of Tempur-Pedic, and we love them, Von Diest said. Most of our staff sleep on them. Also, we are an exclusive retailer for Vi-Spring out of England. ¦ We carry Sherwood Bedding out of Phoenix. Those are our main manufacturers. We do carry Sweet Sleep out of Boulder, Colo.she is the provider of most of our organic pillows and accessories in the natural world.
Were not in bed with Serta, Sealy and Simmons and some of the big brands, so it allows us to differentiate product in our stores. Its very difficult oftentimes to find our product style and quality in the big box stores ¦ weve chosen our product to give (customers) a wide variety.
No Push, Push, Push
Von Diest and his fellow franchisees pride themselves on Urban Mattress no-pressure sales approach.
Our new staff, we script them that You have to talk very upfront, he said. Lets just use the idea that theres going to be no additional add-on prices of delivery, set-up, removal. All of that is very clear: Its free. ¦ We talk about why we price things the way we do. ¦ The product we carry is good enough to sell itself. I just want (customers) to discover the best thing for them according to their pocketbook, as well as whats good for their body. HFB