HAVING TROUBLE FINDING A MATTRESS DURING COVID-19? HERE’S WHY

HAVING TROUBLE FINDING A MATTRESS DURING COVID-19? HERE’S WHY

If you’ve visited a mattress store lately, you may have noticed a shortage of mattresses or a longer-than-normal delay in receiving a mattress that you’ve ordered. You also may have noticed some price increases. Here’s why.

SHORTAGE OF COMPONENTS
The COVID-19 virus outbreak has placed a strain on the global supply of nonwoven roll goods, as this material has been prioritized for the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, surgical gowns, and cleaning wipes.

This shortage of nonwoven roll goods has impacted the mattress industry, as this material is used as a backing for quilt and border panels, pillowtop construction, and also as the wrapping for fabric encased innerspring units.

All of this has led to a shortage of the parts needed to build mattresses, and some nonwoven and innerspring companies have started to ration their products. This means that some mattress manufacturers don’t have enough supplies to meet the demand of the orders that they currently have on file from retailers.

DEMAND SLAM
Most mattress retailers were required to shut down across the country sometime in March, as they were not deemed part of the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of the Department of Homeland Security. (Personally I disagree with this – let me know how non-essential good sleep is after going 48 hours without it.)

Most mattress stores were then allowed to conduct business sometime in May, depending upon the reopening plan of their state. The result was a flood of orders to mattress manufacturers from the pent-up demand during the mandated shutdown. Combine this barrage of mattress orders with the shortage of mattress supplies, and this has left many mattress companies woefully behind in production with a three to four week delay being commonplace.

LABOR SHORTAGE
Mattress companies and component suppliers were caught off guard by the spike in consumer demand. While many mattress manufacturers and suppliers kept their facilities operating during the shutdown, they did so at decreased capacity. They’ve now attempted to call back their workforce to accelerate production, but many employees are choosing to stay at home. Some are remaining at home due to their fear of COVID-19, but many former employees related that they were making more money by staying at home and collecting the unemployment benefit under the CARES Act.

This labor shortage (and subsequent training of replacement employees), combined with the staggering of production to meet COVID-19 mandated safety guidelines, has hampered the ability of both component and completed mattress manufacturers to meet product demand.

FORCE MAJEURE
The shortage of mattress materials has led some mattress componentry suppliers and finished mattress manufacturers to declare a force majeure.

There has been a cost increase of 15%-20% for some mattress components, along with a rationing of these supplies. This price increase is too large for mattress manufacturers to absorb, so this material cost increase is being passed along by many mattress manufacturers to their retailers, which in turn is reflected by higher prices at sleep shops and furniture stores.

Suppliers are stating that the delay in production and price increases might last two to three months, which in reality probably means it will last at least three to six months.

So if you visit a mattress store and it takes a little longer than normal to receive your mattress, please be patient. There are true industry issues that are causing these delays. Here’s hoping things get back to normal sooner rather than later.

[NOTE: This article originally appeared as a Beducation blog post: Trouble Finding Mattress During COVID-19? Here's Why - Mattress To Go ]

Great explanation Jeff, as a retailer myself it’s been a frustrating & strange time to be in the industry.

I have had suppliers ship models which should have a traditional innerspring system built-in, but instead are completely foam based. The troublesome thing, is I received ZERO advanced notice.

[ul]
[li][Thiss creates real problems, as now I have customers laying on floor models which don’t feel like the one they might receive. I refuse to be a bait & switch dealer, like many out there.[/li][/ul]

I received your basic 7" spring factory select models which had labels reading '7" Spring’s, but there literally were no springs, only foam. Additionally troubling I was charged the full price of a 7" spring unit, when a 7" foam model (that it actually was) costs us $20 less AND this is done by one of the top 3 largest manufacturers in the USA (whom I won’t name publicly)

Turnaround Times:
What used to take, 1 week to arrive from the date of ordering, now takes 5-6 weeks, sometimes more and this applies to 85% of my suppliers, unfortunately.

Takeaway:
Your local dealer is doing everything he can to get your inventory to you as fast as he can. We are in the middle of unprecedented times, and your patience is highly appreciated.

I encourage you to stay strong & continue waiting, rather than taking your business online & away from local businesses. Keep supporting those in your community, because Amazon does not care about you & will NOT sponsor your kids baseball team.

Hey MattressMike,

Appreciate your observational comments in support of @JeffScheuer’s mattress industry/ consumer article. For clarity, could you please explain the intent in your comments, as your “I received your basic 7” spring factory select models which had labels reading '7" Spring’s, but there literally were no springs, only foam. Additionally troubling I was charged the full price of a 7" spring unit, when a 7" foam model (that it actually was) costs us $20 less AND this is done by one of the top 3 largest manufacturers in the USA (whom I won’t name publicly)" statements are confusing and imply a problem with the above mentioned trusted member rather than one of your suppliers.

Thanks too for disclosure of your position in the mattress industry, one of the TMU forum use rulesdesigned to avoid consumer confusion regarding professional advise given outside of the Mattress Undergrounds’ strictly vetted trusted member program. Your contributions to the forum are welcome within the guidelines mentioned above.

Thanks,
Sensei

Sensei,

Thank you for giving the opportunity to clarify, what the intent of my reply.

Essentially, it was to explain to consumers that it’s a very weird time in the mattress industry and occasionally, manufacturers are substituting materials without giving proper notice to their retailers. Due to COVID, manufacturers are scrambling to put out products as fast as they can & with whatever materials they can. The springs/materials used may not necessarily be the exact models used, prior to COVID.

NOTE: The problems I mentioned above were NOT from any of the trusted members of this website. In the future, I will be more careful with what I say and how that may be confusing the consumers. My apologies.