Kingsdown China plans 500 stores

Mattress maker Kingsdown has entered into a partnership which will see it open 500 new stores in China over the next five years.

Kingsdown already operates more than 90 MySide / Sleep to Live retail outlets in China, through a licensee and franchise network.

But its new partnership with Roth Bedding Technology will substantially expand its brand awareness and retail points of sale. Roth will manufacture the bedding and furniture products in China and they’ll be sold under the Kingsdown brand.

About 65 stores will open initially this year, with two already trading. The roll-out will be ramped up from next year.

“We have enjoyed a fantastic reception in China over the past few years but saw an even greater opportunity to really capture the country’s luxury consumer,” said Kingsdown president and CEO Frank Hood.

“This partnership with Roth Bedding is the boldest relationship ever entered into by our company and we are thrilled to have found an organisation that enjoys an equally ideal reputation for their attention to detail, high quality and service.”

Roth Bedding GM Jie Du says his company believes there is a big opportunity to sell high end bedding into the Chinese market.

“The company’s focus on styling, quality and groundbreaking research to deliver a more luxurious night’s sleep is a differentiator that will be appreciated by our consumers.”

North Carolina, US, based Kingsdown was founded in 1904 and besides his US home market, where it has two manufacturing bases, it sells into Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Taiwan, Turkey and the UAE.

“We are not the biggest mattress company in the world, nor do we have the loudest voice,” the company declares on its website. “While other companies are preoccupied with getting bigger and louder, we are hard at work holding true to our guiding principle: We make the smartest mattresses in the world.”