Why, sometimes it even
backwatered! A final example: our
experience in the electric blanket
business. We made enough
mistakes there to lose several
million dollars, but we probably
gained more than that in lessons
learned.
In retrospect, our failures seem
funny now only because we have
had far more successes. In the long
range, our marketing philosophy has
worked magnificently.
The core of that philosophy was
expressed years ago in an
advertisement signed by The Chief.
"I want partners ... not just
dealers," ran the headline. It is still
true and it is going to remain true in
the years ahead.
The leading furniture and
department stores really are our
partners in the chain of selling. We
do not have the capacity or the
ambition to take over the retailing of
our products. That is the retail
merchant's function and he is an
expert at it. Our retailing job is
simply to help the merchant move
more Simmons products through his
store. To that end, we have built up
a great reservoir of merchandising
know-how. We are constantly
searching for new retailing insights
to benefit our customers.
Over the years Simmons has
developed a number of very special
marketing advantages for the
retailer.
We give him service. Our plants
are strategically located to serve
major markets, and our "Simmons
Service Station" warehouses stock
bedding products in sixty-six other
cities. No other manufacturer
provides him with that kind of
service.
An early goof!
We give him profits. Our sales
policies have always been founded
on the conviction that the retailer is
entitled to a very good profit on our
products. Most importantly, we fair
trade Beautyrest mattresses
wherever it is legal. This firm price
has served as the very "ridge pole"
of mattress department profits, and a
key to home furnishings retailing in
general.
The Chief's marketing philosophy,
"I want partners.., not just dealers,"
still holds.
We give him visual merchandising
aid. Most bedding departments
today give little indication, by their
position, size or appearance, of
their importance to the merchant.
Simmons is working to change this.
Our Second Century Visual
Merchandising Programs are
designed to feminize the bedding
department-to make it as
glamourous and inviting as a lady's
own boudoir-and to highlight the
Beautyrest Line-the top profit
producer.
We give him reliable products.
Our products are uniform and
consistent, coast to coast. No other
manufacturer, bar none, delivers
uniform quality over any sizable
geographic area.
Beauty rests on Beautyrest.