The science of sleep

The science of sleep
In-store diagnostic technology makes mattress shopping a dream at Sleep to Live

By Janet Groeber, Contributor
May 01, 2009

Padgett and Co. Inc., Chicago

Although we spend one-third of our lives on one, most consumers dread shopping for a new mattress—be it pushy salespersons, lackluster stores or confusing offerings. That’s now changing thanks to the debut of Sleep to Live, a new retail concept from Mebane, N.C.-based Kingsdown Inc. The 105-year-old maker of luxe mattresses (priced up to $10,000), which are mostly sold through specialty retailers, aims to educate the public about the science of sleep while remaking the process of mattress shopping.

Last December, Kingsdown opened a sleekly styled flagship designed by Eight Inc., a San Francisco-based architecture and design firm that also designed Sleep to Live’s diagnostic technology interface. Featuring white walls and glossy white fixtures, the 4,800-sq.-ft. store opened in North Hills, a mixed-use development in Raleigh, N.C. (Total store count includes two additional Raleigh units as well as one in Mebane, N.C.)

The new concept reflects the sleep studies of Dr. Robert Oexman of the Sleep to Live Institute, and the store offers some 200 products, from “sleep surfaces” to a range of “enhancers,” such as moisture-wicking sheets, melatonin-infused chocolates and relaxing, sleep-inducing CDs.

Unlike most mattress stores, customers won’t find quota-driven salespeople at Sleep to Live. At the store’s entrance, a “virtual concierge” (her image is projected on a screen) greets customers in the “decompression zone” and explains the store’s concept and layout—three experience zones and a retail area. Customers then embark on a self-guided “choreographed discovery path,” punctuated by graphic and digital media displays, interactive screens, test beds and helpful store associates. The interactive technology allows for an in-depth customized experience not found elsewhere—another reason Sleep to Live bills itself as the world’s first scientific sleep store.

In the “sleep discovery” area, interactive displays help customers learn how to achieve quality sleep. The “bed and pillow discovery” zone is a screened room where a diagnostic bed analyzes individual customers (or partner pairs) in order to recommend a sleep surface and pillow. Customers can lie down on a Sleep to Live diagnostic bed to be measured and analyzed. In less than 10 minutes, the bed will determine precise pressure points establishing ideal alignment for the individual’s skeletal-muscular system, and will suggest which Sleep to Live mattress and pillow is best for that customer.

“Technology became important and integral within the space, because we wanted to the get the same scientific message across whatever (Sleep to Live) store customers visited free of human error,” says Hilary Clark, principal of Eight Inc.’s New York office.

Says Kingsdown’s Senior Vice President and CIO Frank Hood, “We wanted to educate consumers about the sleep triangle, which is how behavior, environment and equipment can result in more restful sleep.” Kingsdown also wanted a scalable solution, Hood says, as the company contemplates expansion. Currently, Kingsdown is offering select elements of the new concept to its retailers and will open or license Sleep to Live stores in areas where it doesn’t compete with existing retail partners.