Three men walk into a bar … and come up with 100% Comfort, a three-pronged proposition that threatens to shake up the global sleep sector. The three amigos in question – Mike Clare, Greg Suthern and Nick Worthington – have each played a defining role in today’s furniture market. Between them, they built Dreams, rebooted Carpetright, returned Furniture Village to profit, made DFS a sector leader, and helped put sleep on the Government’s health agenda. Now, with some big ideas in their heads and some time on their hands, they’ve come together to cement their legacy by exploring the sleep market’s overlooked opportunities, writes Paul Farley …
It started out as a conversation over dinner (and perhaps “one brandy too many”). What kind of enterprise might three professional friends, with vast industry experience and ambition to spare, bring to the modern furniture scene?
The trio might as well have slept on the idea, for what emerged as the linchpin was the humble pillow – an often-overlooked player in the bed industry playbook, but one that can make or break a good night’s sleep.
“Pound for pound, the pillow is the most important thing in your home,” Greg asserts. Pillows, then – and, via separate channels alongside them, mattress toppers and mattresses – would be at the heart of this new triple threat.
Mike, Greg and Nick may have helped define modern furniture retail, but this time around their aim is not to disrupt or displace. 100% Comfort, a one-stop sleep shop, initially deploying each of its three product segments through dedicated D2C websites, occupies a space alongside the industry, rather than atop it, says Greg. Just as there were no big upholstery specialists before DFS, or standalone bed superstores before Dreams, the trio set out to do something new.
Pillows, often the afterthought of a bed purchase, enjoy a much shorter replacement cycle, and can be part of any conversation around sleep health and temperature regulation, while representing enormous value. The Pillow World website therefore offers the consumer a huge range of options, promising value at every price point (as well as few recognisable brand names). There’s no hard sell, or continual discounting – just a clear, confident choice of pillows to suit all comers, whatever their stage of life.
“Be the sun, not the wind,” says Greg, referencing Aesop’s fable in which each tries to prove their strength by getting a traveller to remove his cloak. While the wind’s forceful gusts only make the traveller wrap up more closely, the sun’s gentle warmth eventually prompts him to remove it completely, teaching us that persuasion beats pressure, every time.
The trio have heard enough sales patter in their time – indeed, they’re probably responsible for much of it – and appreciate that going softly is more likely to win long-term custom.
“We won’t be telling people how much to spend, or what to buy,” Greg explains. “The consumer of tomorrow isn’t going to tolerate that. A brand should be about fun, education, and leadership. There’s a place for generalists, and a place for specialists – and we’re here to be an expert.”
Toppers are another overlooked opportunity, making up just one tenth of the pillow and mattress markets, claims Mike. “Toppers shouldn’t be seen as a threat to the sector, as they’re enhancing and extending a mattress’ lifespan,” he notes, “cutting down on beds going to landfill.”
But, he points out, few people shop for toppers (or pillows, for that matter) at the same time as they’re looking for a mattress: “Most bed retailers fear a topper will be a substitute for a mattress sale, whereas in reality, not having great toppers is just a lost opportunity.”
With a limited mattress offer (“it would be remiss of us not to”, Mike admits) rounding off 100% Comfort’s tripartite offer, it remains for the team to consider what might come next. Wholesaling to retail? Marketplaces? Stores? International franchises?
Greg clarifies that nothing is off the table, and that this eminently “channel agnostic” enterprise absolutely has the scope to go anywhere and be anything. After all, the principals have already sold in excess of £10b worth of furniture and bedding in over 40 markets worldwide, so why not?
“Other than global domination, we don’t want much,” Nick laughs.
Coming from anyone else, 100% Comfort’s ambition might seem fanciful. But being the brainchild of these giants of industry, it’s hard to see this “one-stop shop for everything bedroom” going anywhere other than stratospheric …
Read Paul's full conversation with the trio in January's issue.
Pictured: Nick Worthington, Mike Clare and Greg Suthern
