Sleep Country Canada opens locations in city
Company official cites online demand behind move to set up two shops in city
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the accelerating move by consumers to e-commerce, the national bedroom furniture chain Sleep Country Canada is jumping into the Windsor market with its first two local stores.
A city outlet at 4450 Walker Road opened its doors Friday while a Tecumseh location at 35 Amy Croft Drive opens July 9.
“We’ve been looking at the Windsor market for 10 to 15 years,” said chief business development officer Stewart Schaefer.
“Why now? More than ever people are cocooning at home and bedroom furniture and mattresses are becoming more important from a health and wellness perspective.
“We also have been tracking Windsor deliveries from our London stores. Also, our e-commerce business (in southwestern Ontario), a lot of it’s coming from the Windsor area.”
Sleep Country Canada was founded in Vancouver in 1994 and now has 280 outlets across the country. The company employs 1,500 people nationally and will employ 14 workers between its two local stores.
Schaefer said that, with his company’s name being more recognized locally in recent years, the unique challenges of Windsor’s advertising market were a little less risky. Sleep Country is heavy into TV and particularly radio marketing, but was facing a local listening audience that traditionally turns to the U.S. for such media.
“All markets are unique, but Windsor is especially unique (because of its location),” Schaefer said.
“The ability to market effectively was a real challenge. We’ve been planning for the past two or three years and construction had already begun, but what we’ve seen (from Windsor) during COVID-19 was a positive sign that confirmed the time is right.”
After doing extensive market research and consulting local focus groups for 18 months, Schaefer said it was felt the region could support two stores.
The company studied population growth, traffic flow patterns, where people work and where future development is planned in settling on the sites of the two stores.
“When we’re ready to take a leap of faith in a new market, we jump right into the deep end of the pool, not just dip our toe into the water,” Schaefer said. “We’ve never gone into a market in 25 years and exited that market.
“That’s why two stores. We feel we’re in areas that are up-andcoming.”
While the company’s e-commerce business is growing strongly, Schaefer said Sleep Country is also continuing to expand its bricks-and-mortar operations across the country.
He said customers still want to test out the product when it comes to buying a mattress.
“Ours is still a tactile industry,” Schaefer said. “Anything over $500, customers want to kick the tires a little.
“They may start their search online, narrow down what they want, but then they’ll come into a store and test it out. Then, many will leave and complete the transaction online.”
Schaefer admits expanding during a pandemic has proven both challenging and more costly.
Construction started, stopped and restarted, safety measures were modified and company policies were redesigned for health and safety reasons.
What we’ve seen (from Windsor) during COVID-19 was a positive sign that confirmed the time is right.
In addition to the expected PPE, such as masks, gloves, sanitizers and social distancing, the company is employing disposable sanitary sheets to allow customers to still lay down and test a mattress.
Deliveries have also been modified to allow for mattress dropoffs rather than have crews enter a home if that is preferred.
As part of its corporate policy to support local charities, Sleep Country has partnered with the Welcome Centre Shelter for Women and Families to donate mattresses and bedding essentials.