We are the leading manufacturer, marketer and distributor of premium mattresses and pillows, which we sell in approximately 80 countries under the TEMPUR® and Tempur-Pedic® brands. We believe our premium mattresses and pillows are more comfortable than standard bedding products because our proprietary, pressure-relieving TEMPUR® material is temperature sensitive, has a high density and conforms to the body to therapeutically align the neck and spine, thus reducing neck and lower back pain, two of the most common complaints about other sleep surfaces.
We have two reportable operating segments: Domestic and International. These reportable segments are strategic business units that are managed separately based on the fundamental differences in their geographies. The Domestic operating segment consists of our U.S. manufacturing facilities, whose customers include our U.S. distribution subsidiary and certain third party distributors in the Americas. The International segment consists of our manufacturing facility in Denmark, whose customers include all of our distribution subsidiaries and third party distributors outside the Domestic segment. We evaluate segment performance based on Net sales and Operating income.
We sell our premium mattresses and pillows through four distribution channels in each operating business segment: Retail (furniture and bedding, specialty and department stores); Direct (direct response and internet); Healthcare (chiropractors, medical retailers, hospitals and other healthcare markets); and Third party distributors in countries where we do not sell directly through our own subsidiaries.
Market Opportunity and Competitive Strengths
Global Market
Most standard mattresses are made using innersprings and are primarily sold through retail furniture and bedding stores. Alternatives to innerspring mattresses include viscoelastic and foam mattresses, airbeds and waterbeds (collectively called specialty or non-innerspring mattresses).
The U.S. pillow market has a traditional and a specialty segment. Traditional pillows are generally made of low cost foam or feathers, other than down. Specialty pillows are comprised of all alternatives to traditional pillows, including viscoelastic, foam, sponge, rubber and down.
Our Market Position
We are the worldwide leader in specialty sleep. We are focused on developing, manufacturing and marketing advanced sleep surfaces that help improve the quality of life for people around the world. We believe demand for our products is being driven by significant growth in our core demographic market, increased awareness of the health benefits of a better quality mattress and the broadening appeal of our new products. As consumers continue to prefer alternatives to standard innerspring mattresses, our products become more widely available and as our brand gains broader consumer recognition, we expect that our premium products will continue to attract sales from the standard mattress market.
Superior Product Offerings
Our high-quality, high-density, temperature-sensitive TEMPUR® material distinguishes our products from other products in the marketplace. Viscoelastic pressure-relieving material was originally developed by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1971 in an effort to relieve astronauts of the G–force experienced during lift-off and NASA subsequently made this formula publicly available. The NASA viscoelastic pressure-relieving material originally proved unstable for commercial use. However, after several years of research and development, we succeeded in developing a proprietary formulation and proprietary process to manufacture a stable, durable and commercially viable product. The key feature of our pressure-relieving TEMPUR® material is its temperature sensitivity. It conforms to the body, becoming softer in warmer areas where the body is making the most contact with the pressure-relieving TEMPUR® material and remaining firmer in cooler areas where less body contact is being made. As the material molds to the body’s shape, the body is supported in the correct anatomical position with the neck and spine in complete therapeutic alignment. Our pressure-relieving TEMPUR® material also has higher density than other viscoelastic materials, resulting in improved durability and enhanced comfort. In addition, clinical evidence indicates that our products are both effective and cost efficient for the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers or bed sores, a major problem for elderly and bed-ridden patients.
Increasing Global Brand Awareness
We sell our products in approximately 80 countries primarily under the TEMPUR® and Tempur-Pedic® brands. We believe consumers in the U.S. and internationally increasingly associate our brand name with premium quality products that enable better overall sleep. Our TEMPUR® brand has been in existence since 1991 and its global awareness is reinforced by our high level of customer satisfaction, as demonstrated by the recognition received by Consumer Reports, the Arthritis Foundation, the NASA Space Foundation, Good Housekeeping and Consumers Digest. In addition, our products are recommended by more than 25,000 healthcare professionals worldwide and an independent study reported 92% of our customers surveyed have recommended Tempur-Pedic products to others.
Vertically Integrated Manufacturing and Supply Chain
We produce all of our proprietary TEMPUR® material in our own manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and Europe in order to precisely maintain the specifications of our products. We believe that our vertical integration, from the manufacture of the TEMPUR® material and fabrication and construction of our products through the marketing, sale and delivery of our products, ensures a high level of quality and performance that is not matched by our competition.
Strong Financial Performance
Our business generates significant cash flow due to the combination of our sales, gross and operating margins, low maintenance capital expenditures and limited working capital requirements. Further, our vertically-integrated operations generated an average of approximately $0.7 million in Net sales per employee in 2009. For the year ended December 31, 2009, our Gross profit margin and Net income margin were 47.4% and 10.2%, respectively, on Net sales of $831.2 million. Our Net income margin allows our business model the flexibility to invest in our manufacturing operations, enhance our sales force and marketing, invest in information systems and recruit experienced management and other personnel.
Significant Growth Opportunities
We believe there are significant opportunities to take market share from the innerspring mattress industry as well as other sleep surfaces. Our market share of the overall mattress industry is relatively small in terms of both dollars and units, which we believe provides us with a significant opportunity for growth. By broadening our brand awareness and offering superior sleep surfaces, we believe consumers will over time adopt our products at an increasing rate, which should expand our market share, subject to the effect of business and economic conditions as discussed below. Additionally, by expanding distribution within our existing accounts, we believe we have the opportunity to grow our business. By extending our product line and our new segmentation of products, we should be able to continue to expand the number of Tempur-Pedic models offered at the retail store level, which should lead to increased sales. We believe this strategy provides for continued growth opportunities and market shares gains. However, our business may continue to be affected by general business and economic conditions that could have an impact on demand for our products, which could limit our market share and decrease sales. As of December 31, 2009 our products were sold in approximately 6,400 furniture and bedding retail stores in the U.S., out of a total of approximately 10,000 stores we have identified as appropriate targets. Within this addressable market, our plan is to increase our total penetration to a total of 7,000 to 8,000 over the long-term. Internationally, our products are available in approximately 4,900 furniture retail and department stores, out of a total of approximately 7,000 stores we have identified as appropriate targets. As consumers continue their shift toward the purchase of non-innerspring mattress products and sleep surfaces we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on this growth opportunity.
Our Products
Mattresses
Our mattresses represented 66.2% of our Net sales in 2009 and are our leading product category in recent years. Our mattresses are composed of proprietary multi-layer, temperature sensitive, pressure-relieving TEMPUR® material. We offer several mattress models, some of which are covered by one or more patents and/or patent applications. We also routinely introduce new mattress models, launch new products and update our existing mattress products in the U.S. and internationally.
Pillows
Our premium pillow offerings include a variety of styles and represented 12.9% of Net sales in 2009. Our pillows provide plush and pressure-relieving comfort as the temperature sensitive material molds to the body.
Other Products
Our other products represented 20.9% of our Net sales in 2009. This category includes foundations used to support our mattress products, adjustable beds and many other types of offerings including a variety of cushions and other comfort products.
Marketing and Sales
We primarily sell at wholesale through three distinct channels: Retail, Healthcare and Third party. Our top five customers for the years ended December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007 accounted for approximately 18.9%, 19.2% and 18.2% of our Net sales, respectively. The loss of one or more of these customers could negatively impact our profitability. We market directly to consumers in the U.S. and the United Kingdom through our Direct channel. Our marketing strategy is to increase consumer awareness of the benefits of our products and to further associate our brand name with better overall sleep and premium quality products. In September 2009, we launched a new media campaign, titled “Ask Me,” in the U.S. across all of our sales channels. In 2009, we also introduced a product segmentation strategy, which groups our products into collections with multiple models and price points, differentiated by functionality and specifications.
Retail
The Retail channel sells to furniture and bedding retailers, specialty stores and department stores, among others. Our Retail channel represented 84.5% of Net sales in 2009.
Direct
The Direct channel sells directly to consumers through our call center operations and the internet in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Our direct response program targets customers in these markets through television, radio, magazine and newspaper product offering advertisements. Our Direct channel represented 6.0% of Net sales in 2009. The Healthcare channel sells to hospitals, nursing homes, healthcare professionals and medical retailers that utilize our products to treat patients, or may recommend or sell them to their clients. In addition, in the U.S. we are partnering with healthcare vendors in a sales method whereby the vendors integrate our TEMPUR® material into their products to improve patient comfort and wellness. These healthcare partners market our joint product offerings through established distribution channels. This channel represented 4.3% of Net sales in 2009.
Third party
Third party sales represented 5.2% of Net sales in 2009. We utilize third party distributors to serve markets that are currently outside the range of our wholly-owned subsidiaries. Our approach to these developing markets has allowed us to build sales, marketing and brand awareness with minimal capital risk. We have entered into arrangements with third party distributors located in approximately 60 countries.