Casper and Tuft & Needle have launched the online mattress industry. Parachute wants to win on luxury

With the Caspers and Tuft & Needles of the world, not to mention more than 220 other web-based brands, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in the mattress sales business.

Parachute – a start-up company based in Los Angeles that creates bedding, towels and other essentials for the home – says its brand has what it takes. On January 17, Parachute launches its own range of mattresses.

"We want to promise comfort and further enjoy this bedroom experience," said Parachute founder and CEO, Ariel Kaye. "We think our mattress will do it in a different and unique way."

Following requests from thousands of customers who wanted mattress recommendations, the company, created in 2014, spent the last two years determining what its unique "position" would be on the mattress. Parachute spoke with customers in their stores, deployed customer surveys and chatted with her private Facebook group to find out exactly what her fans would like on a mattress. Kaye explained that these early conversations had allowed the company to develop the prototypes – personally tested by more than two dozen employees, friends and investors – Parachute did not not had to make a lot of changes, apart from changing the placement of the mattress springs. ergonomic support.

To differentiate its product in a highly saturated market of $ 28 billion, Parachute focuses on two essential features: the mattress is environmentally friendly and uses high quality materials. The mattress without foam has "pocket springs" – short, soft springs with a small diameter that give a feeling of smoothness to memory foam or latex. The interior is 100% organic cotton and New Zealand wool that does not contain a flame retardant and, according to Parachute, is "all-natural, durable and hypoallergenic".

The Parachute mattress has only one level of firmness – average – which, says Kaye, is widely recommended by doctors and seduces the greatest number of people.

Quality has a high price: mattresses range from $ 1299 to $ 2199. The Casper and Tuft & Needle mattresses start at $ 350; Amazon starts at $ 279. According to Kaye, Parachute's customers are usually people who install themselves, invest more in the decoration of their home and look for durable and high quality furniture.

"It's a mattress that will not be transferred to a room of friends in two or three years," Kaye said.

Similar to other brands of mattresses for the general public, Parachute offers free shipping and eliminates your old mattress. For now, the company will not store the beds in the stores, although customers can see them. Parachute has stores in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle and will open one this year in Chicago.

Parachute, which has leveraged $ 45 million in venture capital so far, is not the first company to focus on eco-friendly mattresses. Nest Bedding, Naturepedic and Ecoterra are other companies already present in this niche. Michael Magnuson, founder of GoodBeds, an independent mattress consumer resource, said Parachute was going to have to accumulate a significant number of positive reviews and positive testimonials as it grew to benefit from word of mouth marketing that has contributed to the success of Tuft & Needle. .

Nevertheless, Parachute's established brand could give him an advantage. The company "already [has] an audience of people who think about this part of their lives, "says Magnuson. It gives them something to bring that is different and unique, "he says.