Nordstrom lands Exclusive "Heavenly Beds" Deal

Seattle - The Heavenly Bed, the Westin Hotels signature bed and bedding collection, is now being sold at retail exclusively at Nordstrom.

Nordstrom, the fashion specialty store retailer based here, is featuring the Heavenly Bed collection in 48 of its 61 At Home departments, calling the collection Heavenly Bed at Home. Nordstrom has 95 stores coast to coast.

Luxury Hotel Linens

The program began five years ago, explained Sue Brush, senior vice president, Westin Hotels & Resorts, the result of hotel guest's requests to purchase both the mattresses and bedding following their visits to a Westin Hotel.

At the launch of the Nordstrom program in New York last week, Brush noted that in the first year Westin's sales of Heavenly Bed products were almost $1 million. Last year, sales jumped to $8.5 million via the in-room catalog and Web site.

The all-white collection, from the mattress and upholstered bed to the decorative pillows, is featured in specially designed sections of the At Home departments. While Nordstrom currently has 61 At Home departments with decorative accessories, gifts, accent furniture and some textiles, 48 are carrying the Heavenly Bed bedding, and 24 offer the full program including the upholstered beds and mattresses, said Paul Begich, national merchandise manager, At Home.

The bedding collection, which is supplied by Baker Linen, includes 300-count Egyptian cotton sheets, a lightweight goosedown blanket, a jacquard duvet cover filled with a down insert, a range of feather and down bed pillows and a boudoir pillow.

The mattress is a specially designed Beautyrest from Simmons, the upholstered bed is from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams.

Nordstrom will market the Heavenly Bed program via its own sales staff, which is known for personal shopping attributes. It will also feature the line on its Web site, Begich related. But it will not sell the products on the Internet "because we want to enhance the one-on-one relationship with the customers."

Customers shopping in stores without the At Home departments will be able to consult with sales people in those stores who will guide them to the stores that carry the products, he said. Sales people at the participating At Home stores have received special training in the past few months, Begich added.

Results in just the few days the program has been in the stores have been very good, he said.

The entire 10-layer bed sells for $3,115 to $3,615, with the mattress set priced from $1,250 to $1,450.

The expansion of home furnishings at Nordstrom "means we're absolutely looking at line extensions," in this business, Begich stated.