Protect-A-Bed meeting focuses on reinvention

By David Perry — Furniture Today, June 22, 2009

Toronto — Protect-A-Bed’s annual conference exuded an international vibe when company officials and sales representatives from around the world gathered here for two days of meetings.

“Simply the Best” was the theme for the conference, held at the Hyatt Regency downtown in the shadow of the city’s famous CN tower, which, at 1,815 feet, is the tallest freestanding tower in the world.

Protect-A-Bed officials, including founder David Kaplan of Australia, said the company, a provider of mattress and pillow protection products, stands tall on the mattress landscape. Kaplan said his vision for the company as a worldwide force in the industry “is becoming a reality,” and noted that his mattress journey started 26 years ago.

Yet it was only nine years ago that principals and fellow South Africans Clive Goldin and Lawrence Hirson launched the company in the United States, later bringing in Bernard Weinstein, another former South African, to launch the business in Canada.

The final piece of the management structure fell into place five years ago when James Bell, another South African, joined the U.S. arm of the business.

The conference drew about 100 people. Weinstein, president of Caber Distributors, saluted Kaplan’s “belief and passion” in the product, as well as his “obsession with detail and quality.” And he offered this challenge to the group: “A team of passionate, committed people has been assembled. We must turn the best product into the best brand. We can’t sit on our laurels. We must re-energize ourselves. The world waits for no one.”

The reinvention and reinvigoration themes played out in a variety of sessions. The conference got off to an inspirational start at a performance of the Famous PEOPLE Players, a Toronto black light theatre company that gives developmentally challenged individuals a chance to shine. The founder of that group, Diane Dupuy, addressed the meeting the next day, telling the attendees to listen to their inner voice. “Everything begins with that voice in your heart,” she said.

Steve Stagner, president of Houston-based Mattress Firm, a Protect-A-Bed customer, challenged the group to take its game to the next level. Choose growth over fear, Stagner said, recalling the story of how polar explorer Ernest Shackleton successfully led his men with determination and optimism.

Cecil Brauer, former owner of the Therapedic and Serta brands in Canada and now CEO of Brimor Capital, urged the attendees to strive to be the best in the market. “If you are the best,” he said, “everything falls into place.”

Sales trainer Ed Henry gave a pep talk on the power of salesmanship, telling his audience that success starts with a positive mental attitude nurtured at the start of every day.

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