Simmons, Pioneer of the Semi-Permanent Mattress Era... Ahn Jeong-ho "Consumer Trust Is Most Important"

Simmons 'Beautyrest 100th Anniversary Launch Press Conference'
Introducing 'Beautyrest' with Vanadium Pocket Springs
CEO An Jeong-ho: "It's natural for companies to make good products"
"Using products longer reduces waste"
Product delivery despite TMON incident... "Consumer trust comes first"

Simmons has officially ushered in an era of mattresses that can be used semi-permanently by introducing the Simmons Vanadium Pocket Spring, which boasts significantly enhanced durability.

On the 3rd, Simmons held a ‘Beautyrest 100th Anniversary Launch Press Conference’ at the Simmons Factorium in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, introducing the new Beautyrest product that achieved quality innovation with the ‘Vanadium Pocket Spring.’ Beautyrest is a popular product set to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2025.

At the press conference, Simmons CEO Ahn Jung-ho took the stage to talk about “Simmons’ innovations that have led the history of beds worldwide and another innovation that will lead the next 100 years.”

Ahn Jung-ho, CEO of Simmons, is holding the 'Beautyrest 100th Anniversary Launch Press Conference' on the 3rd at Simmons Factorium in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do. (Photo by Simmons)

Recently, Simmons, a year ahead of the Beautyrest 100th anniversary, applied vanadium material to POSCO-produced high-strength steel for the first time in Korea. Vanadium increases the strength and temperature stability of steel and alloy steel, offering excellent elasticity and durability, and is used as a special material in aerospace engineering technologies such as jet engines due to its ability to withstand extreme conditions like high temperature and high pressure.

CEO Ahn stated, “The Vanadium Pocket Spring has undergone over 10 million durability tests with more than 200,000 spring cycles per day without breaking, significantly improving durability compared to existing products, making semi-permanent use of springs practically possible. Simmons will lead the popularization of Vanadium Pocket Springs through 100% in-house production and pioneer an era of mattresses that can be used semi-permanently.”

During the Q&A session, when asked about this year’s sales, CEO Ahn explained, “Being number one or two is not that important. What matters is gaining trust and love from consumers,” adding, “We did not experience negative growth in the first half of the year.” Simmons had ranked first in domestic industry sales for the first time last year.

Regarding concerns that sales might decline due to the use of semi-permanent mattress products, CEO Ahn said, “It is natural for companies to make good products, and if consumers use products longer, it benefits them and reduces waste, so we developed this product with that in mind.” He added, “In the case of Beautyrest, more than 10,000 units were sold within two months of launch.”

CEO Ahn emphasized consumer trust. Referring to a recent fire at a hotel in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, where mattresses acted as kindling, he explained, “The reason for developing flame-retardant mattresses is that major advanced countries have legislated the distribution of flame-retardant mattresses, but we are still lacking,” explaining the background of flame-retardant mattress development.

Simmons Factorium mattress testing scene. (Photo by Simmons)

Since 2018, Simmons has been the first and only company in Korea to produce all household mattresses on the market as flame-retardant mattresses that do not easily catch fire. They obtained related patents in 2020 and publicly disclosed the manufacturing method patent for flame-retardant mattresses in January this year for public benefit.

Additionally, Simmons recently bore the delivery costs for products worth approximately 1.4 billion KRW after consumer payments were completed in relation to the TMON and WEMAKEPRICE incidents.

When asked about the Factorium where the press conference was held, CEO Ahn explained, “Since mattresses are products whose interiors are not visible, we wanted to show the general public how mattresses are made.”

Opened in 2017, the Simmons Factorium sits on a 74,505㎡ site and is equipped with world-class facilities, a self-production system recognized for its expertise, and a sleep research and development (R&D) center. Over 150 billion KRW was invested during more than ten years of planning, design, and construction. Here, 41 types of testing equipment conduct over 250 kinds of tests on all Simmons products.

Finally, CEO Ahn said, “Quality innovation is also a sustainable virtuous cycle and a pillar of social responsibility. The Vanadium Pocket Spring greatly extends product lifespan, lengthening the product usage cycle and reducing waste output, minimizing environmental impact. This decision aligns with the current corporate ESG management trend and meets the needs of consumers pursuing sustainable consumption.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.