February 18, 2008

A Big Day!

Today is President's Day. A lot of folks get the day off of work. And because it's always on a Monday, in the middle of winter, it's got an interesting history. Well, at least it's interesting to me.

Have y'all ever noticed what a BIG sale day it is for mattresses? Well, of course I have....it's the MacDaddy of Mattress Sales Days.....

And I just don't get it. Oh, I understand it more than say....Memorial Day or Labor Day. Those days the last thing I'm thinkin' about is shopping. But they also have a tradition of huge numbers in my sales column. Even with all the activities - boating, picnics, family gatherings. I *REALLY* don't get that.

But President's Day out ranks them all in "our" world. And that really puzzles me. What's the correlation? President's Day = Mattress? I don't know....doesn't really click.

So....I decided to see what I could find out about this phenomenon. From this advertising site I found:

Feb. 18 President's Day

"Always one of the biggest of the year. This 3-day event ushers in the "big ticket item" season. This weekend always brings in big numbers for the automotive, mattress, and especially the furniture retailers."

Yeah. OK. But WHY?!? How did this all start?

I can't find anything. It just talks about how it's the kick off for consumers to purchase "big ticket items". No back ground at all.

And maybe I'm just different for wanting to understand the WHY - the HOW did this all begin. And in all honesty it probably doesn't matter in the least. It may be as simple as this is when people's tax checks start arriving.

In fact - that's probably it right there, now that I think about it.

But what ever it is.....for whatever reason......folks will be flocking to furniture stores and sleep shops in the hope of improving the quality of their lives by getting a better mattress.......

So Happy President's Day folks!! A day when so many American's are focused on their bed.

And I couldn't be happier.....

Posted by Tammi at February 18, 2008 06:53 AM | TrackBack
Comments

My humble guess: Since so many Americans on Memorial Day and Labor Day are usually doing other things, besides buying mattresses - i.e., marching in or watching a parade, barbecuing, et al - it's conceivable that, since they have the day off (I do not - feh!), they are doing what they normally would not otherwise have been able to do on those other two holidays. Fugghedabout public readings in the park of the Gettysburg Address...nah, let's get a new mattress, instead (that freakin' song, 1-800-MATTRES...leave off the last "S" for savings, is stuck in my head...what a surprise).

Posted by: Erica at February 18, 2008 08:03 AM

I'd be curious as well, because if you understand *why* you will be more prepared with marketing strategies. ;)

Posted by: pam at February 18, 2008 08:21 AM

I'm thinking - middle of winter, extra day off where some shopping can be accomplished. So people market the big ticket items now... nothing else is pressing (no school purchases, no Christmas presents, summer vacation time is several months away). It's a good time to market the items that get pushed down the list because people NEED to buy other things instead.

I'm sure it started with cars - there's always a mid-winter slump in car sales (who wants to buy a brand new car when it's so sloppy outside?) Then other sales people saw that giving people a break on cars got the auto people some sales...

Just my way of looking at it. I never thought about it up til now.

Posted by: Teresa at February 18, 2008 11:32 AM

The mattress sales started during the Clinton Era...

Posted by: That 1 Guy at February 18, 2008 04:18 PM
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