[August 25, 2011] Mattress maker finds Chinese consumers eager for quality, name-brand beds Tweet Aug 25, 2011 (The Oklahoman - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Knowing that ocean barges full of Chinese imports arrive in the U.S. but turn around and leave empty bothers Kerry Tramel, president of Lady Americana. The mattress manufacturer has been working to grow its export business, sending Oklahoma-made beds to China and other international markets. "The middle class is there," Tramel said of China. "They want the very best brands, but they're used to knock-offs." Lady Americana, a division of Mathis Brothers Furniture, now operates four retail stores in China with plans to expand to 50 or more in the near future. The stores sell a mix of mattresses produced at licensed factories overseas and higher-end products imported directly from Oklahoma City. Oklahoma exports to China increased to $243 million in 2010, up from $42 million in 2000, according to the US-China Business Council, a nonprofit organization consisting of about 240 American companies doing business with China. Exports from the state to the rest of the world increased 69 percent. Nationwide, there was a $76 billion increase in exports to China from 2000 to 2010, exceeding growth in any other market, the council found. "Exports to China are a vital part of the U.S. economy. China is our third-largest export market and is growing faster than many of our other major destinations for American manufactured goods and agriculture products," said Erin Ennis, the council's vice president. Though international exports are a small part of Lady Americana's business, it's worth highlighting in an economy focused on importing Chinese goods, Tramel said. The company also has exported mattresses to Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia but it does not have regular customers there. Made to order The clean and bright 145,000-square-foot factory on the Interstate 40 service road produces about 750 mattresses a day; an average of three of those will be shipped overseas. Tramel said the company's goal is to boost its export production to 50 a day. Each mattress in the facility is manufactured to order, from the least expensive twin model to a top-of-the-line memory foam king-size bed. Workers cut, sew, assemble and inspect the products in-house. Ninety-nine percent of the raw material is either used or recycled, with just 1 percent thrown away. Mattresses, Tramel said, are one of the few products consumers buy without being able to truly test it out first. "With a mattress, you can't really look at how that mattress is going to feel," he said. Tramel believes quality is the main reason the company continues to attract new customers in the U.S. and abroad. "We've been blessed with some good business," he said, adding that the company has so far produced about 2 million mattresses since it started in 1992. ___ (c)2011 The Oklahoman Visit The Oklahoman at www.newsok.com Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]