Hudson fills void with latex-like pillow
By Marvin Lazaro -- Home Textiles Today, 6/25/2001
RICHMOND, VA — Hudson Industries Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of foam bedding products, based here, unveiled its new urethane foam pillow, which emulates many of the properties of traditional latex pillows.
"This pillow brings a lot of great opportunities to Hudson," Lonnie Scheps, vp, sales and marketing, told HTT. "Latex pillows are part of virtually every retailers' lineup in the country. We can now provide a product that's comparable to latex and step into some of those spots.
"It's a breakthrough, without question," he added.
Scheps said Hudson had the pillow, whose construction will be patented, in proverbial limbo for a year. The pillow was developed and ready to ship, but latex manufacturers dominated the market.
But a fire on May 14 subsequently destroyed Latex Foam Products' plant in Ansonia, CT, creating a void for retailers.
"It was just one of those products we were waiting to introduce, and after reading about the fire — all of a sudden — we had our incentive," said Scheps, who added that many manufacturers have tried unsuccessfully over the last 10 or 15 years to make a foam product with latex's properties.
The new pillow, dubbed Like-Latex by Hudson, will be available in standard, queen and king sizes and will carry an opening retail price point of $29.95. An all-cotton cover will also be included with the purchase. Scheps said the pillow will be offered to department stores, catalogs and discounters with a mid-July shipping date.
Like-Latex is designed to have many of latex's favorable properties such as its resiliency, feel and comfort. It is also slightly firmer than many of the latex pillows currently available, Scheps said.
The pillow, however, will not have the odor commonly associated with latex, nor will it disintegrate over time, according to Scheps. It will also carry the additional benefits of being anti-bacterial and anti-microbial as well as hypo-allergenic. Hudson is backing the product with a lifetime guarantee. Completing the rollout will be packaging extolling all of Like-Latex's properties.
"This is in response to an event, but it's also a proactive issue," Scheps said. "All Hudson is trying to do is fill a void that's going to exist for a very popular product."
