From a new home, Sleep Number rolls out new product line

Sleep Number Corp. has settled into its new home and rolled out new beds.

The company moved into its new Minneapolis home offices a year ago and during the past several months has introduced its most innovative and important lineup of new models — its adjustable 360 Smart Beds.

Last October, the company moved about 900 employees from its Plymouth offices into space in a five-story building at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 10th Street in downtown Minneapolis.

"Even though we are 31 years old as a company, in many ways this is the beginning of our new company," said President and CEO Shelly Ibach. "This is our new foundation and we will continue to innovate and build from here."

Its new smart bed models include sensors that monitor biometric data and adjust the mattress firmness in response to customer movements throughout the night.

The company now collects more than 7 billion biometric data points each night from its more than 11.4 million customers. Those data points are fed into Sleep Number's proprietary algorithm that determines each user's Sleep IQ score, a rating of the length and quality of the person's sleep each night. Customers can use that data each day to make changes to their routines, diet or exercise schedule in order to improve their sleep score.

"What we've done here is develop an innovation that is adding meaningful value to people's lives," Ibach said.

Sleep Number is competing in an increasingly crowded field that includes online retailers of so-called bed-in-a-box and other lower-end mattress makers. With products aimed at higher-end buyers, Sleep Number is emphasizing technology. Sleep Number saw revenue increase 10.2 percent in 2017, to $1.4 billion.

The company is also competing for workers, and its move to a new location came with the risk of losing employees if they don't adapt from a suburban location to downtown. A spokeswoman for Sleep Number said the move went better than expected in that regard.

"Our headquarters retention rate has improved since the move," said spokeswoman Leah Guimond. "We believe several factors have contributed to this, including being centrally located in Minneapolis; sharing our mission-driven culture socially to attract talent; and having current team members embrace and excel in a highly connected and collaborative environment."

'Sense of home'

Some of that retention could also likely be attributed to the office's modern design and upgraded amenities.

The new offices feature homey touches. People entering through the front doors of Sleep Number pass through a "living room" equipped with two of the company's latest smart beds and a video display that shows each new installation of a Sleep Number mattress across the country.

"This is really our home. … We want them to have that sense of home," Ibach said.

Brand touches can be found throughout the space, including an illuminated Sleep Number logo on the ceiling in the lobby, and Sleep Number setting numbers on some of the meeting tables.

"It was serendipity that it was the right space, and it was so reminiscent of our brand," said Angela Gearhart, vice president of brand experience, who helped Sleep Number collaborate with the firm HGA to design the new headquarters.

Sleep Number's space emphasizes informal meeting space and less individual workspace, an office design trend used by many professional firms to promote collaboration. Office perks include activity corners with gaming tables and treadmill desks, modern kitchenettes, a 1,900-square-foot outdoor patio, and a cashless cafe from which employees can order food from their desks.

The building also includes a new top-secret lab for the company's research and development department and space dedicated to experimenting with the layouts of its company-owned stores.

Sleep Number leases 211,000 square feet in the building and has exercised its right to take an additional 25,000 square feet on the fourth floor for future growth.

Patrick Kennedy • 612-673-7926 Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495