The West Coast Mercantile family is nothing if not honest. Brutally honest, actually. Sometimes, tilting toward blunt-force trauma honesty. We, the founders, are quite well versed in messages that get to the point in as few words as possible, and likely at an elevated decibel level.
We decided, perhaps in a moment of euphoria, to dive headfirst into this industry that has a bit of a reputation of questionable claims and misdirection: The great debate on thread counts. Singly ply versus double ply yarns. Sateen sucker punching Percale. Consumers have never had so many options. The bedding industry is filled deep and wide with competitors (strangely, a more than a few run by married couples), awash in creative prints and awe inspiring breadth of product options. As a newer entrant into this industry, it is incredibly intimidating.
And then there are the financial risks. Inventory is really, really expensive for a store to carry. If a store guesses wrong on which colors or patterns customers will want for the season, it is a major blow to the ability of the company to fund the next round of inventory. Guess wrong in the next few seasons, and it could spell the end of the company.
Despite the gut-wrenching, sleep-depriving (ironic we are selling bedding, no?) hurdles to create a brand that resonates with customers, we think we have an edge. Our focus as a brand are products which offer premium quality materials combined with unique and useful functionality to customers.
First on deck, our sheets. They perform great, feel great in all aspects of the experience, from making it easy to put the sheets on your bed, to sleeping on them (case in point, our patent-pending design ensures they stay on the mattress during sleep). And like a good pair of jeans, they only get better with additional washes.
Yet, our brutal honesty remains intact. We recently sent a customer to a competitor because they wanted a set of sheets that were made entirely in the USA. There are few textiles manufactures choices in the USA, unfortunately. Setting up a high quality global supply chain is not easy or inexpensive, either. The choice we made was to source internationally, but responsibly, with a Fair-Trade certified partner whose plant consumes nearly all of their power needs from renewable sources. However, we can sympathize with the desire to support your country, so we recommended the best we knew.
We are incredibly confident in our bedding products. They are sustainable and responsible made from fair trade, biodegradable organic materials and packaging, but they still raise the bar on a luxury feel. Most of our competitor friends stop here, though. We go beyond, with a focus on function, with our signature fit of your mattress which ensures that the sheets stay where they are supposed to, a fanatical attention to detail, and a high quality product at an honest value. We think you'll agree.