La Crosse, WI...
Are you one of the millions of men and women who will do something in bed tonight that they may regret in the morning?

More than half of all Americans could be depriving themselves of a good night's sleep by sharing their bed with the wrong pillow, a new survey reports.

"It's your pillow, not your mattress, that usually plays the critical role in helping you get a comfortable and refreshing night's sleep," says Rick Williams, pillow specialist for The Company Store, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, one of America's largest manufacturers and marketers of personal comfort products, including down comforters, pillows and featherbeds.

Williams says that your basic sleeping position should be your guide in deciding the density of the pillow best for you.

According to a nationally-representative survey of 1,000 men and women, which was just conducted for The Company Store, the majority (59%) of Americans usually sleep on their sides, while 18% prefer to sleep on their back and 13% usually snooze on their stomach. *

"Sleeping on a mismatched, poorly constructed or worn-out pillow can cause neck, shoulder and back pain," says Williams. "A good pillow comfortably supports your head and your neck, and keeps them level and aligned with your spine. When you sleep with your neck and spine relaxed and properly aligned, you help avoid kinks, aches and pains and fatigue."

• Do you usually sleep on your side? Then your best bet for proper full body alignment is a firm pillow, which provides support that eases the stress on your neck and shoulders. However, only 25% of the side-sleepers in the Company Store survey use a firm pillow, while 43% sleep with a medium pillow and 30% use a soft pillow.
• Back sleepers will be most comfortable with a medium-density pillow, which cradles the head at a level that correspondingly aligns the neck and the back in a comfortable and anatomically proper line. Yet, the survey found that only 38% of back sleepers use a medium pillow. Thirty-four percent use a soft pillow and 26% a firm pillow.
• Do you sleep on your stomach? Then, says Williams, you should select a soft pillow of fine billowy down to cushion your head and neck at a natural, restful angle while you sleep. Fewer than half (44%) of the stomach sleepers use a soft pillow, while 36% use a medium pillow and 17% a firm pillow.
• For people who frequently change sleeping positions during the night, or who want more comfort or support, Williams suggests placing a soft pillow on top of a firm pillow.

In his recent book, "Power Sleep," Cornell University sleep-research pioneer James B. Maas notes: "A good pillow, essential to long-term health, gives you comfort and automatically puts you in a healthy sleep posture. Orthopedic doctors and chiropractors agree that nearly all neck and back problems are worsened, if not caused, by improper sleeping habits and bad or worn-out pillows."

Down pillows represent the ultimate in sleep comfort. They have exceptional support, softness and contour-shaping quality -- and their extraordinary resilience means they can be fluffed back to their original plump shape every night for years.

Down is unsurpassed for luxurious and cushiony softness. Down provides cloud-floating comfort, with the utmost in adjustability. It scrunches and bounces back, confirming to each and every change in sleeping position.

The Company Store's Williams points out that if you spend $80 for a top-quality down pillow, you could be giving yourself the incomparable gift of blissful sleep comfort every night for ten years -- at a cost of roughly three cents a night.

The Company Store catalog offers a vast selection of soft, medium and firm down pillows, down and feather pillows, and pillows made with Primaloft, the remarkable alternative for those who are sensitive to down. Down pillows are available in standard, queen, king and Euro squares and in good, better, best and ultimate grades. But if you still can't find the pillow of your dreams, The Company Store's unique Custom Shop will create one for you.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," wrote Shakespeare. "Uncomfortable lies the head that uses an inappropriate or inferior pillow," says Williams.

The statistically-representative sleep-position and pillow survey of 1,000 adults was conducted by Bruskin-Goldring Research, of Edison, New Jersey, for The Company Store, nationwide specialists in comfort, value and quality since 1911.

For a copy of The Company Store's latest catalog, call (toll-free) 1-800-285-3696.

* One question the survey asked was: Which position do you usually sleep in?

	Total	Male	Female
On right side	33%	30%	36%
On your left side	26%	21%	30%
Total side-sleepers	59%	51%	66%
On your back	18%	24%	13%
On your stomach	13%	14%	13%
Other	4%	6%	2%
Don't know/no response	6%	5%	7%

The Company Store, located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, is a major home furnishings and fashion catalog company, and manufacturer of quality down products, which it markets, along with related brand-name products, through direct mail and the Internet (www.thecompanystore.com). The Company Store is a division of Hanover Direct, Inc., a leading specialty direct marketer of home furnishings.

Note to editors and producers:
For more on picking the perfect pillow, or for additional information on The Company Store's comfort products and sleep surveys, please contact Rick Williams at (201) 272-3206 or Sanford Teller, of Sanford Teller Communications, at (212) 717-0332. For information on Hanover Direct, please contact Paula Zwerdling, of AGG International, at (212) 869-8230.

CONTACT:
AGG International, Public Relations
Paula Zwerdling
Managing Director
(212) 869-8230

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