La Crosse, Wisconsin...
What do you do in your bedroom -- in addition to sleeping and participating in that other very popular activity?

According to a just-completed survey released today, the bedroom is where millions of Americans eat their meals, watch television, exercise, read, entertain guests -- and even run a business.

And it's also where some of us play drums, breed tropical fish and conduct séances.

The survey, was conducted by an independent research organization for The Company Store, of La Crosse, Wisconsin, nationwide catalog marketers of bedroom, bath and personal comfort items.

The nationally representative survey was based on interviews with 1,000 men and women, who were asked: Other than for sleeping and for engaging in romantic "acts of extreme friendship," what do you use your bedroom for?

Their responses:

To dress	............................	74.8%
To read	............................	52.6%
To watch television	............................	46.4%
To exercise	............................	18.1%
To eat meals	............................	10.8%
As a home office	............................	10.7%
To entertain	............................	10.2%
Other	............................	3.2%

A number of the survey participants noted other bedroom activities, including breeding tropical fish, playing musical instruments (drums and the saxophone), hosting a weekly poker game, operating a model train layout, playing table tennis, running a tax preparation service, writing a novel and conducting séances.

The survey also found that in addition to sleeping, we average another 2.1 hours a day -- or a full month each year -- in our bedrooms, while 11% of us spend between five and eight hours of our active time there each day.

"It appears that we may be becoming a nation of 'bedroom potatoes,'" said Jeff Potts, president of The Company Store, best known for the down comforters and pillows it manufactures in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

He said, "We're also spending more to make our bedrooms comfortable and attractive." He noted that, according to the Simmons Study of Media & Markets, which tracks consumer expenditures and product usage, Americans spent $10 billion dollars on bedroom furnishings in 1996, double the $5 billion spent 10 years ago.

Potts added that a related survey recently conducted for The Company Store found that both men and women feel deprived -- of sleep.

While they average only 6.8 hours of sleep a night, they'd said they'd like to be able to sleep an hour and a-half longer.

The bedroom activity and sleep surveys were conducted for The Company Store by Bruskin-Goldring Research, of Edison, NJ.

Note to editors: For additional information on The Company Store bedroom and sleep surveys, or to speak with Jeff Potts, please contact Kristin Marcou of The Company Store at (608) 791-5759 or Sanford Teller of Sanford Teller Communications at (212) 717-0332.

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

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