Story by Iman Hidajat | Photos by ALGA Sleep Store
Living in a bustling city like Jakarta can make anyone yearn for a good sleep, and one crucial way to improve our sleep quality is to have the right mattress. PT Alga Jaya Raya, which was established in 1976 as a pioneer in the mattress industry in Indonesia, has launched the concept of the first sleep store in the country in March 2023. This exceptional store is located on the mezzanine floor of the Atria@Sudirman building and offers a personalized mattress experience to help customers find the perfect one.
Upon entering ALGA Sleep Store, the ambience is very welcoming, like stepping into your home embraced by warmth, cozy and subtle design. The store serves as a harmonizing blend of atmosphere, simulation, and experiential comfort, providing a natural solution for those who struggle with insomnia. Interestingly, this showroom is not merely a showroom but a sleep store where visitors are encouraged to sleep to try the mattress they choose.
The customers can feel that a tranquil atmosphere prevails through neutral colours designed to embody Japanese style and culture, where shoji and real tatami are incorporated in some private experience sleep rooms. Iklim Tan, as the lead designer of this unique store, describes that the Japanese style design has been chosen to adapt to the Zen ambience as whole feelings. This concept also explains why the products are displayed carefully to create a homy sleeping compound, bringing people good sleep quality. Iklim also strongly believes that the right colours will enhance the mood, especially for the bedrooms. He believes a bedroom needs a natural and subtle colour to achieve a quality of deep sleep.
Iklim is also known for having designed some mattresses and bedframes himself. As an architect, interior and product designer, he puts his soul into each project he plans; that also shows in creating a mattress which not many people know there is a mattress and bedframe designer. In developing a good and comfortable bed, Iklim has to go to every detail in selecting yarns, colours and patterns, not to mention the techniques of stitching, the density of foams and the strengths of the springs. He notes that a good mattress will function effectively when supported and completed with a strong, solid, aesthetically designed bed frame. Finally, a balanced mattress and bedframes create energy to enhance the quality of deeper Zen-like sleep.
At the same time, Teguh Budiman, the president director of ALGA Mattress, explained that he is very excited to introduce the concept of the first sleep store in Indonesia. The company pioneered spring mattress manufacturing 47 years ago, and in 2020, Alga had a major corporate restructuring. It took the opportunity to rejuvenate the brand in the spirit of returning stronger and better. The company aims to cater for the new millennial in the younger age group who will become Alga’s future customers. In the branding process, “We are adapting a more holistic approach, focusing more on health and well-being, with a tag line ‘SLEEP WELL LIVE WELL’.”
Along with this rebranding process, the company shifted the value proposition entirely and developed a ‘Sleep Store’ concept, where ‘SLEEP’ is the product they are selling. To achieve that, “We must ensure the customers pick and choose the right mattress according to their sleeping style. Not only mattresses, pillows, linens, and other sleeping accessories play a big role in achieving good quality sleep. All of them can be found in our showroom, making it a one-stop shop sleep store.”
Teguh also mentioned that the objective of this showroom is to make customers feel at home. “We explained to Iklim what our vision is going forward, as well as our design principle along the rebranding period and he managed to come up with just what we have in mind, a clean, timeless and homy design.”
Selecting the right mattress takes time, Teguh asserts, because we can only recharge ourselves through sleep. People tend to forget this idea, and ALGA Sleep Store would like to remind people of the importance of sleep again. He then continues that he wants to make sure customers feel as comfortable spending time in the showroom as possible. Once entering, customers will be provided with slippers should they wish to try on any of our mattresses. The showroom offers four bedrooms with enclosure, and customers can try on their sleep on each mattress with complete privacy.
ALGA plans to open more showrooms and extends the networks across Indonesia. Every showroom by ALGA will adopt the sleep store concept because the company believes that every customer deserves the right mattress and good quality sleep.