SPECIAL SECTION: FOR YOUR HOME
Slavina would know, having grown up in the US as part of a Costco-loving family.“ I was born in Ukraine and my family came to the United States as immigrants when I was five years old. We didn’ t have a lot of disposable income and the only way we could access more premium brands and products was through Costco,” she says.“ I am now super proud to be part of the team that is able to offer Australians a premium mattress brand at a lower price through Costco, so that lots of families can access a comfortable night’ s sleep.”
The‘ Goldilocks’ bed
Anyone who’ s tried to buy a mattress with a partner will know that not everyone has the same preferences. Some of us like something soft, others prefer firm and finding one that’ s‘ just right’ can require master negotiation skills. The beauty of Koala is that the mattresses come with a flippable comfort layer so you can experiment with finding the ideal surface.“ Everyone has different preferences when it comes to their mattress, so Koala has designed its new mattress range to have a customisable comfort layer so you can switch from firm to medium firm,” says Costco buyer Easter Nallas.
Made from Koala’ s trademark Kloudcell ® foam, Slavina says the comfort layer is incredibly responsive without that familiar sinking feeling associated with memory foam or the overheating associated with latex.
“ Modern foam materials have revolutionised mattress comfort, offering innovations in cooling, pressure relief and durability, which collectively enhance sleep quality,” she says.“ It also has Zero Disturbance ® technology, so if one person gets up or moves, the other person isn’ t woken up like they would be with a spring mattress’ vibrations.”
It makes sense that these mattresses are so popular, given the development team spent nine years tweaking the design, leading customers to report they fall asleep 30 percent quicker when sleeping on a Koala.
KOALA / KOALALIVING. COM. AU
“ We develop physical products like software companies develop software,” Slavina explains.“ As soon as it’ s out in the market, we’ re collecting feedback and changing the product to launch a new iteration of it. We’ re able to get to that‘ Goldilocks’ mattress that’ s‘ just right’.”
And the fact Koala’ s clever product designers ensure the mattress fits snugly in a box that you can throw in the back of a ute or station wagon after a wander around Costco, means you save on shipping costs.
“ I got my first Koala mattress after I joined the company three years ago and it was like night and day compared to my old spring mattress,” Slavina says.“ I’ ll never go back – and now my whole family has one too.”
Complete peace of mind
We all know that we need to be living as sustainably as possible to care for the planet, but sometimes it’ s hard to know where to begin. The good news about buying a Koala mattress is that the company has done the hard environmental yards for you.“ We have an ethical supply
chain, low water usage, absolutely no nasty chemicals and recycled materials where possible,” Slavina says.“ We also choose materials that can be recycled end of life, and we’ re one of the biggest donors to WWF [ World Wide Fund for Nature ] in Australia.”
And in the unlikely event that the Koala isn’ t the right fit for you, it will not go to landfill.“ Our mattresses are designed to be circular – we’ re either able to resell them, give them to charities or donate the materials for other uses, such as pet beds, crash pads or carpet underlay,” Slavina says.“ But with this one mattress suiting 80 to 90 percent of people’ s preferences, our return rate is very low.”
Kim Gillan is a freelance health and lifestyle reporter. She is based in Melbourne.
COSTCO CONNECTION
Find a range of Koala mattresses in all sizes in warehouses and on Costco. com. au.
26 | SEP / OCT 2024 COSTCO CONNECTION