The years between 2008 and early 2010 will long be remembered around the globe as the period of the Great Recession. However, in the US it will be remembered for more than just that: the election of the first African-American President, the passing of monumental legislation such as the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the START treaty for nuclear non-proliferation, and the moment in time that Americans began to take control of their spending.

It is no secret that consumer spending in the US grinded to a halt over the last two years from its peak in 2007 and although it has made some ground in recent months, it is still at historically low levels. But for investors there are signs of hope and knowing those signs will provide investors with opportunities of prosperity.

Consumer spending is driven by a few factors, but is largely dependent on the employment levels of the population and consumer confidence. The two factors are almost inextricably linked, as during periods of high unemployment, the consumer confidence index trends lower. The key to making a good investment in the consumer products industry is by buying in at the bottom or the moment the industry is starting to see a turnaround.

A general shift in consumer spending has occurred as a result of the dramatic shocks that American consumers felt over the last two years. Consumers are now looking at best value and giving more weight to quality in their decision process of making a purchase. A unique industry that is experiencing promising signs of return is the bedding industry, specifically the specialty bedding industry.

The bedding industry’s fundamentals essentially make this a good and safe consumer product investment in normal cyclical markets. The fundamentals that drive demand are demographics and pent-up replacement. Naturally, a growing population will require more and more mattresses and the medical benefit of getting better sleep has helped shift consumers to more specialty (and higher end) sleep surfaces. I would expect that as housing sales begin to increase again and unemployment levels fall this will be one of the industries in consumer products that will make a stronger than expected recovery.