Best Pillows for Back Sleepers

Back sleepers need a pillow that provides medium to medium/firm support so that the head is supported in softness all night long. A back sleeper must have a pillow that has a combination of a soft feel with the support needed to relieve the pressure that the head can put on the spinal cord.

Phoenix Down ® White Goose 75% Feathers/25% Down Pillows

The Phoenix Down ® 75% White Goose Feathers/25% White Goose Down Pillow is a premium luxury pillow commonly found in Four Seasons ® properties. This pillow provides medium support and great comfort all night long. The Phoenix Down ® 75/25 White Goose Feathers and Down Pillow is one of the most popular and least returned pillows sold by PacificPillows.com. And, this is one of the pillows that I sleep on at home.

Down Etc. ® Diamond Support Pillows

Down Etc. ® has done a great job manufacturing high quality durable down and feather pillows. In the last 5 years Down Etc. ® has established a great reputation in the hospitality industry and their pillows are now featured in many of the finest properties in Las Vegas. One of their top pillows is the Down Etc. ® Diamond Support Pillow. This pillow is found at several MGM/Mirage ® properties and is specifically featured in many rooms at the MGM Grand ® in Las Vegas. With a diamond pattern on its cover this pillow is designed to keep the feathers in the pillow contained so that the pillow has an even feel. The even feel of the cover combined with the down and feather fill really gives a great comfortable sleep experience. This pillow is slightly more supportive then the Phoenix Down ® 75% Feathers/25% Down Pillows mentioned above.

Best Pillows for Side Sleepers

If you sleep on your side you generally want a significant amount of height to your pillow as your head should be sufficiently elevated to avoid putting excess strain on your back and neck all night long. Most side sleepers prefer to have their necks level all night long and this requires a pillow with some height. As such, I have two great recommendations for side sleepers who would like a supportive night of rest.

Pillowtex ® Chopped Memory Foam Pillows

This lineup of pillows comes in standard, queen and king sizes. They are filled with chopped memory foam that will mold to the contours of your neck and head while giving you a firm supportive night of rest. This is probably the best pillow for someone who likes a pillow that helps disperse heat during the night while taking pressure off of your back and neck. This is also a good pillow for back sleepers who prefer to have their head elevated off of the bed.

Phoenix Down ® Double Cover Overstuffed Pillows

If you are a side sleeper and are looking for a down and feather pillow with a lot of loft that will provide a great night of sleep all night long, then a Phoenix Down ® Double Cover Overstuffed Pillow is likely the pillow of choice for you. This pillow will give you the traditional down and feather pillow feel while still giving you a significant amount of support to relieve pressure from your back and neck all night long. Additionally, this pillow has a double cover to ensure that you do not feel any of the feathers through the cover and have even support all night long.

Phoenix Down ® Body Pillows

Side sleepers also often find that cradling a pillow along the length of their body or tucking a pillow between their legs will provide the support they need to relieve strain on the lower back. Having a Phoenix Down ® Body Pillow in the bed with you is a great way to achieve this extra support all night long. I personally use a Phoenix Down ® 95% White Goose Feathers/5% White Goose Down 20” x 72” pillow to relieve pressure on my lower back.

Best Pillow for Stomach Sleepers

A stomach sleeper needs a pillow without a great amount of height. Most stomach sleepers find that they need a pillow that sinks down and conforms to the shape of their neck and head.

Pacific Cost ® 95% Feathers/5% Down Pillows

The Pacific Cost ® 95% Feathers/5% Down Pillow is a pillow that provides a soft cradling sleep experience. When a stomach sleeper lays their head upon this pillow they will find that their head will sink down towards the bed while being cradled in softness.

Great Pillows for Persons with Allergy Concerns

While all of the down and feather pillows carried by PacificPillows.com are hypercleaned and guaranteed to be allergy-free, some people just don’t want a pillow filled with natural fill. That is why PacificPillows.com carries a large assortment of down alternative and synthetic fill pillows.

Restful Nights ® Trillium and Ultraflow Pillows

The Restful Nights ® Trillium and Ultraflow Pillows are found in hotels worldwide. Many hotels under brands such as Marriott ®, Hyatt ®, Hilton ®, Ritz-Carlton ®, etc. feature Restful Nights ® Trillium and Ultraflow Pillows as the down alternative pillows of choice for their guests. In fact, many of the hotel rooms in these properties feature both a down and feather pillow by Pacific Coast ® and a down alternative pillow by Restful Nights ®. For a sleeper looking for a down feel without the down and feathers, the Restful Nights ® Trillium and Ultraflow Pillows are the perfect choices.

Pillowtex ® Latex Foam Pillows

PacificPillows.com’s lineup of Pillowtex ® Latex Foam Pillows are a great choice as an alternative to down. They come in contour and traditional shapes. This lineup is a great choice for the sleeper looking for an alternative to down that will disperse heat all night long. You can even get Pillowtex ® Latex Foam Pillows in bolster, heart, neck and bone shapes.

Phoenix Down ® Dream Lover Pillows

Phoenix Down ® Dream Lover Pillows are a down alternative lineup of pillows comparable to one of our most popular down and feather pillows, the Phoenix Down 75% Feather/25% Down White Goose Down Pillows. The Phoenix Down ® Dream Lover Pillows have the feel of down and feathers providing medium support without the natural fill. These pillows work great for most sleep positions as they have a solid balance of loft and fluff. And, these pillows are often featured in Four Seasons ® properties as a luxury down alternative pillow choice.

http://phoebeholmes.com/2011/12/23/being-retarded/

This is a topic near and dear to my heart as one of my twin girls, Meredith, is “Retarded.” Meredith will never live by herself. She cannot speak. She is cognitively delayed. But, she is happy. And, we are blessed. She has insight and contentedness that we will never have. She has a will and strength and we will never have. “Retarded” is not stupid. “Retarded” is not negative. So, don’t use the “Retarded” that way. Don’t use “Retarded” casually.

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone else! Today marks the end of a very successful holiday season for Pacific Pillows. Your hard work and dedication are the only reason it has been so successful. For this, thank you!

A few things to note …

Matt did an amazing job with his first holiday season of being in charge of ordering. We have no backorders except for the 100% Pure which have been on backorder for about a year (supposedly some are being made for us right now in India).

Everyone did an amazing job helping to meet shipping deadlines so that our orders got out on time under Matt’s supervision. Dan has again been a tremendous asset for our company in the warehouse. And, Amazon is totally rocking under Matt’s direction.

Our customer service team has done a great job really moving in a direction where we are taking customer service to the next level. Our company was founded upon delivery superior customer service in an attempt to make every customer satisfied. We strayed from this a little bit after the economic downturn in 2008 and the turmoil associated with the Mr. Appliance debacle. However, I believe we are now back at this level due to Shanah and Ashley. Moreover, our bookkeeping and other administrative matters under Shanah’s supervision are generally in the best state we have seen in since I left the Marine Corps active duty (2007). We can use this solid foundation to really develop more efficiencies and metrics in the coming years to allow us to develop metrics that will allow us to make even better decisions. And, I absolutely love the initiative shown by Shanah and her team (pretty much Ashley). They are always suggesting changes to the website, new product ideas, ways to make our company better, etc.

All of our part-timers should also be recognized. As always Brooke has done an amazing job adding products. She is a talented writer and has a tremendous future ahead of her wherever her career may take her (maybe it will take her to Pacific Pillows). Sydney, Shawn, New Matt, and Ryan have each contributed greatly. I consider all of you part of the Pacific Pillows family. Merritt was amazing this summer in cleaning up a lot of lose ends. I hope all of you part-timers will consider working for us as your schedules allow (just send me an email whenever you are able to work as each and every one of you really help our business).

And, finally Jerry really needs our thanks. Our business has grown tremendously this year. It has grown so much that we have 5 trailers sitting in our lot with product in them, record sales, solid cash flow, etc. A lot of this growth in sales can be attributed to all of the new great products we have developed with Jerry’s help. But, we need more space to continue this growth.

We have a ton of areas where we can grow next year: PacificPillows.ca (Canada), Choo Choo Wagons, Bounce Houses, Rooftop Tents, DownPillows.com, PacificPillows.com upgrade (more video, more pictures, facebook), Pillow Menu (wholesale business), Pillowtex.com, etc. And, as you can probably guess I have a ton of other ideas to grow our business. This is a great time to be in business and I am confident that 2012 will also be great with all of you as Pacific Pillows team members.

So, best wishes to you and your family this holiday season and into 2012.

Sincerely,

Craig Clark

This morning Tim let me know that he has accepted a position with Nationwide Insurance and his last day at Pacific Pillows will be December 12, 2011.

Please join me in congratulating Tim in this new adventure.

Additionally, this is a good learning point for everyone.

As a leader you have two choices when it comes to situations like this. You can create a hostile atmosphere where you are bitter and angry at those who have decided that leaving your company is in their best interests claiming disloyalty. Or, you can support your employees in the decisions they make that they feel are in the best interests of themselves and their family.

Please know that I will support any of you if you make a decision that you feel advances yourself professionally or you feel is best for your family. And, frankly I feel that it is my job as a leader in this organization to support all of you in your professional and personal development. You all are our greatest asset and the company would not be successful without you.

My only expectation is that you are honest with me and that you give at least two weeks notice prior to your departure.

In this instance Tim informed me of this opportunity several weeks ago and I supported him completely as he felt that this move was in the best interests of his family considering that he now lives in Ohio, has a baby, etc. I applaud, appreciate, and respect Tim’s professionalism in how he handled this situation.

Finally, beyond congratulating Tim … it should be known that Tim will be missed. Since he started with PacificPillows.com in 2007 his skill set has truly matured and he has become an invaluable asset for our business (marketing, leader, ambassador, customer service, etc.). So, thank you Tim for everything you have done for the Pacific Pillows family. And, again … congratulations!

Craig

In terms of incentives I don’t give a lot of pay raises. I give out bonuses based on the success of our business. And, I give out gift cards. A cool gift card at the end of the month really can be great for an employee. Give an employee a gift card to Wallmart or Target and they can use it on clothes, groceries, or electronics. This usually makes both the employee and the spouse happy. Or, give them a gift card to a resteraunt and they can take the significant other out on the town. Again, spouse happy and employee happy. Gift cards (vice bonuses) give employees the chance to splurge.

With all of this said … I want to highly recommend:

www.CardPool.com

I go here to buy gift cards for my staff at discounted prices. They deliver quickly and are reliable. Highly recommended.

Have a great weekend.

Craig

*****

About New Year usually it last half month ,from end of last year until 15th of first month of new year (accorrding to Chinese Lunar Calender),This year begins Feb 2nd(end of year 2010 for Chinese Lunar Calender, and holiday will last until Feb17th,we call”Latern Holiday at that day the moon in sky is most round one)

Usually old generation will make wish and pray for good health,better life ….,people used to light firebrakers to frighten the beat or monster (there goes a old story ,in ancient time ,a lot bad animals or monsters they often destroy the crops and people’s house etc…people get together and make some loud voice to make them scare,so people invent firbraker and light it generation after generation….

in Spring festival,No matter how far one is away from hometown ,they will try their best to back hometown within end daynight of last year (we call Eve of Chinese New Year,Feb 2nd for this year )People get together dancing,do some team work ,,relatives visit relatives with gifts ….elder generation give younger generation some new money wraped by red paper (we call “Yasuiqian” 压岁钱，younger generation need to show their respect to old generation by knee down…. three times…

*****

People will often argue that it is important to only buy products “Made in the USA.” Now, I am extremely loyal to the United States. This is evidenced by the fact that I served on active duty in the Marine Corps and continue to serve as a Judge Advocate in the Marine Corps Reserve. However, I also believe in capitalism and see value in global economic exchange. As such, I see trade with China as by far the United States’ best approach to dealing with that country. By intertwining the economies of China and the United States so closely that failure of either economy has a huge impact on the other partner, there is a tremendous incentive not to ever engage in open hostilities or extreme international policy. Additionally, I see tremendous value in cultural exchange like the one I recently engaged in with our supplier about the Chinese New Year. Such exchange encourages a diversity of thought and a larger marketplace of ideas that better everyone involved. Thus, while loyalty to one’s country and economy is important, economic and cultural exchange with other countries is also critical. Pacific Pillows will always try to balance serving the interest of the United States’ economy with the need for the United States for its own good to have its economy tied to those of our global partners. Just my two cents and why Pacific Pillows carries both pillows Made in the USA and pillows Made in China. Either way, Happy New Year and Happy Chinese New Year!

These are great pillows for anyone interested in a foam pillow. I highly recommend them. They are terrific for anyone who has alergy concerns or likes to have an experience where their pillow conforms to the countours of their head and neck.

It usually takes about 30 days for the shipment to get from China to our warehouse in Englewood, Colorado.

Happy Martin Luther King Day! The Pacific Pillows warehouse and customer service center will be closed in observence of this holiday. Pacific Pillows encourages its employees and others to spend Martin Luther King Day as a day of service to their community.

Over the coming months our staff will be updating this blog with interesting information about sleep, sleep products, corporate culture and a few more surprises. So stay tuned and Good Night!