Slumber in the city

Thanks to MetroNaps, a trend for siestas is sleeping the nation.

Arshad Chowdhury, CEO of MetroNaps, sleeps on the job—and encourages his employees and clients to do the same.

It all started when he was working as a banker in New York City and noticed colleagues nodding off at their desks or sneaking into the bathroom to catch some zees. While attending the full-time MBA program at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Chowdhury decided to fill the need the American workforce seemed to have for midday resting services. And so MetroNaps was born, with locations at the Empire State Building in Manhattan, and Vancouver International Airport.

The concept is to help companies improve their bottom line by making people more productive through rest.

“We’ve been working longer and sleeping less every year for over 50 years now,” says Chowdhury. “Something has to give. If you want to have enough energy to spend at work and with your family, it’s important that you have some sort of midday rest.”

According to public health and safety group, the National Sleep Foundation, people who don’t sleep well are more likely to either miss work or make errors on the job. MetroNaps reports that 40% of adults say their work suffers when they’re sleepy, while research indicates that a 20-minute nap can improve alertness, learning, memory and mood.

Looking like something out of “The Jetsons,” MetroNaps’ specially designed pods were developed by well-known New York architect and furniture designer, Matthew Hoey, and manufactured by the same people who develop Formula One race cars, which accounts for the sleek look and fiberglass components.

The pods slightly elevate a napper’s knees and aid circulation by lifting weight off the lower back. Users must sleep on their backs, which is a plus for business-types who don’t want to mess up their hair. The pods come equipped with Bose headphones to help drown out unwanted sound or pipe sleep-inducing music. When it’s time to wake up, the pod goes from a recline to upright position and uses vibration and light to gently rouse you from slumber.

Companies, gyms, spas and airports can lease a pod—which can be customized by MetroNaps—for $270 or more per month. The concept for the company’s individual locations is similar to that of a gym, and members pay $65 per month to use the pods anytime between 10am and 6pm Monday through Friday. Drop-ins pay $14 for a 20-minute napping session.

Competition is already trying to put a sleeper hold on MetroNaps by offering similar services for the same or lower prices. For example, PowerNaps recently opened MinneNAPolis, a sleep center in the Mall of America. It also charges $14 for 20-minute naps and offers numerous discount programs, some of which make the price as low as 50 cents per minute.

But Chowdhury is sure MetroNaps can snag the top spot among napping facilities. “The fundamental difference between us and any competitor so far is that we are dedicated to constant research,” he says. “Everything we do here is based on our own use of, and belief in, the services, and testing and constant feedback from our customers.”

In the 18 months since Chowdhury and his partner, Christopher Lindholst, launched MetroNaps, the business has received lots of attention from the media, including CNN and “Good Morning America.” The idea of sleeping during the day—when you’re not in kindergarten or college—seems to have struck a cord with Americans, and while Chowdhury is tight-lipped about profits or potential profits for fear of offering information to up-and-coming competitors, he expects 2006 to be a big year for MetroNaps. That’s good news for a small company that initially raised funds through “boot strapping and the support of family and friends.”

Chowdhury expects franchising to be key to MetroNaps’ success and says that potential franchisers are rigorously screened to ensure that they are ethical and that there is a cultural “fit”—they need to be committed to promoting a healthy lifestyle and thinking of rest as a major component to well being.

So far, MetroNaps is approved for franchises in 30 US states. Chowdhury is keen to first saturate New York City, and he also has his eye on Illinois, California, Florida and Atlanta.

More national and international airport locations are also on the radar following requests from travelers. The pods were well received when displayed in Copenhagen Airport recently, so the European market is certainly a possibility.

For now, regular MetroNaps clients say that if you give napping just one try, you’ll be hooked.

“My 25- to 45-minute daily nap wakes me up, and it’s like I start the whole day over again,” says Matt Pilger, who is in the competitive derivatives business in Manhattan.

Snoozing is all in a day’s work—at least it will be if Chowdhury and his believers have their way.