Earthquake Bed Still a Sleeper

Sales of earthquake kits, flashlights and batteries, cellular phones and camp stoves are measuring high on the retail scale.

There has been no boom in earthquake beds.

It could be the aesthetics of one model, the Jon Ward Earthquake Bed, a 650-pound four-poster inspired by the roll cage on a stock car (View, Sept. 14). Ward, formerly of Agua Dulce, moved to Texas in December.

“Without lace and frills, it really didn’t look good,” says John Lundgren of Wertz Brothers Inc. in West Los Angeles. “We had one on the floor at $1,500 for about 18 months and finally sold it Wednesday--for $699 plus tax.”

Price is a deterrent, says Gary Wagner, designer of another crush-proof flop featuring eight overhead girders. A king-size version sells at the Brass Bed Factory in Van Nuys for $2,500.

“We made a 900-pound bed that would take a hit from all directions . . . with a support underneath in case you went through a floor, high-shear bolts, joints that survived a 20,000-pound test, and that’s expensive,” Wagner explains. “We haven’t sold one.”

Apathy. Denial.

“Los Angeles is saying ‘It’s over, let’s get on with our lives,’ ” Wagner says. “So why strap down the water heater?”