Exhibit 31.1

                    Certification by Chief Executive Officer

I, William R. McLaughlin, certify that:

1.      I have reviewed  this  quarterly  report on Form 10-Q of Select  Comfort
        Corporation;

2.      Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement
        of a material  fact or omit to state a material  fact  necessary to make
        the  statements  made,  in light of the  circumstances  under which such
        statements  were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered
        by this report;

3.      Based on my knowledge,  the financial  statements,  and other  financial
        information  included in this  report,  fairly  present in all  material
        respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows
        of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.      The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer and I are  responsible for
        establishing  and  maintaining  disclosure  controls and  procedures (as
        defined  in  Exchange  Act  Rules   13a-15(e)  and  15d-15(e))  for  the
        registrant and we have:

        a) designed such disclosure  controls and  procedures,  or caused such
        disclosure   controls  and   procedures  to  be  designed   under  our
        supervision,  to ensure  that  material  information  relating  to the
        registrant,  including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
        us by others within those entities,  particularly during the period in
        which this report is being prepared;

        b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
        and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions  about the
        effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
        of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

        c)  disclosed in this report any change in the  registrant's  internal
        control  over  financial  reporting  (as defined in Exchange Act Rules
        13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f))  that occurred during the  registrant's  most
        recent fiscal quarter (the  registrant's  fourth fiscal quarter in the
        case  of  an  annual  report)  that  has  materially  affected,  or is
        reasonably  likely to materially  affect,  the  registrant's  internal
        control over financial reporting; and

5.      The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on
        our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting,
        to the  registrant's  auditors and the audit  committee of  registrant's
        board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

        a) all significant  deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design
        or operation of internal  control over financial  reporting  which are
        reasonably  likely to  adversely  affect the  registrant's  ability to
        record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

        b) any fraud,  whether or not material,  that  involves  management or
        other  employees  who  have a  significant  role  in the  registrant's
        internal control over financial reporting.

Date: August 11, 2004


                                           /s/ William R. McLaughlin
                                           -------------------------------------
                                           William R. McLaughlin
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer



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