Mattress stores used to be all about the traditional brick-and-motor-store experience. People would drive for hours to spend their hard-earned money in front of the TV during the winter, then sit through an unseasonable late-night basketball game while sleeping on a futon in the summer. Nowadays, mattress stores are of many kinds: physical locations, such as Sears, Bed, Bath and Beyond, Linens and Things, Target, Wal-Mart and K-Mart; or online, from places like eBay, Overstock, Craigslist and Amazon.
Mattress stores used to be all about the brand name. They had all the popular lines, including the Simmons Beautyrest, Serta, Sealy TrueForm and Colgate Purely Yours, along with a wide variety of fillings and materials, from memory foam and latex to down and waterproof material. Even the prices were similar, from as low as a few dollars for a queen sized to as high as three hundred and eight hundred for a king size. The only thing that changed was the brand name and sometimes the price.
But times have changed, and mattress shopping has changed as well. Online sales have dramatically increased, spurring hundreds of different brands, which now sell both directly to consumers and via third-party websites. At the same time, traditional brick and mortar mattress stores have lured away customers by selling bedding sets at more expensive prices than the competition. And some mattress manufacturers have gotten into the mix, offering different models at different prices.
Today’s mattress store is more of a mixture of mattress brands. They offer a large selection of brands such as Serta, Simmons, Chattam Wells, Sealy and Colgate. In addition, they offer models that are made by a number of different companies, allowing shoppers to get the best selection available based on their personal preferences.
For shoppers who do not want to make an investment in a brand-labeled product, many mattress stores offer what they call “individually made” products. These are often a good bet for shoppers who want to feel the benefits of a particular material but are not interested in paying the premium price that brands command. A good example of this type of mattress is a memory foam mattress, which has a limited warranty and comes in a few different sizes. Like most of the other models in this category, memory foam mattresses come with either a standard or deluxe spring mattress frame.
So whether you are shopping online or at a local bedding store, be sure to find a mattress store with salespeople who understand the needs of shoppers to make the best buying decisions. While prices may be different due to different variables, the experts at mattress stores understand how shoppers plan to spend their money and will work with you to get the best deal possible. Good luck!