What is with all the Mattress Stores?

[dioxide45]

I don't understand how these mattress stores will stay in business. Driving around boring ole Dayton Ohio, there are at least three intersections where there is a Mattress Firm store on one side of the intersection and another Mattress Firm store on the opposite side. That isn't including the mattress store by a different name in the same vicinity. I understand that this is a fast growing segment, but do people really need mattresses more often now than they did before? I guess the free market will take care of things, but I just don't understand why so many of these things are popping up.

 

[linsj]

It's the same in the Chicago suburbs. Mattress Firm came in last year, then bought out a couple of competing firms, so their stores are across the street from each other in multiple locations. I assume that's because they still have time on leases from the bought-out stores. But it makes more sense to me to just let the other stores stay empty.

 

[dioxide45]

It's the same in the Chicago suburbs. Mattress Firm came in last year, then bought out a couple of competing firms, so their stores are across the street from each other in multiple locations. I assume that's because they still have time on leases from the bought-out stores. But it makes more sense to me to just let the other stores stay empty.

I was reading an article when trying to figure this out and it was specifically referring to the Chicago market. The thing about the three intersections here are that none of them are from acquisitions, they are all organic stores. Purpose built or moved in to by Mattress Firm. If one of them was an acquisition by chance, for sure the other on the opposite side of the intersection was a mattress store before Mattress Firm moved in. Then at one of the intersections, they rebuilt an old MotoPhoto store to be a Sleep Outfitters.

 

[artringwald]

Have you shopped for a mattress recently? You'd think with all the competition, you could buy one for a reasonable price. Doesn't it really cost that much to make a mattress?

 

[Passepartout]

Must be a high profit item. Here in our 50,000 pop. small city, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting one of the stores. If you don't hit a hearing aid seller first.

 

[DaveNV]

Don't forget to count in the big box stores. Costco sells a LOT of mattresses. I'm sure the other membership warehouses do, too.

I went with a Sleep Number bed six years ago, and I've never looked back. I've never had such a good night's sleep as I get on that bed.

Dave

 

[stmartinfan]

With the crummy quality being produced by several of the big brands these days, my experience has been that mattresses break down quickly. I had the springs in a very pricey one give way in less than 5 years, and another one we bought for our daughter that was mid-tier priced is getting replaced in less than 4 years. So there's probably lots of business for all those stores!

 

[Bucky]

They are just a high profit item. No different than all the pizza joints falling all over themselves. If there is high profit to be made build it, they will come!

 

[pedro47]

There are four mattresses stores within a 5 miles radius in VA Beach, VA. The housing market is doing very well in our area/city and I guess new home owners needs / wants all new bedding for their new home.

This does not include Costco, Sam's, BJ's and all the furniture stores in the area.

 

[vacationhopeful]

Vanity item, IMHO. Complete with lots of marketing .. telling you need a better bed to get a great nights sleep.

Try less coffee, soda, and tea. Eat at least 4 hours before going to sleep. Lose that belly fat. Remove the bedroom TV. Get better drapes to make the bedroom darker and quieter. Charge the cell phones in the kitchen. No computer in the bedroom.

In other words, DISCONNECT yourself from the electronics and sleep in a quiet and cool place.

I had to get up around 5AM for years now ... I basicly had to do almost all of the above and train all the relatives ... it will wait til the morning.

As for beds ... I brought a new foam mattress a couple of weeks ago. I moved and decided the 14yo one, had troughs in it (so why move it, I got a new one). Still deciding I like it.

 

[Brett]

I don't understand how these mattress stores will stay in business. Driving around boring ole Dayton Ohio, there are at least three intersections where there is a Mattress Firm store on one side of the intersection and another Mattress Firm store on the opposite side. That isn't including the mattress store by a different name in the same vicinity. I understand that this is a fast growing segment, but do people really need mattresses more often now than they did before? I guess the free market will take care of things, but I just don't understand why so many of these things are popping up.

I don't understand why there's a Starbucks on every corner, or that matter why craft brewery sites are popping up everywhere

 

[Big Matt]

People feel like they have to "try out" the mattress by laying down on it, etc. Mattresses don't spoil like other inventory so keeping them on hand only takes up space. Profit margin is huge. They also sell you other things like bed frames, delivery, etc. Good old Costco for me. Free delivery, haul away the old one. Prices are 33-50% less than in stores.

 

[geekette]

The part I don't understand is why is there a big mattress sale every holiday? Even minor holidays. Gotta love those Arbor Day savings ...

The other thing is that marketing is now telling us that we need a new mattress more frequently. Kind of like the athletic shoe makers telling you to replace after 500 miles. I don't dispute that we shed skin cells, I just dispute that it's more of a problem now than 20 years ago. I am never a fan of "gross em into buying" marketing tactics but I guess it works. Tell people icky science truths and they get so self-conscious they have to buy? brilliant

What really piques my curiosity is the frequent hand-written signs affixed to tele poles where they always seem to have a $200 queen size mattress. Who are these people making the signs and why can't they ever sell their mattress? Why do they advertise on telephone poles? Does it actually work, are they moving mattresses based on someone dialing a number on a flyer sitting at a red light? Or is this the epitome of "I'm too cheap to buy an ad"?

 

[rickandcindy23]

I just love the new commercial (NOT), something about if it's 8 years old, time to replace. We just replaced our 19-year-old mattress last year. It still looked and felt brand new, but it was too tall for climbing into bed for this old body. I had to have a set of two steps to get into the old bed after my hip surgery last June.

We bought our bed at Costco. It's the Sleep Science Ara, split king: http://www.costco.com/Sleep-Science-Ara-13"-Split-King-Memory-Foam-Mattress-with-Adjustable-Base.product.100032691.html

I love it. And we will have it for 20 years, I am sure.

 

[Karenann]

It is interesting to me that this talk about mattresses came up as a topic. I have been wondering that same thing: How can so many mattress stores sell enough mattresses to make a profit? My husband and I have had the same (Beauty Rest) mattress for more than 20 years and have no reason to think of replacing it. We live in the Chicago area and there are so many mattress stores nearby. One of the "Mattress Kings" lives in our town. Mattresses are a big ticket item these days and I am surprised that many people replace them the recommended "every eight years."

 

[Luanne]

They are no longer just mattresses. They are "sleep systems".

I envy those of you who have had your mattresses for 20 years or so. Dh and I are already dissatisfied with the one we bought less than 8 years ago. I feel like we are sleeping in two troughs with a hill in the middle. And this wasn't a cheapie mattress by any means.

 

[Talent312]

We have mattress stores left & right in the business districts.
But whichever one we choose, DW selects the mattress:

Find out where the economy and moderately priced ones are.
Avoid those sections. Check out the 4-5 highest price ones.
Stick with 15" pillow-tops and select one of the top-2 in price.

.

 

[dioxide45]

The part I don't understand is why is there a big mattress sale every holiday? Even minor holidays. Gotta love those Arbor Day savings ...

The other thing is that marketing is now telling us that we need a new mattress more frequently. Kind of like the athletic shoe makers telling you to replace after 500 miles. I don't dispute that we shed skin cells, I just dispute that it's more of a problem now than 20 years ago. I am never a fan of "gross em into buying" marketing tactics but I guess it works. Tell people icky science truths and they get so self-conscious they have to buy? brilliant

What really piques my curiosity is the frequent hand-written signs affixed to tele poles where they always seem to have a $200 queen size mattress. Who are these people making the signs and why can't they ever sell their mattress? Why do they advertise on telephone poles? Does it actually work, are they moving mattresses based on someone dialing a number on a flyer sitting at a red light? Or is this the epitome of "I'm too cheap to buy an ad"?

I wonder about those telephone ads too. I always wonder if they are not just used mattresses that have been recovered.

 

[silentg]

We have many mattress stores in our city too. Also, cell phone stores and dentist offices. There is a new Plaza coming too, many rumors going around saying 5 Guys fast food, I checked with the zoning board will be a cellphone store, a dentist and a walk in clinic. No 5 guys! There are so many walk in clinics and dentists and banks. These are on the main road thru the city. Downtown area is suffering, but plans are in the works for a high rise office building, not sure who will be using it?
Silentg

 

[clifffaith]

Vanity item, IMHO. Complete with lots of marketing .. telling you need a better bed to get a great nights sleep.

Try less coffee, soda, and tea. Eat at least 4 hours before going to sleep. Lose that belly fat. Remove the bedroom TV. Get better drapes to make the bedroom darker and quieter. Charge the cell phones in the kitchen. No computer in the bedroom.

In other words, DISCONNECT yourself from the electronics and sleep in a quiet and cool place.

I had to get up around 5AM for years now ... I basicly had to do almost all of the above and train all the relatives ... it will wait til the morning.

As for beds ... I brought a new foam mattress a couple of weeks ago. I moved and decided the 14yo one, had troughs in it (so why move it, I got a new one). Still deciding I like it.

I like the way you think -- we've made our living for almost 30 years selling draperies and other window coverings!

 

[clifffaith]

Don't forget to count in the big box stores. Costco sells a LOT of mattresses. I'm sure the other membership warehouses do, too.

I went with a Sleep Number bed six years ago, and I've never looked back. I've never had such a good night's sleep as I get on that bed.

Dave

I envy you. I'd wanted a Sleep Number forever and we splurged on a mid-range one Sept. 2015. OMG, something I thought would be a no brainer became a miserable experience. Cliff can sleep anywhere and had no issue. I was waking up at 2AM and felt like I was in the fairy tale "The Princess & The Pea". I could feel the mechanism, I couldn't find the right sleep number, I went downstairs several times to sleep on the old bed where we'd moved it into the guest room. Of course they'll happily up grade you another level or two, but by God I paid over $6K for that bed and I was afraid I wouldn't like a more expensive one any better. Our sales person really worked with us and I ended up with a nice cushy foam pad layer that sits on top of it (between mattress and mattress cover). Sleeping just fine, but am I happy? NO. Because Cliff liked his side just fine without the foam and refused to have one on his side, and now the bed is high on my side and low on his. Not an issue if I have a fluffy duvet as a cover because it mostly disguises the bi-level issue, but just changed to the flatter winter bedspread and it looks like hell. Throw four cats on it and I might as well not bother making it!

 

[MuranoJo]

I envy you. I'd wanted a Sleep Number forever and we splurged on a mid-range one Sept. 2015. OMG, something I thought would be a no brainer became a miserable experience. Cliff can sleep anywhere and had no issue. I was waking up at 2AM and felt like I was in the fairy tale "The Princess & The Pea". I could feel the mechanism, I couldn't find the right sleep number, I went downstairs several times to sleep on the old bed where we'd moved it into the guest room. Of course they'll happily up grade you another level or two, but by God I paid over $6K for that bed and I was afraid I wouldn't like a more expensive one any better. Our sales person really worked with us and I ended up with a nice cushy foam pad layer that sits on top of it (between mattress and mattress cover). Sleeping just fine, but am I happy? NO. Because Cliff liked his side just fine without the foam and refused to have one on his side, and now the bed is high on my side and low on his. Not an issue if I have a fluffy duvet as a cover because it mostly disguises the bi-level issue, but just changed to the flatter winter bedspread and it looks like hell. Throw four cats on it and I might as well not bother making it!

Thanks for the laugh about the foam pad--must say we've gone that route once ourselves.

But we upgraded to a TempurPedic over a year ago--I'd always wanted one. We selected Tempur-Contour which is the softest in the Contour line, yet it's still pretty firm for someone who likes a bit softer mattress. The next level down was just too soft IMO--you'd sink to the frame when you sat on the edge. So in most ways I love this new mattress, but there are times when I still think it's too firm.
I've decided it's tough to find a mattress that's perfect.

 

[Quiet Pine]

I don't dispute that we shed skin cells, I just dispute that it's more of a problem now than 20 years ago.

I agree we shed skin cells, but how do they get to the mattress in such abundance? Between me and the mattress are pajamas, bottom sheet, mattress pad. Pajamas and sheet are laundered weekly. I can't see any cells getting to the mattress itself.

 

[Elan]

Ultra high margin business. That's the only logical explanation.

I've detailed here numerous times my "constructing" of my own TempurPedic clone mattress. Cost me less than $400, IIRC, for a 9" king with a 5lb Sensus comfort layer. I'd willingly let anyone do a side-by-side comparison with a $3000+ TempurPedic and tell me which is which.

 

[DaveNV]

I envy you. I'd wanted a Sleep Number forever and we splurged on a mid-range one Sept. 2015. OMG, something I thought would be a no brainer became a miserable experience. Cliff can sleep anywhere and had no issue. I was waking up at 2AM and felt like I was in the fairy tale "The Princess & The Pea". I could feel the mechanism, I couldn't find the right sleep number, I went downstairs several times to sleep on the old bed where we'd moved it into the guest room. Of course they'll happily up grade you another level or two, but by God I paid over $6K for that bed and I was afraid I wouldn't like a more expensive one any better. Our sales person really worked with us and I ended up with a nice cushy foam pad layer that sits on top of it (between mattress and mattress cover). Sleeping just fine, but am I happy? NO. Because Cliff liked his side just fine without the foam and refused to have one on his side, and now the bed is high on my side and low on his. Not an issue if I have a fluffy duvet as a cover because it mostly disguises the bi-level issue, but just changed to the flatter winter bedspread and it looks like hell. Throw four cats on it and I might as well not bother making it!

Wow! So sorry you had such an issue with it! Maybe I got lucky? I know there are different versions of the bed, and I can't tell you which one we got. I'm remembering it was mid-upper on their list, but neither the top or bottom choice. I opted to not get the "base" (i.e. "box springs" part) and bought a platform bed with side storage underneath instead. I pushed for discounts on top of discounts, and ended up with a fairly decent price for what we got. Add in that the performance worked as well as I could have hoped, and it was a very pleasant experience. I was having intestinal surgery, and knew I'd be spending a fair amount of time in bed recovering for several weeks, and it was great having the new bed that adjusted to the amount of firmness I wanted at a specific time.

I intend to keep this bed as long as it works well. Life is too short to have a bad night's sleep.

Dave