2012 Stearns & Foster Mattresses

Stearns & Foster was the original luxury mattress, with its origins dating back to 1846. It was not uncommon to see people sleep on their Stearns for 20 years and pass it on to their children. For most of their history, they were the one of the very best mattresses on the market. Joining forces with Sealy gave them national distribution, a marketing boost and teamed two of the best brands in the business.

I loved the S&F product line and sold them successfully for many years. But it was obvious that the quality was slipping and the attention to detail that made them famous was declining. This allowed other brands to step up their game and compete for the luxury mattress dollars.

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Black Friday Mattress Sales

If you find yourself needing a mattress, this may be a very good time to shop. The week leading up to and through Thanksgiving, retailers are spending gobs on advertising and promoting all sorts of mattress specials. Per earlier blogs, the savings may not change that much from the rest of the year, but there is something else in play.

CHRISTMAS

For those commissioned salespeople who get paid monthly, what they sell in November directly impacts their paycheck just before Christmas. In other words, they are hungry. November is a very depressing month until the final week. There is a whole lot of pressure to hit the monthly goal, earn bonuses and sell enough so the little ones at home will have a happy holiday.

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Labor Day Mattress Sale

Its that time again, the mother of all mattress sales – Labor Day. There are some stores that will do as much business the week of Labor Day as they do in a single month. Why? Its a combination of things. End of Summer, back to school, 3-day weekend and everybody and their dog will be advertising a mattress sale. This is a perfect storm for posting big numbers. Here is some advice for the coming weekend.

Shop Early – I will not rule out the possibility of some additional savings on the weekend, but more than likely any price reductions have already been made. The stores do get crowded and if you are serious about getting the RIGHT mattress for your body, get to the store when it is not crowded. Wouldn’t it be better to enjoy the long weekend at the lake instead of the store?

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Mattress Deals

Let’s Make A Deal

I have heard many versions of the following story.

A customer heads out to the nearest furniture discounter or liquidator. They see a $4,000 handmade mattress on sale for $800. It is a massively thick super pillowtop that feels great.

“What a deal!” – they think to themselves and pull out their credit card to purchase the mattress.

A year or two later, the mattress of their dreams becomes their reoccurring nightmare. They are tossing and turning and waking up with back pain every morning. Their beautiful super pillowtop now looks like Crater Lake. Since they bought at the local furniture liquidator/discounter, there is no warranty and no exchange. They are out $800 and can’t sleep. But they got a really good deal!

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Let Your Body Do The Shopping

Mattress shoppers tend to spend far too much time on issues that really don’t matter. They shop with their eyes (appearance or price). Or they focus on their hands (touch or the feel of the surface material). Or sometimes they focus on emotion (deal, sale or hype). And sadly, they will often rely on history (personal experience) or brand (reputation or recommendation).

None of these are necessarily bad. But if you want to get the very BEST mattress for you, let your body do the shopping. What I mean by that is you must put your body on the mattress in your natural sleeping position. Have your salesperson or shopping partner examine your alignment. Make sure your spine is relatively straight in your natural sleep position, as well as other common ones like back, side and stomach.

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Sealy 2011

If you have visited this blog much, you know I don’t give out praise unless it is truly warranted. I must say the 2011 Sealy Posturepedic line of innerspring mattresses is one of the best lines I have seen in over a decade.

Sealy has long been the leader in mattress sales, but I, like many others, have believed that the product just wasn’t living up to the name in recent years. The complaints that had plagued so many mattress companies had finally caught up to Sealy. Excessive body impressions, motion transfer, squeaky boxes, creaky edge support and noisy coil systems, were among the feedback I received from consumers over the years. On the floor, I could see firsthand the results by customer preference. The Sealy mattresses of the past were simply losing the battle and no matter how many cosmetic “red lights” were added, they needed a major change.

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What the Heck Is Coil Density?

You visit your local mattress store and start trying mattresses. You find one you like and start asking a few questions so you can compare it to other similar models. Hank, your friendly mattress salesperson, proudly tells you it has 1,000 coils!

Of course being the bright person you are, you realize something doesn’t sound right about that number. Your instinct is correct. Hank just quoted you the Coil Density, not the actual coil count.

I’m not sure who first started this practice, but coil density refers to the number of coils the mattress WOULD have, were it not foam encased. It truly is a worthless number in my opinion and causes more confusion than necessary. And I have found in my travels that most salespeople don’t necessarily explain or fully disclose the difference. I will let you decide whether or not they are being deceitful in this practice.

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The End of Offset Coils?

I have noticed that many manufacturers are gravitating towards the Marshall coil system – or a variation of it. A Marshall coil is a unit with individual coils that operate independently. The benefit to you is that it is a much more conforming feel, and far less motion transfer – you will not feel your partner move.

I think this is a wise move. The old offset and Bonnell systems, that had the coils “laced” together, did not conform well at all. In order to get the most conformance, you had to pile on comfort layers. This only made the body impression issue worse for consumers.

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