Hi Miller,
You are in what could legitimately be called a mattress desert.
There are very few options in North Battleford itself and only one of them understands the importance of knowing what is in their mattresses and even then they would need to phone their manufacturer to find out because they don’t have the information on hand. They are …
http://mysask411.com/page/SK/North-Battleford/Logans-Sleep-World/664199
Logans SleepWorld North Battleford, SK. Talked with her and they carry Serta and Springwall. They will call Springwall to provide any specs but I would avoid the Serta. They carry a Springwall mattress that uses latex (and other materials) in the comfort layers and they should be able to provide you with the layering to see if it worthwhile testing (that you would be on the latex with no more than 1" or so of other foam on top of it in either the quilting or comfort layers).
Other than that … I wouldn’t spend any time at any of the other stores in North Battleford.
I then turned to Saskatoon and the situation there is even worse and I didn’t find a single store that had any real understanding of the importance of knowing what is in their mattress (outside of Sleepers Mattress listed in post #4) or that carried even a latex hybrid where you could legitimately test latex. Some carried mattresses that had a thin layer of latex that was under other foams (such as some of the iComfort models) but you would not have any idea of what latex felt like by trying these and I wouldn’t consider any of these as a potential purchase for quality/value reasons. There was even one retailer that writes an actual advice column that talks about how to find a quality mattress that didn’t have any of the specs about what was in their mattresses. I “suggested” that he phone his manufacturers to see which ones would provide this information so that at least he would have it available for some of his mattresses for those who wanted to know so that quality was more than just a word that had no real meaning. I told him that if he did this and called me back that he could differentiate himself from every other retailer in Saskatoon (except Sleepers) and it will be interesting if they followup with this.
I haven’t had the chance to look at Lloydminster yet.
In any case … the bottom line after my research and phone conversations is that the only place I would consider in the entire area is Sleepers (and they don’t carry latex) along with the one retailer I mentioned (which would depend on whether they can find out all the layers that are in their Springwall mattresses so that you can confirm you are testing a latex comfort layer). NOTE: I have since confirmed that to their credit Springwall will provide all the information a consumer would need about their mattresses … see post #4 here)
There isn’t a shortage of latex and it is widely available in other areas but for some reason that doesn’t seem to be the case in the North Battleford/Saskatoon area. There was a recent disruption with one supplier (Dom Foam) as a result of a law suit but I don’t know if this is connected to any “shortage” in your area.
In any case … there is a list of online manufacturers or retailers in post #21 here that ship across Canada that may be well worth talking with. Many of these offer layer exchanges and trial periods with a refund. Given the lack of good options in your area (for latex and otherwise) … I would seriously consider one of these if I wanted to purchase a latex mattress in your area.
If I find any other local options that I’ve missed (perhaps in Lloydminster which is probably unlikely) … I will add them to this post. Just as a point of reference … there were 4 retailers that I talked to in North Battleford which were Logans Sleep World, Guy’s Furniture, Battleford Furniture, and the Brick. In Saskatoon I looked at or talked to about 15 retailers (to the end of a google search and various other listings) with little success. I may not have found every retailer in the area but I didn’t knowingly miss any.
I wish there were more options in your area but at least you have some good online options and with any exchange or refund policies the risk of an online purchase would be minimized to shipping and/or cross border costs.
Phoenix