Hi anacar8,
The first suggestion I would make is to read this article. This will help you avoid most of the worst choices when you are mattress shopping and (hopefully) keep you away from chain stores and major brands.
The next thing I would focus on is gathering some basic information about mattress materials and construction which will help you ask better questions. It will also help you know who is giving you “marketing” information designed to “sell” you and who is giving you more factual information that is meant to truly help you make your best choices. Spending half an hour or so scanning the overviews in the mattresses section of the site would be helpful here (I would just scan them to get a general sense of the information instead of studying them in detail).
The next step is to find the manufacturers or stores in your area that have the best odds of being staffed by people with real experience and knowledge about mattresses and carry mattresses that are good quality and value. These are what I call “mattress people” and are committed to working with you and giving you the help and guidance you need to make meaningful comparisons between mattresses and help you choose the best possible mattress for your needs and preferences. The “mass market” outlets are generally staffed by people who are more focused on their commissions and/or the profit margin or the marketing training of the store than they are on your real needs and preferences and on educating you about their mattresses.
In the worst outlets … almost nothing you buy will be good quality and value. In the better outlets … almost everything will be good quality and value … but more importantly you will have the tools you need to tell the difference no matter where you go. This article will give you some ideas to help you recognize and separate the better from the worse outlets in your area. The goal of this step is to “find the experts” in your area that sell high quality/value mattresses rather than having to become an expert yourself.
Now that you have some basic information about materials and the different types of mattresses, you’ve eliminated the worst possible choices, and you know how to tell better from worse local outlets … now it’s time to start testing mattresses and the different types and materials you may be interested in. Post #2 here has a list of some of the better choices in the Houston area I’m aware of.
As a side note … you can read some of my thoughts about the Optimum line in post #48 here.
Phoenix