Hi Big 10,
That makes more sense … I originally searched for Carroll and Carol in Louisiana and was pretty sure that I had it wrong.
Unfortunately, your local choices right in Carroll, IA seems to be very limited and your best value would almost certainly involve a drive. The only stores that came up on a search were Slumberland who seems to only carry major brands (although they may carry others not listed on their website) and Good to Go Mattress outlet who carry only Restonic and didn’t seem to know a lot about the different types of materials or be so interested in helping to identify the layers in the mattresses they carried (the lady there seemed to be quite happy to say goodbye and deal with “easier” questions). TrueValue also appears to carry Restonic mattresses but I would be a little hesitant buying a mattress from a hardware store unless they were very knowledgeable about mattresses in general and their models in particular.
There may be other outlets close by that didn’t come up but it appears that your better choices would be either in the direction of Des Moines, towards Omaha, or an online purchase from a knowledgeable manufacturer.
Towards Des Moines … your better choices that I know of would be …
http://www.midwest-mattress.com/locations.html#b Retail direct outlet in Ankeny, Urbandale, Des Moines, Ames. They carry Restonic and have a very close relationship with the local factory and can even customize their mattresses if necessary. Joe the owner is very knowledgeable and helpful with his customers and also runs his outlets with a lower profit margin which along with his direct relationship with a local factory means he carries great quality and value mattresses. They are also a member of this site and you can read some feedback about them in this thread and post #18 here.
http://www.lebeda.com/locations.html Ames and other locations. Factory direct manufacturer. Builds a range of mattresses that includes memory foam, latex, and innerspring models.
http://www.dmmattress.com/ Altoona. Retail outlet and manufacturer. They used to manufacture their own mattresses but because of the fire regulations that were introduced in 2007 that required the use of new machinery to comply with the fire code, they now only manufacture RV mattresses or mattresses with a prescription (that don’t require the fire barrier). For typical home use they carry Restonic and Glideaway and are quite knowledgeable about the components in their mattresses.
Towards Omaha:
See Post #2 here.
I would tend to make a few phone calls before going in either direction to discuss your needs and preferences and then visit the ones that seemed to be the most knowledgeable and helpful on the phone and provided a good choice of options that would be worth testing in your price range. Local manufacturers usually have the best value but I would include the retail outlets as well in your phone calls and research as sometimes they can also have very good value.
Hope this helps.
Phoenix