Hi Phoenix,
Very happy to have found this site! I am interested in a natural latex mattress and would like to try some in person before I would be willing to order from an online vendor. My partner and I are both under 150lbs., side sleepers and like a softer bed. We live in Knoxville, TN (37920) and are willing to drive to Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, NC, SC.
I noticed a thread from a few years back mentioning Tucker Mattress in Atlanta. I will call to see if they offer natural talalay or only blended. Any suggestions would be much appreciated, thank you!
Hi ccbatlanta,
Welcome … and I’m glad you found us 
Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your criteria and the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Knoxville, TN area are listed in post #2 here.
The Nashville list is in post #7 here and the Chattanooga list is in post #2 here and the Atlanta list is in post #2 here and there is also a list for the Asheville/Hendersonville area in post #4 here.
I don’t keep a record of the individual mattresses or their specs that the retailers and manufacturers in the hundreds of forum lists throughout the forum carry on their floor or have available online (it would be a bigger job than anyone could keep up with in a constantly changing market) but checking their websites and making some preliminary phone calls to the retailers/manufacturers that are on the local lists is always a good idea before you decide on which retailers or manufacturers you wish to deal with anyway. This will tell you which of them carry mattresses that would meet your specific criteria, are transparent about the materials in their mattresses, and that carry the type of mattresses that you are interested in that are also in the budget range you are comfortable with. Once you have checked their websites and/or talked with the ones that interest you then you will be in a much better position to decide on the ones that you are most interested in considering or visiting based on the results of your preliminary research and conversations.
Phoenix
I visited Tucker Mattress last week. This is basically a one person business where the owner answers the phone, meets with potential customers, and makes the mattresses. The owner is a good guy and has been building mattresses for many years. He had three mattresses at his shop when I was there. Two inner spring mattresses and one latex mattress which consisted of a 6" 40 ILD Talalay base and a 3" 19 ILD Dunlop topper… You need to call ahead before you visit to make sure he’s going to be there.
Mattress USA in Norcross has four Pure Latex Bliss models on their floor.
The Original Mattress Factory only sells one latex model which consist of a poly foam core with 3" of Talalay on each side so you can flip it. I didn’t care for that mattress at all, and IMO there are much better options.
I talked to a mattress place in the Greenville SC area today called Engineer Sleep. I may drive up to visit their showroom in a couple of weeks when I’m at Lake Hartwell visiting the in-Laws. The salesman I spoke with today said they can do pretty much any latex configuration, but I don’t have any idea of pricing at this time… Will know more in a couple of days. They buy a lot of their latex from LatexCo who has a plant close by in Lavonia.
Hi dsw61,
Thanks for the heads up about Engineered Sleep … I wasn’t aware of them. They list a memory foam/pocket coil hybrid and a latex/pocket coil hybrid on their site that both sell for $900 (queen size) and as you mentioned they can also custom build as well.
One of the partners is Jay Orders who is part of the family that owns Park Place although he hasn’t been with them since Oct, 2o14 so it seems that he has gone out on his own. He also owns https://lovemymattress.com which is located in the same factory as well.
I’m looking forward to your comments after your visit. I’ve also added them to the Greenville list as well.
Phoenix
I have decided on a King all Latex mattress and am also looking for suggested stores in the Toronto Ont area other than the usual large retailers…thank you
Hi johnsazzr,
I switched your post into a new topic of its own with Toronto in the title so it will be easier for other members in the same area to find it.
Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets your criteria and the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Toronto, ON area are listed in post #1 here.
Phoenix