Hi BruceM,
I’m not so sure that Habitat manufactures their own latex mattresses or that their factory is in Mandeville (although they had outlets in Mandeville and Metairie that carried Gold Bond Futons). The Metairie outlet number is now disconnected and if you click on the link for directions to their store here it takes you to their online only site.
From their website:
We bring our latex cores (the raw layers of natural latex, before they are cut to specific sizes, laminated, and assembled with our coverings) directly from the plantation to our facility in Boston, Massachusetts. Our assembly and finishing is completed there, and we ship from Boston only, saving fuel and freight charges along the way.
If they do have an outlet in Mandeville, I would check first to make sure they have their latex mattresses available there.
Their mattresses use a 6" Dunlop core either by itself or with a 2" or 3" Talalay latex topper. In any case … a search on “Habitat” (without the quotes) will bring up quite a few posts with my thoughts about them which boil down to “good quality materials but significantly overpriced” compared to other online outlets that use similar or better materials in their mattresses.
While New Orleans no longer has any local manufacturers that I know of, post #2 here may be of some help.
If you decide to go in the direction of an online purchase … post #21 here which includes the members of this site who specialize in manufacturing latex mattresses that can be shipped across the country may also help.
Phoenix