Local Manufacturer

[phoenix]

Hi podbay1,

Hi. This is my first post - just registered today after stumbling onto this site and reading the forum for hours last night. This seems like and honest legitimate site with good information. (Didn’t totally understand your “backbone” story about yourself…but guess I get the drift .

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

The fictional story about the “illuminati conspiracy” was written on another forum when I was in a light hearted mood one Christmas Eve in response to a question “how come you know so much”. I used to get asked this fairly often and of course the real answer is that I have sought out (and still do) and had dozens of very knowledgeable people who have been in the industry or who have made mattresses for a long time be kind enough to share their thoughts with me about mattress construction, materials, and the industry as a whole. In addition to this I have done thousands of hours of research, both technical and otherwise, to help explain why some of these ideas seemed to conflict with each other when they all seemed to be “authoritative” and in an ongoing effort to answer the many questions of “why” does someone believe what they do. On that night though … and maybe it was the couple of glasses of wine I had … I thought I would answer the question in a more lighthearted and “different” way

I’ve noticed you often recommend going to a local manufacturer if possible. I hadn’t even thought of that but there is one here in my city of Evansville, Indiana and it has been here over 50 years. It is called Mattress Factory Showroom. Here is the website link. www.mattress-factory.com. I read and really liked their verbiage on Memory Foam Myths on the sidebar and the About Us info. (Not sure about the apparent only ‘Christian’ businesses Link)?

Yes … local manufacturers and better sleep shops that carry local or alternative brands are almost always the source of much higher quality in combination with better value. They are also much more accountable to their local community and consumers and tend to have the knowledge and skills that can help their customers make much better choices.

There are several factory direct manufacturers relatively near you (including Mattress Factory Showroom)

https://www.sterlingmattress.com/ Herrin, IL. Factory direct manufacturer. They are a little farther away but still within 100 miles. I have talked with Mike the owner and he makes a wide range of mattresses including innerspring mattresses with higher quality polyfoam and construction methods that make the mattress more durable. Also carries latex mattresses and memory foam. They are also a member of this site which means I believe they complete well with the best in the industry. He is “mattress people” and is committed to making a good mattress at a good price. He can customize a mattress according to the needs of each person and has been making mattresses for almost 20 years. There are some comments about them in this thread and they would be well worth the drive if they were close enough.

mattress-factory.com/ (factory direct) and superiormattress.com/index.htm (sells wholesale only). Evansville, IN. While I don’t have specific knowledge of their mattresses or prices … they certainly fit the profile of the type of manufacturer that I like and their website has good information and what I consider to be “accurate” and helpful information on it. They also seem to use quality materials and the odds are good that their quality and value is also good. I would definitely include them in my research.
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http://www.wisebuyingmall.com/bandybedding Owensboro, Louisville, Bowling Green, KY. Another local factory direct manufacturer. I have talked with John there (the founder Mary’s son) and he is very open, honest, and knowledgeable. Makes a full range of mattresses including memory foam, latex, and high quality polyfoam with good quality and value. Would also be well worth including in your research. They are truly “mattress people”.

bowlesmattress.com/html/where2.htm Evansville, IN. They are a regional factory direct manufacturer in Jeffersonville that has their own outlets and also sells through various retail stores. They also make a full range of mattresses and are a licensee for Lady Americana as well. There are two retail outlets (not owned by Bowles) in Evansville. One of them is a factory outlet (which means they at least 20 models on their floor) and one is a showroom outlet (at least 12 different models). These are more “retail direct” outlets.
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Furniture Row® Store Locations - Store Hours & Addresses Evansville, IN Regional factory direct manufacturer. They make a “mostly latex” mattress which can include either a latex or memory foam topper in addition to traditional innerspring/polyfoam mattresses. The mattresses they make use good quality materials for their budget range and have good value but I would not consider the other brands that they carry.

Locations Directory | Mark's Mattress Outlet Retailer with many stores in the area. Carries their own line of private label memory foam and latex mattresses called Sleep Natural that may include some better quality/value options. I would avoid the major brand and liquidation mattresses that they also carry.

Anyway, I got all excited about gong there until I saw their RETURN POLICY which reads, “Returns … Mattress Warranty: When it comes to bedding there are many restrictions and regulations regarding returns. While most of our mattresses do come with a warranty, our warranty is for repairing structural defects. The Indiana Board of Health restrictions prohibit us from exchanging or allowing returns. However we can repair your mattress. All Other Products… We offer a 30 day exchange warranty on defective products…” After all my perusing on the net at many different sites, almost all of them offer an in-home trial of 30, 45, 60, or 90 days, albeit with some fees/charges probable. It seems kind of risky buying an expensive set with no chance of return, doesn’t it?

I am not a big fan of return or refund policies for local purchases because all it really does is increase the odds that someone will make a poor decision (thinking they can return it anyway instead of carefully testing the mattress) and increases the cost of the mattresses at the outlet as well. Most local manufacturers or better retailers have the knowledge to help you choose a mattress that is best for you and many manufacturers will make adjustments to the mattresses they sell at a reasonable cost which means that you are not starting all over again but simply fine tuning what you already know from your testing is very close to what you need and prefer. This is a far more 'accurate" and cost effective policy in combination with an outlet that is knowledgeable and doesn’t apply pressure or use marketing techniques to gimmicks to sell their mattresses.

Of course when someone is buying from a mass marketing outlet or chain store … then the odds are much greater that you will buy a mattress that doesn’t work based on sales techniques and the managed perceptions of a showroom rather than careful testing with the help of someone who really knows mattresses so in this case a return or exchange policy may be necessary and the cost of this is built in to their much higher profit margins (lower quality mattresses at higher prices). These policies however are usually put together in such a way that any mattress exchange actually becomes a new profit center and a “reason” to get you to spend more money than you already have.

With a online purchase where you cannot test the mattress first … a refund or exchange policy makes much more sense and can help to alleviate the “risk” of buying a mattress that you haven’t personally tested.

My overall thoughts about Mattress Factory Showroom and the other outlets I listed are that your odds are much higher that you will find the kind of knowledge, guidance, quality, and value that will help you make much better choices than most of the other options available in your area. You have some very good choices here and I would certainly focus on these 5 over any other outlets in your area.

Phoenix