Hi Shai0010,
While there aren’t any factory direct outlets right close to you … the good news is that there are a few factory direct and other better options within a reasonable drive … especially in the St Paul / Minneapolis area … so if you go there you will have some very good choices in a wide range of mattresses.
http://www.restassuredmattress.com/our-mattresses Rochester, MN. Local factory direct manufacturer. I have talked with Chuck the owner and he makes a range of high quality and value mattresses including latex/innerspring hybrids. Would be well worth including in your research and I think highly of them.
Find an Original Mattress Factory Store Many stores in the Minneapolis area. Regional factory direct manufacturer. Makes a wide range of mattresses including a 2 sided talalay latex hybrid and 2 memory foam mattresses. Good value and good selection but they have more innerspring mattresses than specialty foam options like memory foam or latex.
http://www.restwellmattress.com/ St. Louis Park and Bloomington, MN. Local factory direct manufacturer. Makes a range of mattresses including innerspring (two sided) and memory foam (no latex). Good value but make sure you find out the quality specs of the materials (which they will disclose) because they use a range of densities in both their memory foam and polyfoam mattresses.
Our Manufacturer Memberships :: The Mattress Underground A local mom and pop supplier in Eden Prairie, MN that supplies mattress components including 5 different firmness levels of 3" Dunlop layers, wool batting, and mattress covers (including wool quilted) that you can put together at home. The work from their home where you can go to test different layer combinations. Since these are components only, you can build a DIY mattress without a fire barrier. As you can see from their many forum posts and contributions (see here), they are knowledgeable, experienced, and helpful.
I’m also including a few retail outlets which may be worth a call or visit that may also have some “better than average” value for reference …
Modern Furniture - Room & Board Retailer in Edina. Sells mattresses made by Restwell which includes innersprings, memory foam, latex hybrids, and all latex. they are better than average value but make sure you check foam densities carefully with their polyfoam and memory foam to make sure of the quality (they do use some lower density memory foam and polyfoam in some of their mattresses and I would use caution with these).
http://www.happysleeperfurniture.com/ Waite Park, MN, Eau Claire, WI. Retail outlet. Carries a range of smaller national brands several of which include both memory foam and latex. They include Corsicana, Ecosleep, Restonic, Englander, and Spring Air.
http://northstarmattress.com/ Medina, MN. Retail outlet. Used to make their own mattresses but now carry national brands. Therapedic…
http://www.mossenvy.com/default.asp Minneapolis, MN. Retailer. Carries Savvy Rest latex mattress which are a “choose your own layering” latex mattress and Naturepedic mattresses. If you go here make sure you call first as some of the savvy rest outlets don’t carry a lot of variety in latex options. good quality but make some good value comparisons because these are in the more premium budget range.
http://www.bedpostfurniture.com/mattresses/ Mankato, MN. Carries Symbol, Therapedic. Knowledgeable and helpful and has some of the largest latex selection in the Mankato area (Therapedic). Well worth talking to and has decades of experience in the industry and good knowledge about mattress materials.
http://mankatomattressman.com/ Mankato, MN. I talked with Justin here who is the owner and he carries Corsicana (low end promotional only), Englander (including latex) and Restonic (including their Tempagel mattresses) and understands the importance of educating his customers about the materials in his mattresses. He is focused on providing good quality and value and building his reputation in the area and would be well worth a visit.
http://www.thefurnituremart.com/locations Medford, Shakopee, and others in MN. Restonic (typically carries gel and latex).
http://www.3daymattress.com/ Owatonna, Austin, MN. Restonic, Symbol, Spring Air, Anatomic Global, Ecosleep. No latex (because of the economy in the area) but does have gel memory foam and is knowledgeable and open about his mattresses.
http://www.beckerfurnitureworld.com/ Multiple locations in Minneapolis area, MN. OMI latex mattresses.
http://www.naturepedic.com/minneapolis Minneapolis, MN. Latex mattresses.
Organic latex mattresses Richfield, MN. Various latex mattresses.
http://puretalalaybliss.com/retailers/ Pure Latex Bliss (now called Pure Talalay Bliss) makes a range of high quality talalay latex mattresses that are sometimes among the better “local” values even though they are not in the same value range as many factory direct outlets available locally or online. They are a good way to test various different types of talalay latex mattresses and layering combinations because most of the specs are known. Entering you zip code in the retail outlet finder will bring up the closest outlets that carry them.
Your needs may be quite different so a side to side split may be worth considering if it turns out that your individual pressure relief and support needs are different. With mixed sleeping positions … it becomes very important that your husbands pressure relief needs on his sides are met with the thinnest and/or firmest comfort layers that work well (still in the softer range so his shoulders which are likely wider can sink in enough to relieve pressure there on his sides) so that they aren’t too thick for best alignment in his “flatter” sleeping positions … especially on the stomach where good hip/lumbar support is very important to prevent the hips from sinking in too far and causing or aggravating back conditions by sleeping in a swayback position.
For you … pressure relief would be important for your hips which are typically wider in women than in men but again … too thick a comfort layer or especially too soft support layers below this may allow your hips to sink in too far and could aggravate back issues. They key is that they sink in just enough to feel comfortable without sinking in any further than they need to for adequate pressure relief. A good starting point for testing for both of you would be about 3" in the comfort layer but good firm support underneath this would be important for you to prevent sleeping out of alignment. It would be important to spend at least 10 - 15 minutes completely relaxed on a mattress that may be suitable to test for pressure relief on your side and to also spend some time in each of your sleeping positions to test for any out of alignment conditions or back tension issues. Testing with an appropriate pillow is also important.
Hope this helps and if you have questions along the way feel free to post. Take your time and spend as much time as you need to actually lying on each mattress because with back issues or with mixed sleeping positions it becomes important that you choose an appropriate comfort layer for good pressure relief but also no thicker than it needs to be and with good support underneath it for best alignment.
Phoenix
