Hey guys… New to the forum and this horrendous headache they call mattress “shopping”. It’s all so confusing! Anyways I live in Blakeslee, PA 18610 and I was hoping to hear about some alternatives I have to the numerous Sleepys in the area and more local/quality brands over the big names…
Thanks in advance!
Scott
Hi Sm8311,
The closest factory direct manufacturers or retail options that I’m aware of (at least that I’ve looked at) are in post #2 here.
I’ll take a look and if I have a chance make a few calls tomorrow to see if there is anything closer that may be worth including in your research as well.
Phoenix
Thanks Phoenix… I’ll check these guys out today. Very useful website and keep up the good work
Hi Sm8311,
I spent some time today looking at some of your local options (over 30 retailers within about 50 miles of you). Some of these I just looked at their website and some I had the chance to talk with.
When you are looking at local retailers … one of the most important parts of choosing who to deal with is their ability to help “educate” you about the materials and construction of their mattresses and their ability to tell you what is in them so you can make meaningful value comparisons. I normally suggest calling first and “interviewing” them along the lines of this article so you can save yourself a lot of time from going somewhere only to find that they don’t provide the information you would need to know before buying a mattress.
First to recap … the closest factory direct manufacturers I’m aware of (within @ 100 miles of Blakeslee) are …
http://www.shovlinmattress.com/ Fanwood, NJ. Factory direct manufacturer. Ron is the owner here and he is very helpful and knowledgeable. Makes a range of mattresses with various materials including latex and innersprings is well worth a visit or phone call. Also family owned and is a member of this site.
http://www.magicsleeper.net/ or http://www.mattressandfurniturestore.com/ Pottstown (or Pottsdown), PA. Local factory direct manufacturer that makes a range of good quality and value mattresses including two sided innerspring mattresses and a number of latex and latex hybrid options. Family owned and good people. They also make custom designs and sizes and and they are also a member of this site.
www.raitensleep.net/ Monticello, NY. Local factory direct manufacturer. They make traditional innerspring/polyfoam mattresses but they use much higher quality polyfoam than the major brands (2.6 - 2.8 lb foam with 1.5 lb quilting foam as necessary). Husband and wife team that has been making mattresses for a long time. They will also custom make mattresses to order including latex if requested. They carry Corsicana and Sealy as well but I would focus on the mattresses they make if you decide to go here.
http://sichelsleep.com/index.html Norristown, PA. They have been making mattresses for over 100 years and make a range of two sided mattresses including latex, innersprings, memory foam, and still make old style tufted innerspring and cotton mattresses. I spoke with Red the owner here for several hours and he is knowledgeable and experienced and is fully transparent about the mattresses they make. Would also be well worth a visit.
http://www.verlo.com/ West Chester, Broomall. Regional factory direct manufacturer. Makes a range of memory foam (including gel), latex, and innerspring mattresses with good quality and value. See post #17 here for some feedback about the West Chester outlet.
The better retail store possibilities I saw along with the brands they carry which may have some better value (depending on their prices, the models they carry, and their ability and willingness to provide the details of the materials in their mattresses) include …
http://resnicksmattresswarehouse.com/ Dickson City, PA. Gold Bond (including 2 sided)
http://mattressguydeals.net/ Edwardsville, PA. Symbol, Gold Bond. Run by a husband and wife team that are good people although they didn’t appear to be the most knowledgeable about foam materials so as always make sure you can find out the specifics of the materials and components in any mattress you are considering here…
Mattresses - EFO Furniture Outlet - Stroudsburg, Dunmore, Wilkes-Barre, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre, Dunmore, PA. One part of their website indicates that they carry Pure Latex Bliss mattresses (now called Pure Talalay Bliss) but call to check that they still carry them before you go here because they aren’t listed on the PTB site.
http://www.pamattressfactoryusa.com/ Stroudsburg, PA. Superior Mattress. The person I talked with here understood the importance of knowing the quality of materials and said that they would find out any specs and foam quality as necessary and that their manufacturers all provide them.
http://www.mymountainmattress.com/index.html Bath, PA. Talked with Nick here and he will get any specs that are necessary and that he doesn’t have. Carries Therapedic, Eclipse, and Eastman house. Has some memory foam and sometimes latex on the floor. Good people and knowledgeable about mattresses and the industry.
http://theeastcoastorganicmattressstore.com/ Hellertown, PA. OMS private label, GreenSleep, W.J. Southard, Royal-Pedi mattresses along with Shepherds Dream wool mattresses and Sachi Organic futons. These are all high quality mattresses and they have many latex options but they also carry premium prices so make some careful value comparisons here.
In general it is much easier to find out the layering of a mattress that uses specialty foams (such as memory foam and latex) and more difficult to find out the details of mattresses that use mostly polyfoam in the comfort layers. The comfort layers are the most likely weak link of a mattress so knowing the quality/density of the polyfoam in these layers is especially important. Polyfoam can be anything from “cheap junk” (which will soften much more quickly than higher quality foams) to a very high quality material so with these types of mattresses the knowledge and transparency of the retailer becomes essential.
Phoenix
[quote=“Phoenix” post=8701]Hi Sm8311,
I spent some time today looking at some of your local options (over 30 retailers within about 50 miles of you). Some of these I just looked at their website and some I had the chance to talk with.
When you are looking at local retailers … one of the most important parts of choosing who to deal with is their ability to help “educate” you about the materials and construction of their mattresses and their ability to tell you what is in them so you can make meaningful value comparisons. I normally suggest calling first and “interviewing” them along the lines of this article so you can save yourself a lot of time from going somewhere only to find that they don’t provide the information you would need to know before buying a mattress.
The better retail store possibilities I saw along with the brands they carry which may have some better value (depending on their prices, the models they carry, and their ability and willingness to provide the details of the materials in their mattresses) and a few comments are …
Mattresses - EFO Furniture Outlet - Stroudsburg, Dunmore, Wilkes-Barre, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre, Dunmore, PA. Spring Air, Therapedic
http://www.shopgrandcentral.com/ Hazelton, PA. Symbol.
秋葵视频官网下载_秋葵视频在线免费观看_秋葵视频ios_秋葵视频黄色 Edwardsville, PA. Symbol, (gel), Gold Bond (none of their latex), Ditex (innersprings from @400 - 1000). This was another outlet that impressed me and his thoughts about the industry are much like mine. Run by a husband and wife team that are also committed to helping their customers find the best possible mattress for their needs and preferences. Good people although they are not the most knowledgeable about foam.
All are drivable
http://www.topmattresswarehouse.com/contact-us.html Scranton, PA.
Domain available, so out of business?
http://www.vangorders.com/showcaselist.php?type_id=2996 Hawley, PA. Englander.
Drivable but ‘call for pricing’. Embody brand latex.
[/quote]
Bumping this one rather than making a new one. Any chance of you giving me some options in my area? I’m zip code 18848.
I did forum searches for the NY state cities north of me but came up empty. And having said that I do another for ‘Ithaca’ and get this post.
While I am very comfortable buying online I would like an opportunity to try a latex mattress before pulling the trigger on one ‘blind’.
Hi gnaw,
[quote]www.topmattresswarehouse.com/contact-us.html Scranton, PA.
Domain available, so out of business?[/quote]
Thanks for the heads up. I tried calling them and the phone kept ringing but nobody answered until I received a message that said “please enter your remote access code” so it hasn’t been disconnected. I’ll try and reach them during normal business hours but if they don’t answer I’ll remove them from the list.
[quote]www.vangorders.com/showcaselist.php?type_id=2996 Hawley, PA. Englander.
Drivable but ‘call for pricing’. Embody brand latex.[/quote]
I would definitely call them because their website is clearly out of date … Sealy doesn’t make the Embody any more although they do have a latex/polyfoam hybrids in their Optimum line. They also don’t appear to carry Englander any longer so I’ll also have to call and find out because if all they carry is Sealy and Tempurpedic then I would remove them from the list as well (I would normally tend to avoid both of these manufacturers).
It seems that you are somewhat “in between” two lists so time permitting, I’ll take a look in the Towanda area over the course of the next few days to see if there are any closer options or possibilities that show up but the closest source for testing a range of latex mattresses may turn out to be homegreenhome in Ithaca who would have a fairly wide range of latex options available including Savvy Rest who sell component latex mattresses with either two, three, or four 3" layers of Dunlop or Talalay latex.
Phoenix
Hi gnaw,
I took a look around the area (within a radius of about 50 miles or so) and out of a little over a dozen or so different stores that sell mattresses these are the better “possibilities” I could see based on the information on their websites. I haven’t talked with any of them yet and whether they are worth visiting would depend on the specifics of what they carry and whether they would be either willing or able to provide the information about the materials inside the mattresses they carry that you would need to make an informed choice or to at least know what you were testing. I’ve also included the brands they carry that I would tend to focus on. There may also be a couple of others that didn’t show what they carried or didn’t have a website that I may add to the list if talking to them indicates that they would also be a reasonable “possibility”.
http://sturzenfurniture.com/bedding.php Towanda, Sayre, PA. Spring Air, Therapedic.
http://www.hlstephens.com/ Sayre, PA, Horseheads, NY. Restonic.
http://www.metromattress.com/ Horseheads, Vestal, NY. Therapedic, Spring Air. CAUTION: Be careful here because they tend to specialize more in major brands which they may tend to overpromote and make sure you don’t buy a mattress on the same day as you test them and that you know the specifics of every layer in any mattress you consider here.
http://www.beiters.com/ Mansfield, PA. Englander, Spring Air, Therapedic.
If you are most interested in testing latex then I would probably include homegreenhome in Ithaca in your research because they would almost certainly have the largest choice of latex within reasonable driving distance.
Phoenix
First, thank you for the work and I’m sorry I haven’t replied before this. It is much appreciated.
Beiters closed their East Smithfield store a month or so back. I bought an office chair from them 4 or 5 years ago and the air cylinder still works, so even though they come across ‘cheap’ they do have quality products in there.
Sturzen, I have a bad experience with a recliner. They kept telling me that the new back was coming from the factory every time I called them. Then they had the temerity to actually call me the day after the warranty ran out. The conversation went downhill. As always, your mileage may vary.
HL Stephens, very nice store with a staff member who answered my questions knowledgeably and with that phrase I truly love: “I don’t know, but I will find out and get back to you.” No hem hawing or BSing. When she didn’t know, she said so.
One not on your list, Clark’s Furniture in Wysox, Pa (King Koil and iSerta) literally slumped backwards onto the table she was leaning against when I asked about ILD. “I’ve been selling furniture and mattresses for 30 years and I bet you know more about them than I do.”
I don’t drive and can’t find anyone with a yearning to go to Ithaca. (There’s not actually a way to get there straight from here unless you’re willing to navigate some very back roads.)
The good news however is that I least now know that I do not want memory foam.
Hi gnaw,
Thanks for the heads up … and I’ve removed the East Smithfield location from the Towanda list.
I also removed Top Mattress Warehouse from the Blakeslee list because I wasn’t able to reach them and kept hearing the same message.
While ILD isn’t a spec that would be important for a local purchase because it won’t tell you anything that your testing won’t have already told you (it’s a “comfort” spec rather than a “quality” spec) … I didn’t include them on the list because they only sell mainstream or major brand mattresses and with these types of stores and major manufacturers it’s very unlikely that you would be able to find out the quality of the materials inside their mattresses so you can identify any weak links or make more meaningful comparisons with other mattresses. If you spent more than a couple of hours or so on this site then sadly she is probably correct and it’s very likely that you know more meaningful information about mattresses than most of the salespeople that sell them in the mainstream part of the industry.
Thanks for the rest of your feedback as well … and at least you have narrowed your options down to “not memory foam” 
If there are no good options available to you locally to test latex then the best you may be able to do would be an online purchase with a good exchange or return policy so that you can use your actual sleeping experience to assess whether a mattress is a good match for you in terms of PPP with little risk.
Phoenix
That is exactly what I’m doing. Separate thread though.