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