Hi Jayman,
Restwell is the Western Canada licensee for Spring Air as well as makes their own mattresses (such as the Novo series). When Spring Air went bankrupt in 2009, three of the US licensees and the Canadian licensees were not affected except of course the hit to the brand name. A licensing group will often build their mattresses to slightly different specs even while using the same brand name (they have rights to the name but there is no central “authority” to spec their mattresses the same in each region). Spring Air though since it was bought and emerged from bankruptcy is doing some innovative things but has lost a huge amount of market share in North America ( they are still in the top 15 but used to be in the top 5). They still suffer from the same issues as the majors though in that even with good quality manufacturing and materials they don’t have the same value as mattresses produced by local factory direct manufacturers using the same or similar materials. I have to say though that they are certainly better than they were IMO. I guess 2 bankruptcies in the last 7 years can help in getting their finances in order :).
I’m not a fan (in general) of the back supporter form of “zoning” as it’s a type of “reverse zoning” which in some cases is not suitable for alignment. It allows the hips and shoulder to sink deeper (rather than holding them up) and transfers pressure to the lumbar (which bears more weight) and for some people this can be very uncomfortable.
I like what Renelle Furniture is doing with their mattresses. They are using quality material and are hitting their price points well with real value and use some high quality foam. They are also coming out with a latex line soon that I believe will also have good value.
Zenbody is the Canadian version of the Embody line and they make it better in Canada IMO than in the US. It is all latex but it uses Sealy’s “smartlatex” which is mainly synthetic latex fabricated with various “inserts” and is not the same quality as either 100% natural Dunlop latex or Talalay latex. While it is one of their better mattresses … it is also overpriced IMO.
The Tempurpedics are also good quality mattresses but not good value as they are also higher priced than other mattresses that use quality memory foam and made by local manufacturers. While they are a standout in the memory foam field … there are many other options that don’t have the same name recognition that make similar quality with better value. The “trick” is to know what is in a mattress to make meaningful comparisons and at least the Tempurpedic site … especially the Canadian one … gives good information about the foam they use.
I would stay away from chain stores and the major brands completely as they sell mattresses that have too much lower quality materials (especially polyfoam in the comfort layers) in them and even their best mattresses are overpriced compared again to local manufacturing. Some other options in the Vancouver area are in this thread. If you’re not in the Vancouver area let me know and I’ll be happy to take a look to see if I know of any local manufacturing or higher value outlets where you are.
Phoenix