Hi oukewldave,
Is this common to go to places with only 2 or 3 choices and nearly no information? It's seems basically a "lay on the bed and if you like it, buy it" proposition.
This varies widely from store to store. This is why I always suggest talking to any retailer you plan to visit first on the phone to make sure they have mattresses on the floor that you want to test and to make sure they are able to provide you with the information you need about their mattresses. If they don't appear to be able to provide you with the information you need, I wouldn't visit them.
The many lists around the forum are preliminary research that are designed to eliminate retailers or manufacturers that either can't or won't provide information about what is in their mattresses. Many manufacturers (such as the
major brands
) don't provide meaningful specs even to their retailers so if a store only carries major brands then these are usually eliminated from any lists as well. The goal is always to help the members here identify the stores or manufacturers where the odds are higher of finding out the information you need to make an informed decision. As members here provide feedback about some of them (or identify new ones that may be worthwhile including) they are updated.
Generally I try to include retailers or manufacturers that are in a 50 - 100 mile radius because there are generally so few retailers or manufacturers worth visiting it's usually worth a drive to visit a good retailer or manufacturer that is an hour or so away. They will save you a great deal of time compared to going from store to store only to find there is nothing there worth buying or that the time you spend there is wasted (if quality is an important part of a buying decision) because they don't provide meaningful information about their mattresses.
a manager who said "what's that" when I asked about ILD
I wouldn't visit Mattress Warehouse because they carry mainly major brands (unless someone wants to test the Octaspring) and you won't be able to find out anything about the quality/durability of their mattresses ... even if you like them ... so any time spent there would be wasted.
After an hour or two on this site you will have more meaningful information about mattresses than 90% of the salespeople that sell mattresses in the mainstream market. In all fairness though ILD is a "comfort spec" and isn't really necessary to know when you are making a local purchase and with memory foam it's not relevant anyway because the ILD changes with temperature and humidity and the amount of time the foam is compressed. The "quality" specs that are important with foam are density for memory foam and polyfoam and the type and blend of any latex.
Mattress Showcase who had a memory foam Englander and a Temperpedic again no specs and no info about the beds.
They carry Therapedic, Englander, and Solstice Sleep but unfortunately they don't provide any meaningful information about their mattresses in terms of quality specs so customers there would be forced to find out on their own based on calls to the manufacturer or online research which is a huge time waster (and is what a retailer should be doing for their customers). I talked with a couple of their stores today (along the lines of
this article
) and confirmed that they don't provide the information a consumer would need to make meaningful choices and I have taken them off the list.
And I went to Original Mattress Factory who had 1 foam and ILD of only 10, and two with talalay cores and unknown foam support materials with the guy wanting to know which competitor I work for because I was taking notes.
The support materials in both Mattreses are Talalay latex and both of their latex mattresses are high quality, good value, and have no obvious weak links (although quality and value have nothing to do with whether they may be suitable for your body type and sleeping style). Most of their stores will provide you with any specs you want although you may come across some salespeople who are less knowledgeable in some of their stores.
I really just want to find a place where I can lay on a bed and see how it feels, then get the specs of what it is made from so I can figure out what I need to buy, which will probably from someone online.
there are certainly some better options in the area within an hours drive or so but I would always make sure that you talk with any retailer or manufacturer you plan to visit on the phone first to make sure you can get the information you need before going to see them.
Unfortunately there is little "value" in finding a mattress you really like and works well for you if it uses low quality materials and the foams will soften or break down in just a few years. You can't "feel" the quality of the materials in a mattress so the ability to find out what is in a mattress and dealing with people who are comfortable talking about materials is one of the most important parts of a successful purchase. This is why it's usually a good idea to find out a little more about the knowledge, experience, and level of transparency of a retailer or manufacturer before you end up spending time including them in your local or online research.
Phoenix
