OT, whats with all these mattress stores?

[Cicli]

I can occupy my kids time in the car counting them along the road. One on every corner. How do they stay in business?

[rzthomas]

Combination of high margins, low operating costs, and lucrative financing schemes.

[Ken Robb]

yep

[josephr]

my brother is a huge costco guy....he was talking about buying a mattress from one of those shops....i asked him why not costco? he just didn't know they sold mattresses.....

i'm with you though...no idea how many mattresses it takes to keep a mattress shop open....also, the number of sub sandwich shops is unsettling.

[carpediemracing]

A long time ago when I had a shop there was a mattress store nearby. I think they paid $9k in rent monthly, in the late 80s to late 90s. My understanding was that the margins on a mattress was in the 70-80% range, meaning when you bought a $1000 mattress the store was making something like $700-800. That might have been an exaggeration but a car dealer colleague used to sell mattresses and said it was much more lucrative than selling cars (he quit selling cars).

[jimcav]

A long time ago when I had a shop there was a mattress store nearby. I think they paid $9k in rent monthly, in the late 80s to late 90s. My understanding was that the margins on a mattress was in the 70-80% range, meaning when you bought a $1000 mattress the store was making something like $700-800. That might have been an exaggeration but a car dealer colleague used to sell mattresses and said it was much more lucrative than selling cars (he quit selling cars).

nm

[El Chaba]

...and the bedbug epidemic....

[ripvanrando]

When they take away your old mattress, don't they just recycle them? New covers?

Charles Rogers mattresses. Direct from the factory. Made the old fashioned way and in the USA. The Best.

[charliedid]

A long time ago when I had a shop there was a mattress store nearby. I think they paid $9k in rent monthly, in the late 80s to late 90s. My understanding was that the margins on a mattress was in the 70-80% range, meaning when you bought a $1000 mattress the store was making something like $700-800. That might have been an exaggeration but a car dealer colleague used to sell mattresses and said it was much more lucrative than selling cars (he quit selling cars).

That's just the markup % not gross margin. I think that's closer to 30-40% which is okay but what others have mentioned it's the financing that makes them the loot.

[MattTuck]

That's just the markup % not gross margin. I think that's closer to 30-40% which is okay but what others have mentioned it's the financing that makes them the loot.

They say that the next financial crisis always begins somewhere that people are not looking. Even money bet that the mattress backed subprime loans are the next tipping point.

[charliedid]

They say that the next financial crisis always begins somewhere that people are not looking. Even money bet that the mattress backed subprime loans are the next tipping point.

Mattress bubble. Weird

[charliedid]

I managed a number of apartments for about 14 years. People commonly discarded what seemed to be perfectly good (if cheapish) mattresses all the time. They seem to be consumables at this point.

I'm 53 years old and have only had 3 mattresses (at least in a primary home) in my adult life.

[fignon's barber]

...and the bedbug epidemic....


This. The average mattress is 15 years old. At that point, it consists of about 80% bedbug/dead skin/sweat/bacteria combo. You can finance a new one over 4 years like a new car. No Brainer:crap::beer:

[brownhound]

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/mattress-store-bubble/

[bthornt]

A comparison of online mattress prices (bed in a box, saatva, eluxury, and so on) and brick and morter mattress prices makes it pretty obvious how they stay in business. I bought a king size mattress online through bed in a box, paid slightly more than $1000. Incidentally, the best mattress I have ever purchased. Similar mattress at mattress firm was thousands of dollars more.

[charliedid]

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/mattress-store-bubble/

Right

I've read bits and pieces of that before. It also mentions the sales/ownership cycle shrinking down below 8 years. Easy access to credit and people will buy more often.

"everyone deserves a good night's sleep"

[SPOKE]

I bought my last NOS Paramount 50th Anniversary frame from a guy in Sumter SC. His mattress store used to be his Schwinn bike shop😱

[Flying Pigeon]

Real life mattress king (http://www.theonion.com/article/mattress-king-selects-wife-from-small-wisconsin-vi-2642) Michael Fux -- he started out an immigrant from Cuba.

http://blog.dupontregistry.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/michael-fux-collection.jpg

http://supercars.agent4stars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FuxHouseCarsNewJersey.jpg

[bicycletricycle]

I am always asking everyone I know

"Who the hell is buying all these mattresses?"

[witcombusa]

You spend a third of your life on one. They are not a 'lifetime' purchase like a fine bike. Ten years is about as long as I personally would want to go. Good sleep is so important to our quality of life and recovery. A hundred bucks a year doesn't strike me a huge investment... just be careful where you buy and what you buy.

[gavingould]

for a lot of people in apartments, tossing the mattress or boxspring and buying/having delivered a new cheap one is easier than trying to move it, especially if a moving truck is out of the affordability range.

might be on to something with the subprime mattress bubble. incidentally, we went with a Casper. i love it, wife loves it, dog loves it.

[kevinvc]

Several years ago, my wife bought one of those Sleep Number mattresses because her mom was raving about hers. I was a little upset because it seemed like such a gimmick and was pretty expensive for what seemed like a glorified air mattress.

Boy, have I changed my tune. I absolutely love the thing and notice a difference anytime I'm away from home and have to sleep on a traditional style mattress.

[559Rando]

I slept on an Ikea mattress a few weeks ago in an Airbnb and I thought it was great. Another review of the same place said the same. They're on my radar when I need a mattress.

[559Rando]

Also, apropos was a quote I read once that said to spend all your money on your bed and your shoes because if you're not in one, you're in the other.

I think the concept was attributed to the Swedes, but this was too long ago to recall. I think I read it in Wallpaper magazine.

[Rpoole8537]

A friend of mine always said that mattress stores were evidently where the mob laundered some of their their money? She always purchased at her mattress at department stores.
I've also heard great things about Sleep Number beds. Consumer Reports liked the inexpensive Sleep Number as well as the higher model. Sounds like it might be my next purchase.

[charliedid]

I slept on an Ikea mattress a few weeks ago in an Airbnb and I thought it was great. Another review of the same place said the same. They're on my radar when I need a mattress.

I currently sleep on one. Nice mattress for $400 bucks

[Ronsonic]

The thing that gets me with mattresses is the impossibility of comparison shopping. No manufacturer seems to market any one model at more than one store. Sure there is a comparable model in every store but it will be called something different and since each store will have different demographics you can't just count up and down the hierarchy of the product line like you do with groupsets.

Nobody buys them often enough to become familiar with them and it's entirely a seller's market.

[eddief]

if i was in the market i think i'd trust these guys:

https://www.sleepez.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwt6fHBRDtm9O8xPPHq4gBEiQAdxotvAGPah4 xDkkxb4IdqBTeXCrKEYGhiRsbW-kNRaD41mgaArUW8P8HAQ

how it's made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJcTzwIF_SM

some truth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJcTzwIF_SM

make your own:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzXEP9iYGAE