Ubiquitous mattress advertising

[KayLR]

Is it just me and our media market here, or is this everywhere? We seem to have an inordinate amount of mattress retailer advertising here. Good grief, even one of our amphitheaters is named the "[Mattress Retailer name]" Amphitheater.

There is at least one mattress retail outlet commercial per half hour of tv viewing in the evening and they are major sponsors of ads on the radio as well.

There are at least 3 major mattress retailers in our area at war over the air waves.

Why is this? Why mattresses? Is it big business? I don't get why we're bombarded with mattress ads of all things.

Also....they have annoying jingles.>:(

[bae]

As it happens, we need to get a new mattress soon, and I have no idea of how to approach the issue, it seems like a business even sleazier and full of scams than the used-auto market.

We just want a mattress that is comfortable, long-lasting, and economical. It doesn't have to have magic-voodoo technology, or be made of hand-woven mohair gathered by druids under the light of a full moon, then wrapped in the finest organic free-trade silk or anything.

[Greg44]

We bought the "floor models" at our local department store and saved big $$ -- or at least it felt like we did!

I think basically mattress' are always on sell.

[treehugger]

Is it just me and our media market here, or is this everywhere? We seem to have an inordinate amount of mattress retailer advertising here. Good grief, even one of our amphitheaters is named the "[Mattress Retailer name]" Amphitheater.(

Nope, not just you and your media market. Ours (SF Bay Area) is the same, right down to the [Mattress Retailer] Amphitheater. That one makes me laugh because it always makes me think (when I hear an ad for a show there) that the music must be really boring if you need mattresses there.

Here, this began 10 or so years ago and has never let up. There must be a HUGE markup on mattresses for it to be such an "it" business. And I agree, just thinking about buying one can feel so overwhelming, like there's no way not to get taken advantage of, since it seems to be an item that's name brand or nothing (like eye glasses, but that's another rant).

Kara

[CathyA]

I hate the commercial out there for a mattress company. I forget the brand. On the TV commercial, several "professional" mattress people tell this guy that since their mattress is 8 years old, with millions of dust mites in it, its definitely time to replace it. 8 years?? Many people have the same mattress forever and are fine with it. Anyhow....this company's slogan is "If its older than 8, its time to replace". Give me a break.

[KayLR]

We just want a mattress that is comfortable, long-lasting, and economical. It doesn't have to have magic-voodoo technology, or be made of hand-woven mohair gathered by druids under the light of a full moon, then wrapped in the finest organic free-trade silk or anything.

LOL, Bae!

[Tweety]

Would the bedbug scare have anything to do with it? I was in Key West recently and saw mattresses thrown away every here and there and asked my DD what was going on, and that was her opinion.

[rodeosweetheart]

I have to laugh, since when we went to visit my parents recently, we slept on the same mattress I had when I was a little kid, and I'm 55!

[jp1]

Actually I was reading a book a few months back about equity investment companies and one of the chapters involved two of the large mattress companies. The point of the book was that equity capital companies tend to buy companies then bleed them dry because of all the debt they (the purchased company) take on when getting purchased (the purchasers tend to put up only an average of 33% of the purchase price. The rest of the price is debt taken on by the company just purchased) and therefore business decisions get made based on the new debt they have. These two main mattress companies (both of whom's names are well known and start with S) had to go high end to make ends meet (higher margins on high end products). So a third mattress company took advantage of the situation and really grew by offering slightly lower end stuff that people really like (both because their product is cheaper and because one person can be tossing and turning while the other one doesn't git giggled around at all.)

One of the other thing the two "top" manufacturers started doing is making mattresses that have only one "top" side. Since they can't be turned over and rotated they don't last nearly as long as mattresses used to. Therefore people have to buy new ones more often.

Mattresses have a HUGE markup on them. To give you an idea how much, SO works for a major hotel chain. He can buy any of the furniture in the hotel at the hotel's cost. We bought our bed about 6 years ago, the same as in a 4 star quality hotel, for $440. King size. Delivered to our home. We're looking to upgrade to a bed that one of the lower end brands in his company uses because it's a temperpedic bed and I"m tired of the trampoline effect that happens with our current bed every time SO rolls over (he's a fairly hefty guy). Despite the fact that a lower end hotel uses it it's actually more expensive (about $700 for us for a king size) but still is quite cheap compared to what we'd pay if we went out to shop for it.

[janharker]

We bought a new mattress a couple of years ago. We returned it under warranty and got a different model. The pillow-top on the first one mashed down to nothing, leaving a big dip in the middle. The mattress store manager told me that most people who buy pillow-tops return them.

[mattj]

Earlier this month we got an Aldi special buy... a queen sized memory foam mattress marked down for $179!

[Jemima]

The mattress ads and stores are all over the place in my area, too. The most ridiculous thing I've seen was people standing on busy streets dressed up like mattresses in Indianapolis. Their job was to dance around, look happy, and attract your attention. I will always remember that about Indianapolis.

I get my mattresses from a family-owned store in a nearby small town. They supply bedding to a nonprofit organization for the retarded and have the reputation of always giving them a good deal, so I figured they weren't out to take advantage of their customers. My latest mattress is a no-name brand that's guaranteed for twelve years (longer than the name brands) and so far, so good.

[Wildflower]

Waterbed here. Have only had to replace the vinyl mattress once in 35 years. And there is nothing more comfy in the winter than a heated waterbed....

[Tenngal]

I've never known how to buy a mattress. I am usually a careful consumer and do reseach on anything I buy, especially large ticket items like a mattress. But it is almost impossible to research them. In the past I've always just went to the nearest store and bought the mid-priced one in the size I need.