Karl's TV Audio Appliances South Dakota Furniture Mart The Sleep Number Store by Select ComfortShortly after Melissa Marik moved into a new apartment in February, a Mattress Firm store moved in a block or two away from Marik — and from another Mattress Firm. "I never even see anyone in the stores," said Marik, 27, who was walking down a mile stretch of Clybourn Avenue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood that boasts five Mattress Firms, two American Mattresses and a Sleep Number.Even the CEO of Mattress Firm, Ken Murphy, agrees Chicago probably has a few too many — but there's a method behind what some may see as the madness of mattress stores seemingly on every corner. In its best markets, Houston-based Mattress Firm aims to have a store for about every 50,000 people. That means Murphy would eventually like to have roughly only 200 in the Chicago area. Today, there are 235.Some duplicative or unprofitable stores will be closing but not right away. Mattress Firm is reviewing its real estate footprint with an eye to trimming stores but hasn't yet decided how many or which stores to shut down, according to the company's first-quarter financial report.
Most closures will come as store leases end, Murphy said.Even 200 is a lot of stores specializing in a product that for many customers is a once-in-a-decade purchase."Car dealers come closest, but there are no other retail chains that focus on big-ticket discretionary products with that many stores," said Wedbush Securities analyst Seth Basham. Roughly 9,000 specialty bed and mattress stores in the U.S. generated about $11.5 billion in revenue in 2015, according to a report last year from market research firm IbisWorld.So why are there so many? In Chicago, the answer has a lot to do with Mattress Firm's push to grow through acquisitions.Mattress Firm, the U.S.'s largest specialty mattress retailer, got into the Chicago mattress market about two years ago when it acquired Back to Bed and Bedding Experts. It bought another competitor, Sleepy's, last year and finished rebranding those stores by July 4."While in many respects it's been a great opportunity to get as populated in the market as quickly as we have, the downside is we have real duplication of stores right on top of one another," Murphy said.
It still has competition from other specialty mattress chains, including Sleep Number and Addison-based American Mattress, in addition to furniture stores and big-box retailers that sell mattresses.Furniture stores and department stores used to be the only places to buy a mattress, said Jerry Epperson, a furniture and mattress industry analyst with Mann, Armistead & Epperson. But manufacturers, which wanted to encourage people to replace their mattresses even if they weren't buying a new set of bedroom furniture, started promoting the idea of dedicated mattress stores, and they've been spreading rapidly since the 1990s, he said.Industry analysts' take on whether the U.S. has too many mattress stores depends on how well they think generalist brick-and-mortar retailers and online mattress startups will fare against traditional mattress specialists.But Murphy said there's "a logic to the apparent madness" of the store-on-every-corner approach.A new mattress — expensive and nonessential — was an easy purchase to delay during the recession, which has likely led to some pent-up demand, said Rice University marketing professor Utpal Dholakia, who got interested in the mattress business when a British student wondered why every American strip mall seems to have its own mattress store.
Industry analysts also say a spate of bedbug infestations may have prompted at least a few extra sales.Mattresses are a relatively high-margin product, and stores don't need that many employees, meaning each location doesn't need to sell a huge number of mattresses to break even, industry analysts said. And every store does double duty as advertising — important for a product most people don't think about until they need it."We want prominent, convenient, high-profile locations our customers will be driving or walking past anyways so that when they do get in the market, we're the natural default option," Murphy said.He thinks there's room for more Mattress Firm stores, albeit not in Chicago. The company had 3,472 as of May 3, and he thinks it could support about 4,500 across the U.S.Mattress Firm is trying to be the first truly national brand in the mattress space in hopes that scale will give it more leverage over vendors, more efficient operations and better name recognition.But analyst Basham said he's on the fence about how big a boost national scale will provide amid growing competition.
Online upstarts are looking increasingly strong in a sector that was once considered internet-proof.The best-known are early entrants like Casper, Tuft & Needle, Saatva and Leesa, but KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Brad Thomas estimated there are 50 or more brands trying to get a piece of your bedding and mattress dollars.So far, they account for a tiny but growing share of the overall market — about 4.6 percent this year, up from 1.8 percent last year, according to Thomas' June report.Younger customers are more open to the idea of buying mattresses over the internet without first getting to test them in stores, Epperson said. That's partly because millennials are accustomed to shopping online but also because online companies have done a better job marketing things young customers care about, like ease of purchase."If you think about how mattresses have been marketed, it's all about health issues. If you read the ads, mattresses cure everything but balding," he said.When Wedbush surveyed 1,000 shoppers about buying online, only 10 percent said they were willing to do so without perks like free delivery, 100-night free trials and free returns.
But when those services — all of which many e-commerce mattress companies offer — were included, about 30 percent were open to buying online, Basham said.Most larger bed-in-a-box brands sell for between $500 and $999, depending on size. That is the most popular price range for all mattress sales, accounting for about 41 percent of mattresses sold last year, according to the KeyBanc report, citing data from the International Sleep Products Association. Only 5 percent of mattresses sold were priced above $2,000, though they accounted for 18.5 percent by value.Some traditional companies have responded with their own bed-in-a-box options, including Mattress Firm's Dream Bed at $600 to $999 and Sealy's Cocoon at $549 to $950.Meanwhile, online players are also finding ways to cater to customers who still want to try before they buy, whether through showrooms or partnerships with brick-and-mortar retailers.We receive free products to review and participate in affiliate programs, where we are compensated for items purchased through links from our site (at no cost to the buyer).
See our for our list of comped products and affiliate programs. If you sleep on your side and have the wrong mattress, it can lead to shoulder pain or hip pain. A good mattress for side sleeping should conform to your body, taking the pressure off your hips and shoulders and aligning your spine so that your muscles can relax. Thus for side sleepers specifically we recommend buying a mattress online. Don’t get roped in by a two-minute test in a store — that will tell you nothing about ultimate feel and durability in the long run. Online companies typically have a trial period (up to 100 nights in some cases) where you can return the mattress for a full refund if it doesn’t suit your preferences. You should definitely do your research before buying, but at least this trial process takes away the risk of you being stuck with a mattress for years that actually isn’t a great fit. I have reviewed a number of mattresses that claim to be good for side sleepers, however I’ve narrowed down my top 4 for the purpose of this review.
My top 3 are: These mattresses are not necessarily #1 in my overall mattress reviews, but they do rate the highest when considering side sleepers. Note these are all high-quality mattresses that I consider very durable, with GhostBed as an option for those with a little less of a budget. Amerisleep is very high quality memory foam and ranks at the top of my memory foam mattress list as well. They have a few models, for side sleepers I would go with a softer option (their Liberty, Colonial, or Independence are good choices). Amerisleep in general is very comfortable (in my opinion) and very good value (get an extra $50 off here). They also have some unique cooling features in their foam and some very cool features in general, learn more in my full Amerisleep review. Layla is a relatively small and unknown memory foam mattress mattress company, but we need to mention them due to their great specs and price. Layla easily compares to models that are 3x expensive in stores (see more details on their website).
The mattress is flippable, with two relatively soft options for sleepers. Read my Layla mattress review for a full analysis of the specs. Layla also delivers only online, passing on some of the savings of not having retail stores to buyers. Layla stands out from the competition in my mind because the memory foam is copper infused, so it sleeps cooler than most memory foam mattresses. Loom and Leaf is designed to be a luxury memory foam mattress at an affordable price (see more HERE). The mattresses is sold only online, so it can compete with some of the top memory foam brands in terms of specs (think Tempur-pedic) at a fraction of the price. They’re not marking up the product by a huge margin just to fund retail locations. The company uses very high quality memory foam that offers side sleepers great support. Learn more about this mattress in my full Loom & Leaf review. Loom & Leaf is made by an online innerspring mattress company (Saatva) that has been in the game a long time.
They wanted to take on the high-end of the memory foam market, and Loom & Leaf is doing just that. The mattress comes in three firmness settings: soft, medium, and firm. For side sleepers, we definitely recommend either the soft or the medium. The great thing about memory foam (especially quality memory foam like you get with Loom & Leaf) is that it has the best tradeoff between comfort and support while providing great orthopedic benefits. People often tell us their backs feel better after sleeping on these mattresses. GhostBed is similar to a lot of medium tier mattresses on the market (think Casper competitors), however they have made a few key changes that makes them one of my preferred mattresses in the price range, and a good fit for side sleepers. They added an extra inch of comfort layer foam (the mattress is 11 inches total), which as discussed is good for pressure relief and spinal alignment. They also invested in higher quality foams throughout, which gives me more confidence in the durability.
Finally, GhostBed comes out of Nature’s Sleep, a company that’s been doing large volume in the mattress game for a long time. Nature’s Sleep appears to have leveraged their volume to edge out even the biggest online players in terms of price. Get the full read on this mattress in my GhostBed review. If you sleep on your side, you are going to be naturally putting a lot of pressure on your hips, shoulders, and neck, which can cause tension throughout the spine. To sleep comfortably, you want a mattress that is soft enough to relieve those pressure points. Foam mattresses tend to be great at relieving pressure points and can be ideal for this aspect of sleeping on your side. If a mattress is too firm, it will cut off a lot of the blood circulation in your body, and it will potentially cause major aches and pains because it doesn’t contour to the widest points in the hips and shoulders. It could lead to waking up in the middle of the night a lot, as well as a significant amount of tossing and turning as your body struggles to find a supportive position.
A mattress that is too firm is something you want to avoid if you spend most of your time sleeping on your side. As I mention in my Tempur-Contour Supreme review, not all mattresses are suited for side sleepers. It is critical for your health that you find a mattress that contours well to your body and supports the natural alignment of your spine. If you sleep on your side and the mattress is too firm, your neck won’t be properly supported and your spine will be thrown off its natural alignment. This could lead to back and neck pain fairly easily, which may compound over time. That’s yet another reason why purchasing online from a company with a 100 night free trial can be so beneficial. You truly get to test to see what works for you! If the mattress is too soft, you could sink in too much and your spine will be too curved. This could similarly lead to pain across your body. A mattress that is too soft is not ideal either. There is no one best mattress brand or type for sleeping on your side.