Why are there so many mattress stores?

straightdope.com

9 points·jseliger··5 comments

It might not be as sexy as some others but this reads like its prime for a disruptive startup to come and shake it all up

What is there to shake-up? The industry is already built around a minimum product: cheap showroom + to-home delivery.

You cannot shake up the "showroom" because people want physicality. They want to lay on 5 beds before buying one.

You cannot make a cheaper showroom, as this industry is already doing that.

Best you can do is add digital services on-top of the cheap showroom and delivery model? But what value do you add?

There are companies like https://casper.com/ that I'd argue are doing just that (note they one of MANY foam-matteress-delivery startups/companies). I've never used them but a friend did and seems to be quite happy with his purchase. I am in the market for a new one but I've yet to pull the trigger on one of these.

I think you're absolutely right. They've been hiding in the shadows of peer-to-peer referrals for a while but now they've got a real marketing campaign. Not to mention that several companies are at similar stages -- the market is getting interesting. The biggest selling point in my opinion is the ease of purchase. Since the foam can be vacuum packed and shipped via FedEx there's no more dealing with mattress delivery scheduling and finagling through hallways and staircases. My own mattress is in good condition but I look forward to what things will be like come time to replace it.

We pulled the trigger on a Leesa (http://leesa.com) and it's fantastic. I recommend them to anyone I know looking for a mattress.

No pushy salesperson watching you awkwardly laying on a bed in a brightly lit open room and 100 nights to test it out? Sold

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