Startup wants to take the stress out of buying a mattress
Mattress shopping can be stressful. You visit a store to find something simple and leave $3,000 poorer, having been convinced by the smooth-talking salesperson that you absolutely need that innerspring gel memory foam that will give you the best night's sleep of your life.
The New York company operates on the theory that some people just want a good mattress. They don't want to sift through the intricacies of a pillowtop versus an extra-firm or a foam. They don't want the hassle of shopping and transport. They just want to click a button and have a mattress show up at their doorstep.
The mattress business is dominated by three big names: Serta, Sealy and Simmons. It's a $13 billion industry built on a combination of heavy advertising, constant product refreshment, and a battalion of aggressive salespeople at department stores and specialty shops.
Buying a mattress from these companies can be confusing -- the manufacturers rename the same products for each different retail store, according to Slate. That makes it hard to compare apples to apples when you shop.
There's even a growing market for ridiculously upscale beds and mattresses, such as Savoir Beds' $175,000 Royal State Bed, which takes 700 hours to make and features a crest embroidered by the Royal School of Needlework.
"A good night's rest is better than any beauty cream or therapy," said Savoir Beds co-owner Alistair Hughes, according to The Financialist. "People care too much about buying the right couture dress or Savile Row suit, and too little about buying the right bed."
For some people, that's absolutely the case. But others who have precious little time or patience for the baffling mattress industry might find a lot to like in a website that offers a simple alternative.