Mattress Shopping – Tips for In the Store Shopping

We went shopping last week for a new mattress for Rosie.  I don’t even want to tell you how old her mattress is!  Yikes, it is time for her to get a new one.  Come along with me – I’ll tell you all about our thoughts.  Lots of personal choices, but maybe our story will help take out some of the anxiety if you are mattress shopping as well!

We did our homework before we left home – researching brands, verifying the size, reading about the different options, choosing a pillow to take with us, checking our budget restraints and choosing a trusted retailer.  After all that we knew that we wanted a Sealy Posturepedic Mattress, for all the reasons I wrote about in a prior post.  I checked on the Sealy website to find mattress retailers in our area.

When choosing a retailer, there are a few questions to ask yourself:

Q:  Do you like to bargain for price?  Furniture stores will often bargain for a price, major nationwide department stores are more likely to have fixed prices.

Q:  Do you like to shop ahead of time at home?  Some stores have descriptions and prices of their selections on the internet, some don’t.

Q:  How far do you want to drive to shop?  Will delivery be difficult if you go to far away?

Q:  Is there a sale going on at any of the available stores?  We were shopping around the 4th of July and wanted to take advantage of seasonal prices.

After looking at all our options, we decided on Sears.  Even though I found the Sears website difficult to navigate, I was able to find out the information ahead of time and had a mattress in mind, when I left home.  We’ve always had good experiences with Sears and like to shop their for major purchases – appliances, etc.  The location of our local Sears wasn’t terribly convenient for me, but not prohibitive.  One of the difficulties of mattress shopping is that every retailer has their own “custom” mattresses.  You won’t find the exact same name or mattress when you look from one store to another, making it very, very difficult to comparison shop.  Historically, we’ve found Sears prices to be competitive and they were having a sale.

Here are the options that we had to consider in shopping for our Sealy Posturepedic mattress at Sears:

1.  Plush or Firm

2.  Pillowtop or No Pillowtop

3.  Memory Foam Layer Thickness

4.  Cover Material

5.  Mattress only or Foundation Set

The features that all Sealy Posturepedics had in common that we appreciate, but didn’t involve a choice are the SitRight Edge System; Titanium SS Inner Springs; StayTight Foundation, CoreSupport Center.

Totally an individual choice, Sean and I both prefer firm.  I planned on letting Rosie try both but steer her towards the firm.  I’m not a fan of pillowtops, I would prefer to add a mattress pad that gives the same effect and is washable and replaceable.  I wasn’t sure about the memory foam and that was one of the things I wanted to try in the store.  The cover material isn’t very important to me – I’m going to put an encasement, a mattress pad, and sheets over it.  We knew we needed a set – foundation and mattress.  Rosie’s is so old, that not only is the support questionable, but fire retardant materials have changed since hers was made and she clearly needs a set.  From what I read on various sites, you should almost always buy a set.  The only time it makes sense to buy a mattress-only is if you are replacing a fairly new, identical model mattress.

Our Sears store had the mattress organized by type rather than brand, making it a bit more challenging to compare Sealy to Sealy but it wasn’t that difficult – all the mattresses were very clearly marked and I thought their info sheet/signs were very helpful.  First thing I did was find a middle price range, we knew we didn’t want the top-of-the-line or the bargain mattresses.  Then in the middle range, I began comparing what we had narrowed down – non-pillowtops and firm.  The only other major difference came down to the memory foam thickness.  We tried both and agreed that the double layer of memory foam was the most comfortable and supportive.  Done!  It wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected :)  Ah, why mattress shopping should be so stressful….

(I took some lovely pictures of our shopping experience, but Rosie or I didn’t keep an eye on my phone and it was stolen!  Ugh!  So no pictures and for me, no phone for now.)

So, Rosie will soon be sleeping on a Spring Blossom Ti Firm Sealy Posturepedic Mattress.  Whew!  I’m so relieved to have the decision made!  She loved it and I’m excited that she is going to have a new mattress with the reliable features of a Sealy Posturepedic.

Our new Sealy Mattress for Sean and I will be delivered tomorrow!  I can’t wait to tell you all about it!  Sealy chose it for us, so I’m not sure what the features are yet but I’ll be reviewing it, and Rosie’s in future posts.  Stay tuned to hear about our family’s experiences and of course, the giveaway!!!  One lucky KLY reader will also be receiving a new Sealy mattress set in their choice of size!

Previous Posts in the Good Night’s Sleep Event Series:

4 Signs That It’s Time to Buy a New Mattress

Mattress Shopping?  Don’t Leave Home Without Reading These Tips

Mattress Shopping?  Five things to Look for When Choosing a Brand

Disclosure: All opinions included in this post are my own, unless otherwise stated. In accordance with FTC guidelines, I am disclosing a material connection because I will be receiving a Sealy mattress for review.