Why Are There More Mattress Stores Than Starbucks?

On every corner in your town, there’s at least one mattress store, you know that.

Big fluorescent lights illuminating rows of white blocks that are supposedly different from one model to the next. A wall of “deals” that look less like a steal and more like a trap. The windows boast a 70% off sale—TODAY ONLY—but you’re not sure there’s ever been another sign. And what’s weirder, you’ve never actually seen anyone in there other than one sales guy hanging out towards the front. He seems lonely.

But look closer. Are there… two of the exact same mattress stores across the street from each other? Close enough for their lone sales guys to reach out and touch hands? What the hell is that about? And wait, isn’t there another one down the road a bit, like two miles away?

This makes no sense. There are now more mattress stores than Starbucks. There are more mattress stores than there are locations for our looming overlords, Walmart. There are more mattress stores than freakin’ 7-Elevens. There can’t possibly be more demand for mattresses than coffee, slushies, and literally anything that Walmart sells, can there?

Apparently, there may be. We buy a lot of mattresses each year, and while we’re not sure the numbers demand more mattress stores than Burger Kings (We love chicken fries as much as the next person!) it’s fascinating to watch the inevitable shift happening in the market.

But we’re balancing on the tip of a very sharp, very thin knife. The biggest mattress company out there, MattressFirm (You may know them as Sleep Train, Sleepy’s, Sleep Country in your neck of the woods.) announced that they will be closing hundreds of stores in 2018. There are a few theories floating around in the digital sphere about what’s taking place—from poor business planning to money laundering—but we think we know what’s up.

People are figuring out that there’s a better way to shop for mattresses.

Imagine getting everything you need—and nothing you don’t—from one website, shipped straight to your door. No pushy salesperson, inflated mark ups, or listening to spiel after spiel about the same products just to trade a couple thousand bucks for a few years of decent comfort before you start the cycle all over again. And the best part? No invasive delivery guys knocking over your lamp or tracking mud through your house. Everything arrives on your doorstep in easy-to-move boxes and sets up in minutes.

And if you aren’t sure about the whole online thing? We’ve got you covered there, too. Our retail locations are designed to be educational, stress-free, and above everything else, a breeze. We wanted our stores to bring the ease and convenience of our online experience to the brick and mortar mattress world, and we know that we’ve having an impact on how business is done—we see them imitating what we’re doing almost as quickly as we roll it out.

Or worse, they openly mock our model to their customers so they won’t stray from an outdated system.

The next time you’re heading to pick up dinner or on the way to work, look around at all those mattress stores. They won’t be there long.