Shopping for a mattress can be a nightmare. Prices bounce up and down and if you don’t try a mattress in the store before buying it, you can end up with years of restless nights. But what if you could share the experiences of 12,000 other mattress shoppers? That’s the aim of the latest rankings of 11 brands and 15 retailers by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. Combined with our mattress tests, the information will help you find the right mattress and get the best service.
The new survey results yielded a few surprises yet also showed some consistencies from earlier years that tell you where your chances of satisfaction are best. The Original Mattress Factory, with stores in nine states, was among our readers’ top picks in our last mattress retailer survey and this year they’re again among the top brands. Other top brands, according to our reader, include Ikea, Novaform (sold at Costco), and Tempur-Pedic. And while the Tempur-Pedic brand scored highly for overall value, comfort, and sleep improvement, there’s a catch: For a queen-size bed, Tempur-Pedic’s median price was the highest, at almost $2,500.
Ikea, which did well overall in our 2012 survey, did even better this year with higher reader scores for quality and delivery. Macy’s also went up a notch for the quality of its service, though our readers’ perception of mattress quality, selection, and prices was only so-so. Still among the lowest-rated mattress retailers was Sleepy’s, with respectable scores only for delivery—and a median price for a queen-size bed that was at least twice as high as Costco and Ikea.
In addition to updating our rankings of mattress retailers and brands, we are testing a new batch of mattresses and will share the results in the coming months. Currently, our top-rated innerspring mattress is the Simmons Beautyrest Glover Park Firm Pillowtop, sold at Sears for $1,764. We also like innersprings from Serta and Stearns & Foster. Our top-rated memory foam is the Tempur-Pedic Tempur Simplicity, $1,200, but we also liked memory foam mattresses from Novaform, sold at Costco, and Sealy.
Before you go shopping for a mattress, take a minute to read our buying guide and watch the video. Doing so may result in many sweet dreams.
—Ed Perratore
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