Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (1)

David Perry

Consumer Reports stirs pot with mattress buying article

The industry is abuzz over a six-page report on mattresses in the June issue of Consumer Reports. My take on the report, titled “How to buy a mattress without losing sleep,” is that the powerful magazine did a credible job on a challenging subject, for the most part, but was snoozing on a few key issues.

The good news is that the industry and its major players were not dealt any body blows. The story begins with an ominous-sounding lead: “Shopping for a mattress can be a nightmare.” Luckily, the industry wasn’t subjected to a nightmarish portrayal.

Significantly, the report doesn’t provide product ratings. Elsewhere in the June issue, diets, gas grills, exterior paints and lawnmowers are rated, with detailed comparisons. It would be very difficult to rate mattresses in such a way.

Three sleep sets come in for detailed product reviews. Two are by the fastest-growing companies in the industry, Tempur-Pedic and Select Comfort. The third, oddly, is by Duxiana, a high-end Swedish sleep system. The Dux beds are certainly worthy of editorial coverage (we’ve written a few stories on them ourselves), but the magazine would have provided a better service to its readers by evaluating a brand more widely available, such as Stearns & Foster. Plus, it is comparing apples and oranges to compare a $4,150 Dux bed, a $1,500 Select Comfort bed, and a $1,750 Tempur-Pedic bed.

This is one place where the magazine was snoozing. As part of its evaluation, it asked four couples to spend a month using each of the beds at home. Then it summarized their comments, which ranged from positive to negative. That puts way too much power in the hands of eight people.

Those details, for all their faults, may well be helpful to the three companies whose products were singled out. Each of the three brands is featured prominently on the magazine’s cover, and each can point to some positive mentions. On the whole, it’s a plus for the specialty sleep segment to get such extensive coverage.

But innerspring producers can point to some positives as well. Under the “how to choose” section of the report, the article says: “Consider an innerspring first. A conventional innerspring mattress is the most common choice and often the least expensive.”

Simmons and Serta got some positive mentions in the story. Sealy may not be thrilled with a detailed comparison between a $700 Posturepedic and a $1,400 Posturepedic. The magazine’s consultants said the two “were similar in firmness and overall comfort.”

Several Better Sleep Council action points found their way into the story, but the BSC was not mentioned by name.

Despite some problems here and there, Consumer Reports did a decent job. Now we can all breathe easy until the magazine tackles mattresses again in another eight years or so.   (to view or add public comments click on "Add your Comment" below, or to email Dave directly click here.)