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As part of an ongoing series, each week Insider Picks features a product or store that’s poised for big things. The subject of this week's "We're Obsessed" segment is an online mattress company called Leesa Sleep.
With more and more mattress companies starting up and taking the direct-to-consumer approach, the less customers are going to traditional store showrooms to buy their beds. This approach has proved itself a good shift for customers, who were often getting the short end of the stick from commissioned showroom salespeople.
But with so many disruptive mattress startups to choose from, each with their own version of the one-size-fits-all mattress, the market is maybe a little overwhelming. How is one to decide? Is there an option you should go with if you sleep on your back / your stomach / your side? The online mattress industry still lacks clear, easy-to-access comparison information.
Rest assured, though, there are some great options to consider. Leesa Sleep is one of them.
Cofounders David Wolfe and Jamie Diamonstein launched Leesa in 2014. The company has picked up significant momentum since then, and the reasons for its success are simple: An excellent customer service model and a universally comfortable mattress.
Like its competitors, there’s no awkward showroom scene and you get to try your mattress in your own home for 100 nights risk free. "The direct to consumer space is totally different [than the traditional retail market]," Diamonstein told Business Insider. "We're able to offer a no-pressure selling environment with total transparency. There are no middlemen and no heavy demands placed on us. Each Leesa mattress is ordered by the customer, and then produced and shipped within 3-5 days."
Leesa's mattress is also genuinely solid. "Leesa developed a memory-foam-based mattress that was intended to improve on the market leader," Wolfe told us. "For all its undoubted benefits in terms of pressure relief, there were three major drawbacks to the market leader. It slept hot (heat), you would sink into it and not be able to move around (bounce), and it was incredibly expensive."
According to Wolfe, "Leesa's mattress fixes all these problems with a solid base layer of foam and two layers of specialty foam on top of that, which provide the benefits of memory foam in the middle layer and cooling and bounce on the top layer."
The company claims its mattress can comfortably accommodate all body shapes and types of sleepers, and that, because of its original design, you don't have to choose between a firm or a plush mattress. Tech Insider reporter Rafi Letzter reports backs these claims up, confirming Leesa is perfect for his side-sleeping, back-aching, medium build. Letzter also notes that "back sleepers with large buttocks and more heavyset stomach sleepers might also appreciate the brand's softer cushion".
The reviews site Sleep Like the Dead has this to say about the differences among sleep styles, if you're unsure where you fall on the mattress spectrum:
BACK sleepers tend to prefer medium to firm firmness. Back sleepers often do not require a soft mattress because pressure on the body is more evenly distributed than is the case for stomach and especially side sleepers. Back sleepers with large buttocks in proportion to the rest of their body may prefer medium (or even soft) firmness as opposed to firm to minimize pressure.
SIDE sleepers (especially those of average to below average size) tend to prefer medium to soft firmness. This is due to the fact that pressure tends to be focused on the hips and shoulders, a fairly small surface area. If a side sleeper has shoulder pain, it likely means they have too firm a mattress and/or too low a pillow.
STOMACH sleepers (also known as front sleepers) tend to prefer medium firmness. Too much firmness for these sleepers can result in pressure on the knees and front of hips, while too much softness can cause the sleeper to sink too far into the mattress perhaps undermining neck / head alignment and or ease of breathing.
If you're current mattress isn't doing you any favors, and you're ready to forgo those sketchy showrooms, have a look at Leesa. For those who want to sleep a little easier (literally and figuratively), the mattress should prove itself good value all around.
As an added incentive to shop, the company also donates one mattress to a shelter for every 10 it sells. And if you live in the New York City area, you can soon check out the mattress in person. The company has plans to open its first storefront in SoHo on April, 28 2016.
Leesa's mattresses are available in the following sizes, and for the following prices: twin ($525), twin XL ($625), full ($790), queen ($890), king ($990), California king ($990). Click here for more purchasing information.
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