Last year we wrote an article called 5 Years Later which became one of our more popular articles. This blog discussed the ever-changing mattress business over the period The Organic Bedroom has been in business. So, in celebration of our 6th Birthday we are updating our article with some insight into the history of organic mattresses in our 6 years of business. Overall, we’ve seen a lot of change in the organic mattress world. While we know that change is generally good and very important as we continue to learn and evolve, we also find that change that is not properly managed might be negative. Here are some areas in which we’ve seen the greatest impact to the industry.
1. Six years ago it was difficult to find a showroom in our area in which a consumer could try several different organic mattress brands and models. The Organic Bedroom came along and changed the landscape by opening a large retail showroom in Raleigh, North Carolina (we currently have 26 organic and natural mattresses on our showroom floor). We keep regular business hours and always have an expert in the showroom during those hours, with one of the two owners available over 95% of the time. We remain the only locally owned and operated organic mattress store in Raleigh and live in the community in which we operate our store.
2. When you have a great idea you expect “copycats”. We are the best at what we do (we state this as a fact as we are confident we are the most knowledgeable company on the US on Organic and natural materials). We understand our products and customers and we provide a standard of service that is hard to find these days. We know our concept has been copied and although it is flattering that others appreciate our hard work (while at the same time they are trying to avoid doing the hard work on their end), it is also frustrating when competitors actually steal our information to the point where they cut and paste original photos and copy content from our website. We’ve had to spend a little more time monitoring this as some of those potentially good meaning people may be using the stolen information incorrectly which may lead to customers not being properly informed.
3. Organic and other certifications have evolved. Back when we first opened there was not a third party certification for organic latex so we had to trust our suppliers that they were using the most pure all-natural latex available. Since then we’ve seen new certifications for a wide array of materials as well as a newer certification for the entire mattress. As a consumer it is good to know that if you are purchasing something “organic” that it has been certified as organic. The tricky part to understand is when companies who product and sell their products are actually the same companies or have a relationship with the companies who perform the certifications. This information is difficult to find but it is available.
4. There is some dishonesty in the standard mattress industry that is starting to flow over to the organic mattress industry. Some of the reason for this is the growth within the industry with the development of online retailers as well as standard mattress retailers who may see dollar signs in organic mattresses and attempt to go after those dollars although they really do not understand or believe in the benefits of natural materials as opposed to the toxic soup in traditional mattresses. We pride ourselves in being honest and running our business with strong ethical standards and high level of integrity. We only carry the purest cleanest products available and we know what they are made out of. We also pride ourselves in being completely honest about our products and services.
5. Be careful looking at online reviews. We love looking at what others have to say about a certain product or place and often it is helpful. Unfortunately, there are fake reviews and blog articles out there that people get paid to write. There are laws, rules and guidelines around reviews that should be followed but sometimes are not. Look for reviews that are not written by the owner, an employee or a friend of the company. If a review seems too good to be true it probably is. A review by somebody who was paid or was given a product with the sole purpose of reviewing are generally positive reviews because who is going to provide a poor review on a product that they received for free? Lastly, watch out for reviews by “experts”. Many experts out there are self proclaimed experts and may not have any more knowledge about a product than somebody who has shopped for or who owns the same product.
With the huge growth in organic and natural mattress over the past years, we are sure there will continue to be money hungry companies putting out inferior products and exaggerating the purity and quality of their products. We pride ourselves in staying on top of new products and innovations in the organic mattress industry. If there is a great new product introduced, we will completely investigate it and carry it in our showroom if it passes our standards. We spend much or our time working closely with various manufacturers to develop products that help our customers. We have chosen the absolute best brands and models to display and sell to our special customer base in the area in which we have our showroom and we will continue to offer only the best organic mattresses and bedding available. If a product is not sold at The Organic Bedroom, there probably is a reason why. We look forward to our 2019 article about being the Triangle’s #1 organic mattress store for 7 years. Happy and healthy sleeping to you!
