Sponsorship and editorial can be a tricky mix. We’ve been lucky here at Wallyhood in that there has never been much of a conflict over what we want to say and what our sponsors would like us to say (and, for the record, the former would always win out, in any case).
Our newest sponsor, Bedrooms and More (300 NE 45th St), is no exception. Having spent a fair amount of chatting with Jeff Garfield, the owner, I can tell he’s got 3 passions:
- The community of Wallingford
- Environmental consciousness and sustainability
- Getting a good night’s sleep
When we first stopped in to meet Jeff, I thought we were going to talk mattresses. Instead, we sat down on some of the comfiest beds you can imagine and got a hyperlocal history lesson. When Bedrooms and More first opened (as the waterbed store The Four Post’r) 1972, they converted what had been well loved meat market into their store, the pharmacy across the street stretched the whole block from Pudge Brothers to the talon salon and there were two other water bed shops on 45th.
Each shop, each house had a story, and Jeff seemed to know them all. He event let on that they tried, at one point, to buy up all the houses on a block so they could block off the street and make a park instead of a road. A dream after our own heart.
As we settled into those cozy beds, little did we anticipate that our conversation would shift from hyperlocal history to the world of mattresses. Jeff’s knowledge extended even to the realm of sleep, and he casually mentioned their range of mattresses, including the incredibly comfortable memory foam mattress. It was fascinating to discover that just like the intriguing stories of the neighborhood’s transformation, Bedrooms and More had evolved over the years, now offering quality sleep solutions that could be conveniently purchased from their online stores like how you can get memory foam mattress Canadian supplier. It seemed that just as they had once dreamed of creating a park in place of a street, they were now dedicated to ensuring dreamy nights of rest for their customers.
Once we did start getting talking about mattresses, it was half mattress lesson and half history lesson. Apparently, in the late 90’s, he told us, the “Big S” mattress makers (Sealy, Siemens, Serta, Sterna and Foster) were bought up by Wall Street banks and the like, who took what had been a profitable business that provided a good product and turned it into a very profitable business with a short-life span product. Thus, the introduction of the “No Flip” mattress: whereas before, you could get 10 – 20 years out of mattress by flipping it regularly, the mattress makers started pushing “No Flip” mattresses (to take the burden of flipping off your tired shoulders, they said) that only lasted 4 – 5 years…because they couldn’t be flipped!
Not only is that a financial rip-off, but it’s an environmental one: the old mattresses end up in a landfill.
Bedrooms and More offers all types of mattresses (except one-sided), but specialize in latex mattresses. Latex, you may know, is made from the sustainably harvested sap of the rubber tree. It’s natural, organic, hypoallergenic and lasts virtually forever (easily 30 or more years, we were told). Much of the furniture they offer is made in Washington and the Pacific Northwest, so as to lower their carbon footprint.
And best of all, they’re friendly folks. We chatted with his wife, Wanda, two of their sons, Thane and Blake, and Jackie, a store manager who also owns Pudge Brothers Pizza (269 NE 45th St), and Christopher, who gave us a detailed “sleep consultation”, and everyone greeted us warmly, like old friends.
So, like we said, this has been an easy welcome to make. Truth is, it’s been made easier now that we’re getting a great night’s sleep on our new latex mattress. Aaah…