What Is A Sleep Number Bed? Really?

Again… What is a sleep number bed? I promise I will get to that… But WOW has there been a lot of technological advances in materials that go inside of mattresses today. Sleep Number® is a great example of such advancements that have changed the way we sleep. These rapid changes have taken place in a very short amount of time. How many centuries have we been sleeping, yet nearly every major mattress material advancement has happened over the last 30 years?

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How those materials are used? How do those materials comfort and support us? How do those materials last? But when it comes to the complete finished mattress, it is a world of cookie-cutter mattresses where, frankly, not much has changed.

All mattresses seem to start with S and they all look like big white rectangles. Arguably since the waterbed, there’s never been a complete mattress that has been much different in terms of the finished product until this one. There has been one company that has been more innovative in the mattress industry than anyone else. I like to say that they reinvented the wheel, I mean mattress 😉. That company is, formerly Select Comfort, now Sleep Number® and their revolutionary Sleep Number® 360® Smart Beds.

What Can The Sleep Number® 360® Smart Bed Do?

• 2 Mattresses In One Bed
• Real Dual adjustability
• Adjustable Comfort
• Adjustable Support
• Easy Assembly
• Easy To Move
• Lightweight
• Sustainable
• Replaceable Parts
• Long-lasting

Can The Sleep Number Smart Bed Do All Those Things?

Yes, it really can.

So, what is this state-of-the-art technology that has the world asking, “What is your sleep number?”

What Is A Sleep Number Bed? Really?

What does that mean? Simply put, it’s an air mattress. But this isn’t your ordinary inflatable camping air mattress. Interested shoppers will realize that fact the moment they see the price tag and everything this new sleep technology offers.

Here’s a funny question. Why is it that when I ask people what a sleep number bed is, most don’t know the answer?

The company has spent millions of dollars on advertising. Yet people don’t seem to know what the bed does, they know the brand, but they don’t know what it is.

Customers know they can adjust the numbers. They know it’s adjustable on each side. They know they can make the bed harder and softer. They know it’s done with the remote control. What they don’t know is how it is controlled. I recently visited a select comfort showroom. My sales associate and the sales manager at the store who was helping me never mentioned the word air pump, never mentioned the word air mattress or air bed. I would also mention I never saw the inside of the bed. I was never shown how the bed was put together. There wasn’t even a cutaway to show the inner workings of what I thought was an expensive mattress system.

Salesmen Should Explain Sleep Number Beds Better

The salesman’s story seemed to be all about comfort and support for my body. As a customer, a mattress salesman, and owner of a mattress business I can appreciate their dedication to my needs. However, when a customer is investing in a Sleep Number® 360® Smart Beds with Sleep Number Technology which can easily be $10,000, I think they fell short. I can’t believe the salesman didn’t figuratively pop the hood.

I wanted to know how it ticked and learn a little something about the bed itself. I would’ve liked to know how it was put together. I would have liked to know about the quality of the building materials used in that $10,000 bed. I wanted to know how it stacked up to comparable beds. I can’t be the only one that would love to know the answers to these very important questions, can I?

From my perspective Sleep Number® has a marketing strategy. That strategy does not seem to include making it crystal clear that what they offer is an air mattress. I think it is an air mattress on steroids, or is it?

Like many of my customers, I dug in and I did my homework. What I found was a number bed that could do almost everything but felt something was being withheld from me. I felt they did not want me to peek at its innards. When I finally did, I was shocked and astounded and I will share it with you in this video. 

Sleep Number Bed Vs. Personal Comfort. Who Has A Better Bed?

This video shares a unique perspective that was not shared with me in the Sleep Number® Bed Store. I am a visual person and quite frankly I learned a considerable amount of information about the Sleep Number® Bed and even got to see it compared side by side with what seems to be one of their biggest competitors, Personal Comfort.  

In The End

I rediscovered Personal Comfort an old waterbed company that I know quite well. They had restructured their business due to lagging waterbed sales and used that tried-and-true waterbed cavity technology that held heavy waterbeds together to build their “Number Bed.” Later I learned that consumer air bed company Personal Comfort® defeated Sleep Number® [NASDAQ: SNBR] in two lawsuits, including a 12-member federal jury trial on trademark infringement/dilution, unfair competition, and false advertising. Personal Comfort defeated Sleep Number in a $17 million Lawsuit. 

I must believe they were concerned about their competition. This video puts the two companies head-to-head in a battle of who builds the “smarter” number bed. In my 35-plus years, I haven’t seen a knockout blow like this since Mike Tyson retired. STL Beds is a unique mattress store that does not believe every bed should look alike and be built the same. We are a different kind of company with beds that are uniquely different from our competitors. 

Personal Comfort and its unique build design are superior to even the best mattresses at a better price. It is why I have chosen Personal Comfort as our Number Bed for the best sleep you will ever have. It’s like sleeping on air because you are. We are not embarrassed to share that with you. Hope you enjoy the video comparison.