Simply put, we did it because we knew we could make a better online mattress for a better price compared to the big online mattress sellers. And we did it because we wanted to make mattresses near our hometown of Portland, Oregon.Now for the back story. My name is Michael Hanna and in 2009 I lost my job during the great recession. I was out of work and struggling to find a way to provide for our family. Ultimately, my wife Mary Ruth and I decided to open a mattress store in Portland, Oregon. We started small by selling inexpensive mattresses on Craigslist. We eventually opened a store in 2010 in an old car dealership in Portland and called it Mattress Lot, a clever nod to the previous business.
Our mattress store grew quickly and evolved into Oregon and Washington’s favorite mattress store. We did this with excellent customer service and by specializing in locally-made, environmentally friendly mattresses.
Mattress Lot is still Portland’s go-to, in-store mattress shop with the most 5-star reviews and the most volume of any independent mattress store in Oregon.
Despite our success, we understood that many mattress shoppers are now looking to buy a bed-in-a-box delivered to their doorstep. Fortunately, we work with an excellent manufacturer in Washington State. They know how to create the best feeling mattresses.
Before we launched Stumptown, we decided to do a bit of research and started ordering mattresses online. We ordered all of the major online brands. They all looked really nice on the outside. But when we opened them up, we were surprised by what we found. We tore these mattresses apart. We examined and studied all of the mattresses and their components. Some of the mattresses are made overseas with cheaper foams that have no environmental certifications. Others are made with lower quality domestic foams. The glues had odors and didn’t really bond the foams together. Then we looked at the prices people were paying. We determined that online shoppers are paying way too much. The big name online shops are making huge, unnecessary margins.
We knew we could do it better – at a better price for online shoppers.
Our product designer is Raimee Delaney.
She lives in Washington State and she’s an expert at designing and building mattresses.
We worked with Raimee to build a simple mattress that meets all of our goals: durable, not too soft and not too firm, sleeps cool, and has truly exceptional support.We launched our online store in November 2017 and started are getting loads of 5-star reviews and established a loyal customer base. We continue to focus on the Pacific-Northwest market. This way we keep costs down for everyone and we are able to provide a terrific, locally-made mattress for the region that we call home. Today we have expanded our offerings to Pillows and Bedding, Sleep Essentials and RV & Camper replacement mattresses.
So, that’s how Stumptown came to be. Thanks for reading and as always thanks for being a part of our business.
