There’s an old saying that also happens to be a sage piece of advice: Always put the best quality between you and the ground. You’ll hear it said a lot about shoes, emphasizing how a good pair can make all the difference if it keeps your dogs from barking at the end of the day. But it becomes a much more life-changing piece of advice when you apply it to the one thing that spends the most time between you and the ground.
“I tell people all the time you spend more time in bed than anything else. What you’re sleeping on has the biggest impact on your everyday life. A bad night’s sleep is going to impact the rest of your day,” said Charlie Taylor, owner of May River Mattress. “But if you get a good night of sleep, you’re rested, you’re recovered, you’re awake, you’re alert.”
Charlie Taylor, owner of May River Mattress
For Taylor, that “springing awake ready to take on your day” feeling is the most important product he sells. In the four years since opening May River Mattress, which followed 16 years of experience in the industry, he has made that result the end game. Achieving that result means giving each and every customer who walks in the door two important things, neither of which they would receive at a big box corporate store. The first is individually tailored service, catering to exactly who you are to match you with the best mattress.
“The whole purpose of laying in a mattress is to support your back properly, and to try and do it with as little pressure against your body as possible, right? That means different things for different people, and these different mattresses and different brands are going to respond differently to different people’s bodies and body types,” Taylor said. “Where they carry their weight, whether they’ve had surgeries or back issues or compressed discs … all of these things are going to factor into that incremental support, which is going to help you sleep better.”
The second thing you’ll get at May River Mattress is an education, so you know what to look for.
Charlie and Carolyn Taylor with their daughters Stella and Rose.
“Most of the time when people walk into a mattress store, they’re asked ‘You want a firm mattress? You want a soft mattress?’ But most people don’t know what they want,” Taylor said. “More often than not, if you’re shopping for a mattress, it’s your first time in 10 years. And after 10 years, you’ve probably forgotten what you bought the last time, but more importantly your body has changed. You’re going to need something different than you did 10 years ago.”
That individual service isn’t just something that May River Mattress offers because they’re a small family business (although that’s part of it). It’s something they offer because it is truly the only way to get you into the kind of mattress that will give you the sleep you deserve. Whether that’s one of the larger brands they carry like Sealy, Serta, Beautyrest, Tempur-Pedic and Stearns & Foster, or smaller boutique brands like Helix or Weekender.
“The whole first part of it is teaching them what they should look for when they lie down on the mattress. They’re all going to be more comfortable than the bed you’re currently sleeping on, right? So, we’re teaching them to focus on how it feels in their lower back, their shoulders, or their hips – to pay attention to how they sleep, knowing that side sleepers will need a different kind of support than back sleepers,” Taylor said. “I’ve had people compare it to being at the eye doctor – is this one better or worse?”
The Taylors’ daughters, Stella and Rosie, are the adorable brand ambassadors.
It’s a little more in-depth service than customers are likely to receive at a big box store. And that’s exactly why Taylor launched May River Mattress, because it’s the type of service you deserve, and the type you need to ensure your next night’s sleep is fantastic.
“We keep all the top brands so you’re able to compare them back-to-back. And since we guarantee the lowest price, there’s no reason to go online and no advantage to going to big box store,” he said. “And our whole staff operates that same way. I have one who started in mattresses when I did 16 years ago and another who was a manufacturer rep for decades. They know what they’re talking about, and they’re just as focused on teaching people about what they’re buying.”
Stella catches air as she tests out the merchandise with a few big jumps.
Every body has different needs in a mattress, but the one thing we ultimately need is the fulfilment of that old saying: quality between us and the ground. Helping each of us find that quality is what May River Mattress was founded for, and what Charlie Taylor and his team do each and every day.
