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rynlingI was listening to a podcast whose hosts brought up the topic of “non-political conspiracy theories to discuss with your family at Thanksgiving,” and one of them mentioned mattress stores. Why are there always multiple stores at the same intersection, and how do they make money despite never seeming to have any customers? Oddly enough, I can explain this.
Why are there so many mattress stores right next to each other?
There will generally be multiple mattress stores within close proximity because the strip mall lot (or adjoining lots) is owned by a single private equity firm, which will also own the mattress stores.
Why do there need to be multiple mattress stores, especially if all they’re all shipping out of the same warehouse?
This is a strategy to keep stock moving by marketing the same mattress in different ways. At Store A, a mattress might be marketed as BudgetSleep 500; while, at the store across the intersection, the same mattress will be marketed as LuxurySleep 5000. Because there are so many mattresses in the same store, most shoppers won’t go to multiple stores.
But, if there are so few customers, how do these stores stay in business? Two reasons:
First, there’s almost no overhead. A mattress store has no store fixtures save for the mattress displays, which are provided for free by the manufacturers and can then be sold “at a discount” as floor models. In addition, since there’s almost no foot traffic into the store, a single employee can manage the entire business (including light cleaning) on a relaxed eight-hour shift.
Second, most of their income comes from bulk orders made by local hotels. Since the same equity firm owns all the stores, it doesn’t matter which store the order goes through. The reason a local hotel would order from a local mattress store is because the store can provide discretionary discounts that the manufacturer will not. On top of that, the equity firm that owns the mattress stores might also own the hotels.
In the traditional sense, money laundering needs to “clean” the income generated by illegal sales (generally of guns and drugs), which are obviously paid for in cash. A business set up for the purpose of money laundering therefore needs a large part of its income to come from cash purchases. What you’re looking at, then, are often actual literal laundries, as well as “small purchase, high traffic” businesses like highway truck stops or inner-city corner stores.
Because almost no one is going to pay for a mattress with cash, these stores would be highly inefficient and inconvenient as a money laundering scheme.
So mattress stores are a kind of conspiracy, but it’s not the mafia – it’s just capitalism.
Anyway, my own contribution to the topic of “low-stakes conspiracy theories” is that the poet T.S. Eliot put the “S” in his name so that it wouldn’t be “toilet” spelled backwards.
Why are there so many mattress stores right next to each other?
There will generally be multiple mattress stores within close proximity because the strip mall lot (or adjoining lots) is owned by a single private equity firm, which will also own the mattress stores.
Why do there need to be multiple mattress stores, especially if all they’re all shipping out of the same warehouse?
This is a strategy to keep stock moving by marketing the same mattress in different ways. At Store A, a mattress might be marketed as BudgetSleep 500; while, at the store across the intersection, the same mattress will be marketed as LuxurySleep 5000. Because there are so many mattresses in the same store, most shoppers won’t go to multiple stores.
But, if there are so few customers, how do these stores stay in business? Two reasons:
First, there’s almost no overhead. A mattress store has no store fixtures save for the mattress displays, which are provided for free by the manufacturers and can then be sold “at a discount” as floor models. In addition, since there’s almost no foot traffic into the store, a single employee can manage the entire business (including light cleaning) on a relaxed eight-hour shift.
Second, most of their income comes from bulk orders made by local hotels. Since the same equity firm owns all the stores, it doesn’t matter which store the order goes through. The reason a local hotel would order from a local mattress store is because the store can provide discretionary discounts that the manufacturer will not. On top of that, the equity firm that owns the mattress stores might also own the hotels.
In the traditional sense, money laundering needs to “clean” the income generated by illegal sales (generally of guns and drugs), which are obviously paid for in cash. A business set up for the purpose of money laundering therefore needs a large part of its income to come from cash purchases. What you’re looking at, then, are often actual literal laundries, as well as “small purchase, high traffic” businesses like highway truck stops or inner-city corner stores.
Because almost no one is going to pay for a mattress with cash, these stores would be highly inefficient and inconvenient as a money laundering scheme.
So mattress stores are a kind of conspiracy, but it’s not the mafia – it’s just capitalism.
Anyway, my own contribution to the topic of “low-stakes conspiracy theories” is that the poet T.S. Eliot put the “S” in his name so that it wouldn’t be “toilet” spelled backwards.
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Date: 2025-11-27 08:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-11-28 01:19 pm (UTC)According to the research on I did on Reddit while I was brainstorming money laundering schemes for a fanfic, mattress store employees get sales commissions on top of their regular salary. Even in a low-traffic store, you might make $80k a year, which isn't bad for retail. You wouldn't be saving the world as a "sales associate" at a mattress store, of course, but you also wouldn't be hurting anyone. There are definitely worse jobs to have!