美国国家公共电台 NPR Mattress No Longer Delegated To Bottom Of Shopping List

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It's President's Day. But have you ever wondered why at some point along the way, this holiday became synonymous with more than just our past commanders in chief? Somehow mattress¹ sales got worked into the equation.

(SOUNDBITE OF QUALITY SLEEP AD)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Get the best mattress savings² of the year, this week only, during the President's Day sale at Quality Sleep Mattress Stores.

MARTIN: Everyone needs mattresses³, but most people don't particularly enjoy the process of buying them. NPR's Stephan Bisaha reports on how the industry is working to change that.

STEPHAN BISAHA, BYLINE⁴: Meg Massey breaks open a chest-high Amazon box containing her new mattress in her studio apartment in Washington, D.C.

MEG MASSEY: Gosh, it's like one of those French pastries⁵ all rolled up (laughter).

BISAHA: The 10-inch foam⁶, full-size mattress is packed tightly inside. When she was growing up, her parents would hold on to a mattress for decades. But she'll keep this mattress...

MASSEY: Probably two or three years, I hope. The next mattress where, you know, if I upgrade to a king or queen and, you know, I really make that investment, I would hope I'd get four or five years out of it.

MARY HELEN ROGERS: That's a huge shift.

BISAHA: Mary Helen Rogers oversees⁷ marketing⁸ for the Better Sleep Council, which represents the mattress industry. She says today's customers are replacing their mattresses more often, especially millennials like Massey. In the past, consumers used to put off buying a new mattress. Rogers says, the experience was like buying tires.

ROGERS: You know you need new tires on your car, but, historically, is it really exciting to spend your Saturday buying new tires for your car? No, it's not.

PHILIP KRIM: Buying a mattress, when we did focus groups and surveys, ranked as one of the worst consumer shopping experiences out there, period.

BISAHA: Philip Krim is the CEO of Casper. It's one of the many new companies trying to change that perception by ditching the mattress store and selling online.

Massey ordered her mattress from a different company, but the shift online worked. She enjoyed ordering the mattress and getting to do her own research.

MASSEY: It's easier to kind of stick to your game plan when it's just you and your laptop and not you and, like, someone whose entire job is to get you to try to spend more money.

BISAHA: But online, matching the right mattress with the right person isn't easy, according to Kevin Damewood. He's in charge of sales and marketing at Kingsdown, a mattress manufacturer.

KEVIN DAMEWOOD: I don't know how you can really fairly, 110 percent accomplish that online.

BISAHA: He says for that, you need a mattress store with test beds and salesmen specifically trained to identify what a consumer needs in a bed. And he says that kind of testing and knowledge can't be replaced by a weekend of Google searches.

DAMEWOOD: How many consumers really understand what the different gauges⁹ of wire mean online and what that means for the support they're being given, you know, in a mattress?

BISAHA: Support - if you walk into a mattress store, you'll hear that word a lot. Tossing your current mattress for one with more support is often sold as the gateway¹⁰ to a better night's sleep.

LISA MEDALIE: I kind of go with the, you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

BISAHA: Dr. Lisa Medalie works at the University of Chicago Sleep Disorder¹¹ Center. For her patients, she says a new mattress is pretty low on her list of recommendations.

MEDALIE: We really try to focus on working on addressing the problems that seem most likely, highest yield, to be impacting their current presentation.

BISAHA: Meaning, before turning to a new mattress to solve your sleep troubles, Medalie says try these tips - don't eat too late, exercise early and turn off that phone. Stephan Bisaha, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF THUNDERCAT'S "A MESSAGE FOR AUSTIN - PRAISE THE LORD - ENTER THE VOID")

1 mattress   

n.床垫，床褥

参考例句：

• The straw mattress needs to be aired.草垫子该晾一晾了。
• The new mattress I bought sags in the middle.我买的新床垫中间陷了下去。

2 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

3 mattresses   

褥垫，床垫( mattress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The straw mattresses are airing there. 草垫子正在那里晾着。
• The researchers tested more than 20 mattresses of various materials. 研究人员试验了二十多个不同材料的床垫。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 pastries   

n.面粉制的糕点

参考例句：

• He gave a dry laugh, then sat down and started on the pastries. 杜新箨说着干笑一声，坐下去就吃点心。 来自子夜部分
• Mike: So many! I like Xijiang raisins, beef jerky, and local pastries. 麦克：太多了。我最喜欢吃新疆葡萄干、牛肉干和风味点心。

6 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

7 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

8 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

9 gauges   

n.规格( gauge的名词复数 )；厚度；宽度；标准尺寸v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的第三人称单数 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• A thermometer gauges the temperature. 温度计可测量温度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fuel gauges dropped swiftly. 燃料表指针迅速下降。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

11 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。