After a long day of furniture shopping, the rows and rows of beds ranging from waterbeds to remote controlled mattresses call out to you. Exhausted from shopping, you are compelled to take a break. Trying beds before purchasing them is a common practice, but if your experiences at mattress stores have been anything like mine, you have seen people napping on the displays. Spotting them always makes me wonder: is it actually okay to fall asleep at a mattress store?
According to Sit n’ Sleep, taking a few minutes to try out the bed is highly recommended. However, sleeping in the store is widely discouraged. If caught napping, most store employees are instructed to tell you to move or leave the store. Falling asleep in the middle of the store on a display bed is, in general, considered rude…at least in America.
With a completely different perspective, Chinese mattress stores take a whole new approach to bedtime. According to The New York Times, Ikea stores across the world try to prevent customers from falling asleep except in the country with the largest population in the world, China. Because falling asleep in any place convenient is a common practice in China, Ikea simply decided that the country’s large consumer base must eventually take something home. Thus, in Chinese mattress stores, the rules are much more relaxed and allow customers to cozy up whenever they are in the mood.
Although keeping people away from the displays gives the store a more professional atmosphere, I would much rather shop for comfy furniture in a store that exudes warmth and hominess. Prospective customers should be allowed to wind down at stores for about an hour before they continue their grueling shopping trip.
If it were up to me: is it really okay to fall asleep in a mattress store? I would have to agree with China’s view on catching zzz’s — whenever and wherever you can.
