Big Mattress - Not a Front for the Mob After All

I'm ready to grudgingly accept that the absolute market saturation of mattress retailers in America over the past 10 years isn't tied to money laundering, even though it's one of the few internet conspiracies that kind of, sort of, might possibly be true. I bought a mattress yesterday. First time in my life. I've lived on this planet 61 years without having that experience. All I can say after nearly selling a kidney to buy a common household item is DAMN. The one we bought cost more than every television I've ever owned, added together. It cost more than any computer I've ever used. And I've used literally thousands of computers (source: 30 years fixing them for a living). The reason they cost so much is easy to explain. It's the capitalism. Specifically, the markup at the retail level. Gross margins on mattresses run 40 to 75 percent depending on the retailer, and the fancier the bed, the fatter the markup. It's almost as bad as the markup on eyeglasses. Retailers don't need high…