On buying a new mattress at Sears

Some factoids:

• My new mattress has more than 1000 independent springs
  
  
• My new mattress cost more than I paid for my first three cars
  
  
• The next time I buy a new mattress, I will be 80 years old.
  
  

My first mattress was a navy surplus lump of stuffed cotton (or something). Normally it was situated on the top bunk, except for hot nights in the Texas panhandle when our entire family dragged our mattresses out to the back yard, where we slept under the stars.

We bought our new mattress, much to our surprise, at Sears. Really. For well more than a decade Sears has had a well-deserved bum rap. I can’t even recall the last time I went inside Sears. But when I did a Google search for local merchants who carried the brands of mattresses I wished to see, Sears was one of three stores which popped up.

A very knowledgeable and fun clerk named Kevin helped us out. This young man knows his mattresses. And the Sears where he works (Madison Westtown Mall) was spotlessly clean, attractive and well-staffed. Before we left the store, we were helped by two other clerks, both of whom were friendly, cheerful and helpful.

What the hell has happened to Sears? Is it just this Sears, or is it endemic?