Mass-Produced Mattresses Can\'t Put Van Nuys Shop to Sleep1

Bill Jackson says every time a customer in his Van Nuys store asks, \"What is the cheapest mattress you buy?
Or is there a lifetime guarantee?
\"Jackson is a man who practices manual art --
Tie the coil of an antique box spring, who knows how to shape the mattress corner to fit the four
Poster bed, who likes to chat for a while to see if the customer is a super customersoft or extra-
People of the company type.
\"I told them to go to the discount store if they want something cheap,\" he said . \".
Jackson, 61, is part of a \"mattress maker\" who sees himself as a craftsman, not a businessman.
When most mattresses are made in factories, the name-
Jackson works at his small shop, Van Nuys mattress, and has branded products with a luxury warranty.
Take out his custom mat.
Antique Machinery.
Jules Blatter, president of Los Angeles, said the small company was \"squeezed out\" and \"there are no more small companies around\"based Sleep E-
Larger manufacturer Z mattress store.
\"This small manufacturer has been eliminated.
\"That seems to be why Jackson became a little defensive when asked about the cheapest mattress or lifetime guarantee in stores on Oxnard Street and Kester Avenue.
\"There is no such thing as a lifetime guarantee,\" he said . \".
\"If you sleep on a mattress every night for 20 years, it will wear out.
\"Jackson said he could keep his price competitive with the big manufacturers because he had little overhead.
His only paid employee is Jim, his 31-year-old son.
His wife, Darlene, sits behind a sewing machine in the back of an ordinary showroom, sewing a mattress cover and acting as a salesman.
Jackson personally sent all his mattresses.
\"I am the Queen myself --
The size of the mattress is $289 to $438, and the cost reflects the production time, not the material, Jackson said.
He also made some small mattresses. -
Sofa beds, cribs, and car rooms are available in some rooms--
The price is lower.
Jackson said the company\'s annual sales were about $110,000.
Home profits are about $25,000.
\"I\'m just one step ahead of the average worker who makes mattresses in the factory,\" he said . \".
\"But I did it myself.
Los Angeles-
Some custom orders are processed by regional manufacturers and at least one San Fernando Valley-
Sherman Oaks Regional
Headquartered in Melrose\'s sleep shop, it specializes in custom mattresses called Master craft.
James Graham, executive vice president of sleep stores at Melrose, said the company has more than 50 employees, a North Hollywood mattress assembly plant and three retail stores, two in the Valley and one in the west of Hollywood.
The ad, Jackson, said his shop could not be compared to big companies like Melrose, who also sells imported bedroom furniture and designer brands --
Brand mattress.
Jackson will only take out the mattress.
His only ad is a small one on the Yellow Pages.
\"The Yellow Pages are what I need to keep my name public,\" Jackson said . \".
\"If I advertise in the newspaper, I can\'t handle the business.
I\'m in good shape right now.
Jackson said he started making mattresses at a small factory in Sherman, Texas, when he was 10.
\"In those days everything was done by hand and we got a mattress for 30 cents,\" Jackson said . \".
\"A big fan will blow cotton into the mattress cover.
We will sew it together and beat the cotton stuffing down with a stick.
This is the kind of mattress you see in the old movie.
\"Only after World War II, when the supply of steel was sufficient, internally
Spring mattresses are very popular, he said.
Mattress refurbished 1946, after several years as a rivet worker at Lockheed
Jackson said he spent $50 at his Burbank factory. a-
Work a week at a bedding factory in Glendale.
He and his brother walked into the mattress on 1951.
Decoration business with North Hollywood stores.
They repaired mattresses for the motels along the San Fernando Road and Lankham Avenue, as well as for the many furnished apartment buildings that emerged in the valley.
\"But in the past 20 years, the mattress business has earned 180.
The degree of change. \"Jackson said.
\"We can\'t compete with big manufacturers.
Buying a new mattress is cheaper than renovating an old one.
Jackson said his store survived because he turned to custom mattress making and left his work at home.
Darlene Jackson, 61, sewed the mattress cover together on a black iron Singer sewing machine.
\"Oh, we bought all the machines after the war,\" Darlene Jackson said . \".
\"We have several antique dealers who want to buy some.
But as long as we use it every day, it is not an antique.
\"The complicated business lives in Jacksons of Arleta, who says they will leave the business to their son when they retire.
Making mattresses has become a complex business, says Bill Jackson.
He\'s talking extra.
Company, Company, Mediumsoft and super-Soft mattress.
The thick spring means the mattress is harder.
The wider spring coil means a softer mattress.
On each side of the spring frame, he will lay a few inches of insulation pad
Like blankets and flame retardant foam pads.
He then slid onto the mattress cover and sewed the rims together with a moving sewing machine.
Finally, the product is placed on press button and press mattress until the mattress is thin.
12-thick
Jackson then sewed the buttons on the mattress and fixed the padding in place.
Over the years, he has made round mattresses for antique queen beds and super mattresses, mattresses with indented corners
Provide strong mattresses for heavy crowds.
Jackson said the mattress with holes in the middle \"you get these really heavy people who want the softest mattress we have \".
\"They will sink into the floor with something like this.
I have to tell them that they need more for their weight.
Jackson said that on one occasion he made a mattress with a hole in the middle for someone trying to recover from the pressure sore.
Another time, he made a mattress for a disabled person who spent most of his time leaning on the bed on his elbow.
\"I just made the extra thickness at one end so it wouldn\'t wear out so fast.
A few years ago, he agreed to make a \"100% natural\" mattress for a customer with severe allergies, meaning he could not use synthetic materials.
\"I had to scrub the store clean and disinfect all the needles for that one,\" he said . \".
But he said that most of Jackson\'s customers came to him for standard twins, two people, and the Queen --and king-size beds.
\"I have relatives living with us all over the country, so we have a couple of extra beds,\" said phylisää of Simi Valley . \"
\"After everyone spent their first night in the room, the first thing they said in the morning was that they had a good night\'s sleep.
Everyone is commenting on how comfortable this bed is.