We compared Mattress Firm and the store a hot startup just launched to compete with it - and the winner was clear

Business Insider/Mary Hanbury

Mattress Firm was empty when we visited.

• Mattress Firm is the largest specialty mattress retailer in the US, with around 3,400 stores.
• Casper is an online mattress brand that launched in 2014. After running a series of pop-ups around the country, it opened its first permanent store in New York in February.
• We visited both stores to compare the experience of shopping there.

Mattress shopping is about to get a little more interesting.

In February, mattress-in-a-box startup Casper opened its first permanent store, which its cofounder and chief operating officer Neil Parikh described as a Disneyland-type experience for mattress shopping. This digitally native brand is approaching brick-and-mortar retail with fresh eyes and is aiming to create a more innovative in-store shopping experience for its customers.

Several other e-commerce brands, such as Everlane and Bonobos, have done the same and are putting their own spin on brick-and-mortar retail by making it an integrated part of their digital offering. These brands benefit from not having thousands of stores on their roster to worry about, and their so-called "showrooms" can become learning experiences that are constantly adapted to the customer's needs.

We compared the shopping experience at Casper's new store in Manhattan's Noho neighborhood with a Mattress Firm store in nearby Tribeca. Mattress Firm is the largest specialty mattress retailer in the US with around 3,400 stores. It's not uncommon to find several stores clustered together in one place.

Here's what it is like to shop at these stores: