Malouf Home began with two newlyweds, an overpriced set of sheets and a spare bedroom full of inventory. Two decades later, it is trying to own the whole sleep system - from the fabric touching your skin to the app-controlled machinery under the mattress.
Sealy began with compressed cotton in a Texas workshop. Today its real product is a carefully engineered compromise - support, pressure relief and price - sold through nearly every route a mattress can take to a bedroom.