Presidential Level Savings: Why Mattress And Furniture Retailers Made Presidents' Day A Big Day

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The coming weekend is big, really big, king-size big, queen size, double size big, and twin size,

"IT'S THE PRESIDENT'S DAY MATTRESS SALE WEEKEND!!"

Say what?

Come on you have to have wondered what do presidents have to do with mattresses? (Other than you need a lot of dead presidents, and a Ben Franklin or two, to buy a new mattress.)

Well, it turns out the industry has a good explanation according to Robert Levin, of Levin Furniture.

"Years ago, August and February, were furniture months," he explained. "For some reason, Presidents' Day has become the hottest most important time to buy a mattress. The vendors are giving the biggest discounts, the retailers are promoting like crazy."

The industry-focused on the slowest time of the year to give a spark to sales and Levin says they are offering some high-tech Apple incentives.

"Home Pod, an Apple 4K TV, the Apple Watch, and Apple earbuds with the charging case," he said.

I guess you could argue you can use all those things in bed...makes more sense than a bank handing out toasters.

Levin says despite a potentially obvious connection, there is no relationship between President's Day sales and Valentine's Day.

"Well, that might be in the eye of the mattress beholder," he added with a nod.

Mattresses are not exactly like the need to buy groceries, I mean how often do you need a new mattress?

"About every seven to eight years," says Dr. Matt Flanagan who practices sports medicine and is a primary care doctor with Allegheny Health Network out of Canonsburg.

Dr. Flanagan says there is a direct connection between your mattress and your health.

"Overall sleep health is very critical to one's overall health when it comes down to it," Dr. Flanagan said.

So he says if you are sleeping on a lousy mattress..."there's going to be multiple health repercussions from that. It can delay you in recovering from physical injury. It can lead to physical injury, leading to chronic neck and back problems even lead to chronic headaches and migraines."

Firm or soft, that's up to you but when your mattress is no longer recovering from the dent you make overnight it might be an indication for a change.

WATCH: When Is It Time To Upgrade Your Mattress?

As for flipping your mattress...

"Probably 95% of the mattresses sold out in the United States are no flip mattresses, so you don't need to do it," Levin said.

If you have an older mattress rotating and flipping your mattress every six months may help.

By the way, the pandemic has been good for the furniture industry.

Levin says people aren't traveling so they have money to spend on the homes where they have been forced to spend a lot of time.

"We felt that the pandemic would be a period where we would go into, you know some kind of recession and it would reduce demand," he said.

Instead, the opposite has happened.

However, he says furniture manufacturers have been impacted so customers are having to wait longer for their deliveries.

Oh, and if you miss the President's Day sales, don't worry because before you know it Levin says there will be...

"Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Black Friday is a big day, and the New Year's event is a big event."