photo by: Richard Gwin

Eagles’ Rest Natural Mattresses and Furniture store recently opened at 815 Massachusetts St. in the storefront previously occupied by Mobilosity.

An organic mattress? Maybe my wife will put it in a salad, and maybe it won’t taste any worse than some of the other unfamiliar ingredients she makes me try. Or maybe organic mattresses are the next thing to take off in Lawrence’s vibrant organic movement. A furniture store has moved into downtown with the idea of finding out.

As I told you earlier this month, I had heard that a furniture store was moving into the 800 block of Massachusetts Street. Well, indeed that turned out to be the case. Eagles’ Rest Natural Mattresses and Furniture has moved from its North Lawrence location to 815 Massachusetts, the former home of Mobilosity.

Eagles’ Rest has been open for about a week in its new location, said Diane Gerke, owner of the establishment. Thus far, lots of folks are coming in to take a look at organic mattresses. Gerke said her previous location in North Lawrence — for the last six years she was in the little antique district near Seventh and Locust streets — had a steady but slow stream of customers. Since moving to Massachusetts Street, she said there are days the store averages 125 people or more.

“The difference of being on Mass Street is crazy,” Gerke said. “We think the store can very much be a destination thing.”

photo by: Richard Gwin

Eagles’ Rest Natural Mattresses and Furniture store recently opened at 815 Massachusetts St. in the storefront previously occupied by Mobilosity.

So, what is an organic mattress? Gerke and her store’s website explain that it is a mattress that uses materials such as organic cotton fiber, organic wool and, importantly, layers of natural latex foam. The mattresses also are made without petroleum products or other solvents common in traditional mattress brands.

Gerke said some of her customer base certainly are people who are looking for a green, earth-friendly mattress. But she said lots of her customers choose the mattress simply because of durability and comfort issues. Gerke said the organic style of making mattresses isn’t new, but rather is how mattresses were commonly made up until the 1970s or so.

She said the natural latex foam, while more expensive, lasts longer. She said some of her mattress brands have a 20-year warranty. Another unique aspect is that each mattress Eagles’ Rest sells is custom made. Gerke said most mattresses have three layers of foam, and at least three choices of foam stiffness: soft, medium and firm. By mixing and matching the type of foams — two firms and one soft, for example — you can change the feel of the mattress. Since the mattress is being custom made, you can have one half of the mattress feel one way and the other half of the mattress feel the other. (Half and half? There are men out there who get more than one-eighth of the mattress? Why am I just now learning of this?)

The store also is in the furniture business. If you remember when Blue Heron used to be open in downtown Lawrence, you are likely to recognize some of the same styles at Eagles’ Rest. The store carries some of the same brands and upholstery that the once popular Blue Heron stocked.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Eagles’ Rest Natural Mattresses and Furniture store, owned by Diane Gerke, recently opened at 815 Massachusetts St.

“We are very different than the big box stores,” Gerke said. “Most of our furniture is American-made. I can tell you who made it, where it came from, how it is made. We definitely are not into the idea of disposable furniture.”

Gerke said the Massachusetts Street location is slightly bigger than her previous North Lawrence location, and she said the store has plans to eventually use the basement space in the Mass Street location.

Allison Vance Moore and Kirsten Flory of Lawrence’s Colliers International office brokered the deal for the new space.

In other news and notes from around town:

• Maybe the folks of Lecompton can pick up some work on the side as campaign consultants for certain GOP hopefuls. Thus far, a Lecompton campaign is going better than several of those.

As we reported last month, Lecompton is putting forward a big effort to be named the Best Small Town in the state by Kansas! Magazine. Well, Lecompton has been chosen as one of 15 finalists. That’s not bad, considering that every Kansas town with a population of fewer than 5,000 people was eligible.

Kansas! Magazine has started its last round of voting for the contests, which will be named in the winter 2016 edition of the magazine. Lecompton was one of two Douglas County communities eligible for the contest. Baldwin City is the other, but it did not make the finals.

If you are not familiar with Lecompton, it is in northwest Douglas County and has a population of a little more than 600. But it has a heap of Civil War history. It was the site of the Lecompton Constitution, which sought to admit Kansas as a slave state into the union. It garnered national debate at the time, and was one of the flash points leading up to the Civil War. Lecompton still has several buildings from that time period, including the former Lane Museum building that now serves as the Territorial Capital Museum. Here’s a look at the 14 other communities vying for the title of Best Small Town.

• Atwood

• Chapman

• Clearwater

• Council Grove

• Greensburg

• Inman

• Lindsborg

• Little River

• Lucas

• Marysville

• Norton

• Scott City

• Seneca

• Wamego

People can vote once per day through May 31. Youcan vote online at travelks.com/ks-mag/small-towns/