Janet and Vince Roberts didn't expect to lie on a mattress at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. They had traveled from Newnan, Ga., for an International Brangus Breeders Association event, yet there they were, boots propped up on a Tempur-Pedic.

"I had no intention," Vince said. "I avoid these things like the plague."

But they had been looking for a new mattress, and it was convenient to test them at NRG Center. Shortly after, they rang a cowbell to the cheers of salespeople, signaling another sale for Mattress Firm at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

"Most of our guests had no desire to buy a bed when they showed up," said Tyler Worosher, Mattress Firm's merchandising specialist for events and expositions.

The Houston-based company has a strategy. It has more than 75 mattresses spread throughout four different locations, making them hard to miss. It brings in top sales people from around the nation, and it offers promotions and financing not always available in stores.

And it only carries products costing $1,000 or more. Selling the more expensive mattresses is not an issue, especially when salespeople schmooze ranchers who drop even bigger bucks on cattle.

One woman was buying its most expensive mattress, one that costs $15,000. Worosher says that when she learned about ringing the cowbell at the end of her purchase, she said, "If you don't make me ring the cowbell, I'll buy two."

She didn't ring that cowbell.

Most sales are similar to that of Janet and Vince Roberts. A couple has been meaning to go mattress shopping, and, voilà, there's a Mattress Firm. They're already together, so why not test a bed?

Others are exhausted from walking all day, so they lie down for a moment. As they sink into the memory foam, they think, "Wow, this is comfortable." Cue the cowbell, another sale has been made.

Other people actually plan their purchases. They come at the beginning of the rodeo to buy a discounted floor model, which they receive halfway through rodeo (when Mattress Firm gets fresh products) or at the end.

With testers propping up boots, the mattresses can get grungy. Those buying a floor model receive a new bed cover, Worosher said, "so everyone is still getting a clean product."

In addition to mattresses, the company sells massage chairs as Furniture Firm and hot tubs as Aqua Firm. These items are only available at shows like the rodeo.

The massage chairs are often filled with people who don't intend to buy one. Estela Marquez gets a free massage every day she works at a nearby food booth. "We tried them last year," she said, "and they were so good."

Salespeople begin to recognize these regulars, and sometimes they actually sell them massage chairs.

"We get salespeople who don't sell with any fear," Worosher said.

Of the Mattress Firm crew working rodeo, 45 work such shows as their full-time gigs. Twenty others came from stores around the country.

It's a reprieve for those working in stores. They wear jeans and a button-down shirt instead of slacks and a tie. Sometimes, to attract customers, they line dance. And on the final Saturday, management dresses up and puts on a show.

"It's really just to get everybody to laugh," Worosher said.

Deb O'Shields, captain for Corral Club ticket sales, has been at the rodeo for 15 years and only recently tested a mattress. She was having lower back problems, so she sat in a massage chair to get relief. She then moved to a mattress.

O'Shields doesn't need a new mattress, but now she's considering it. She planned to have her husband test them later, and said it's 50-50 whether they'll make a purchase.

"It feels awesome," she said.

There could be a cowbell in her future.

Bookmark Gray Matters. Most of our customers have no intention to buy a bed when they show up.