Costco begins test marketing caskets

[Kadie]

Costco begins test marketing caskets

By DON BABWIN, Associated Press Writer


Last Updated: August 16, 2004, 04:25:16 PM PDT


CHICAGO (AP) - Whether you're in the market for a good night's sleep or the eternal kind, there's now a discount store somewhere that has you covered.

On Monday, Costco Wholesale Corp., better known for bulk chicken and cases of soda, started test marketing caskets along side mattresses in two of its Chicago-area stores.

"This is certainly something that can be an easy value," said Gina Bianche, a buyer in Costco's corporate office in Issaquah, Wash. "I don't want to say cheap value, but it just needs to be done."

Each of the six models from the Universal Casket Co., in colors including lilac and Neapolitan blue, is priced at $799.99, made of 18-gauge steel, considered medium weight for caskets, and can be delivered within 48 hours.

more...
http://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/9002993p-9897546c.html

[GregW]

1. People are just dying to buy these!

:eyes:

[Occulus]

36. Just a moment, but

ROFLMAO!!!!!

WHERE did you get that pic? I mean, wow... that's just damn funny.

[Mz Pip]

2. So will they have

a few of them nexyt to the discounted imported rugs or next to the bulk cat food?

This is just to weird. Really.

"Hey, honey! If I die just go down to Costco. You can get the casket along with the fruit plate and the ham for the after service festivities."

MzPip
:dem:

[LittleApple81]

3. Have you priced a casket lately? I am glad nobody here seems to be

needing one, but if you do, you would be amazed at the cost.... Not a bad idea, gruesome but not bad.

[MissB]

4. Where would one store the casket?

I mean, really. My garage/basement is full enough. I already have my Thule rocket box taking up valuable wall space. How am I supposed to fit a few caskets in there as well?

It would liven up the Halloween parties, though.

[madmax]

6. Maybe use it as a flower box until.....

:evilgrin:

[CaptainClark23]

40. new twist to pushing up daisies

[LittleApple81]

9. I think relatives would buy it when they need it. As we do with many other

things which we buy as needed. I don't dislike the idea of buying something cheap especially because it is going to be buried. I wanted to be buried in a sack-cloth bag, non-formaldehyded, under a tree, to serve some type of purpose as tree food... then found that this is ILLEGAL in the states... darn it. Now I want to be cremated.

[Tight_rope]

29. You can still be service the tree as food after cremation...mix with dirty

Not trying to be funny but my wish is also to be cremated and for my family to mix my ashes with dirty and plant a mango tree. What a juice fruit tree I will be.

I also told them to tell the bill collectors that I said, "Go to hell...you should have gotten yours before I died".

[WLKjr]

43. That last one was great

you should have gotten yours before I died.

bwayaahahahahaha

[Occulus]

35. Is it still illegal to scatter one's ashes at sea?

[TahitiNut]

26. It'd make a great guest bed.

:evilgrin: And a fabulous Halloween container for the goodies.

[Tight_rope]

28. In the same place where you keep the boat...at U-Store-It.

[aquart]

18. Fabulous idea.

I hope the Texas Costcos stock up first.

Remember Funeralgate!

[GHOSTDANCER]

20. If your eating Cost Co.portions of food,

Your gonna need that casket sooner then you think.

[Tight_rope]

27. LMBAO....and don't forget the Lasagna & Mrs. Smith apple pie.

What's a funeral service without Lasagna and Mrs. Smith apple pie.

[madmax]

5. Everyone I know including myself wants to be cremated.

To continue to bury people is a waste of land. Remember, they aren't make anymore.

[shanti]

33. my thoughts exactly

cremation for me too.

[jean]

7. they're going to lose the end of times folks with this - those people

don't need caskets, they're going to be beamed straight up there.

[midwayer]

8. Costco is actually a great company

Out for the working man and they take care of thier employees as well.

Also are contibutors to the Dem's.

Although this feels a little eerie

maybe some will now be able to more afford a decent burial

[no_hypocrisy]

10. It's an idea whose time has come.

According to Jessica Mitford in her book, The American Way of Death, funeral parlors are worse than used car dealers. They act compassionate but they have you over a barrel. You are befuddled to a certain degree with grief, and you don't want to appear cheap when you select a coffin for your loved one. They put in "extras" and the next thing you know, the tab is close to $10,000.00.

Buying a coffin when you DON'T need it settles the issue and the remembrance is at least affordable.

[Ladyhawk]

17. They embalm you without asking, too.

I wanted to be cremated, but now I'm considering donating my body to science. I don't want my death to become a fundy event and it will if my body is buried in the ground. God...I only know a few people who aren't fundies.

Help me.

[pinniped]

11. Great!...I got a new luggage rack to test out.

n/t

[havocmom]

24. Don't suppose you'll be driving anywhere near my home.

Damn, I would really like to see your test drive. Thank you for much needed giggle.

[KittyWampus]

12. I Assume These Will Be Found In The Gardening/Outdoor Section

although during Christmas season... ornaments and trees ususally take over in those isles...

[Tight_rope]

30. I guess you shouldn't die during Christmas season! No cheap caskets!

[T Bone]

13. A kayak, a casket, and the latest Pete Yorn cd

Costco is the ONLY place you can run in and pick up all three, along with a couple bottles of Newman's Own Grape Juice.

[SemperEadem]

14. It's a good idea

best to shop for your own while alive than leaving it for grieving relatives who'll be taken to the cleaners by the mark-up at the funeral home.

I'm donating my body to the Body Farm when I die... I would rather my body help in the science of forensics than rot in a box or be burned and stink up the air. If my decaying body can provide new clues into determining time of death, etc. so a perp can't get away with killing an innocent person due to a time-window question, then I'd say my body will have served a better purpose.

[DemoTex]

15. Is there a tie-in to Iraq body bags?

I'm as serious as a heart attack. I mean this is weird. Sear's has it's "Elite" 20.6 Upright Freezer ($799.88) on sale today for $699.88, with other discounts available. Caskets are running the same as 20.6 Cu-Ft Sears freezers. It seems that 18-gage steel, considered medium weight for caskets, can be delivered within 48 hours. A light duty - 18 Gage steel - 20.6 Sears freezer takes two weeks. What is the matter with this DemoTex picture?

[PartyPooper]

16. They should sell them adjacent to the cigarettes.

That would probably curb tobacco product sales significantly, dontcha' think? :smoke:

BTW, just how do you fit one of those things into your shopping cart? And, what do you tell your neighbors when you arrive home and unload your shopping goods from your vehicle?

:D

[Bluebear]

19. Green beans, toilet paper, paper towels, dog food, casket....

What a shopping list!

[0rion]

21. Did anyone see the PBS - POV Independent Film: A Family Undertaking?

It was about families who have done their own funeral. A woman had cancer and died in her bed at night, her husband washed and dressed her, the laid her out in a cardboard body box for cremation. They put her body in the living room for a small private service and took her to the crematorium in a pick up truck.

We do things so differently here in this country with the funeral home, embalming and other cookie cutter type funeral services. In the old world, families of the deceased do their own funerals at home. It's more intimate and more down to earth, I think.

That's the way I want my own funeral handled.....by my loved ones and family.

[yellowcanine]

22. But do you have to buy them in a six-pack?

.

[GaryL]

23. They do this in Europe.

The goal is to prevent the high cost from killing the surviving family members with the 10K coffin. BTW, you can buy one online any time too.

[marzipanni]

25. Maybe they'll have a package deal someday

with a special token for the "crematorimat" on the hill behind the store.

[seasat]

31. Wow, this is really cradle to the grave merchandising!

I'm sure they also sell baby products.

[PartyPooper]

32. Isn't this like asking a caterer to "do the event"-and, you'll provide

all the food and beverages? That's where all all the profit is, eh?

I can just see this on an episode of "Six Feet Under". Papa dies. Mama has her son haul the coffin from the basement to the funeral home. "This is what Daddy wanted, how much will it cost to bury him?"

:shrug:

[tedzbear]

34. They should sell the whole funeral package.

That would be the end of your local mortuary for sure. And, before you know it Costco would do a hostile take over of Forest Lawn.

[CaptainClark23]

42. One-Hour Cremation services

Pick up your urn after shopping!

[Kimber Scott]

37. Considering caskets can be a huge rip-off, this is really a good idea.

nt

[Hekate]

38. This is a great thread. Thank you all for the midnite giggle.

I can hardly wait until my local Costco starts stocking them! So many uses come to mind: coffee table (need the flat top model), blanket chest (be sure to ask for the cedar lining), spare bed (special for night owls), ice chest (that's where the waterproofing comes in handy)...
:toast:
After all, we're all going to need one someday, right?

Seriously, I wonder if they'll carry plain pine boxes for those of us who want to return to the earth instead of being embalmed forevermore.

I think that arrangement is a requirement for Orthodox Jews -- when my father in law passed on nine years ago the burial society took care of everything once his rabbi set it in motion. He was washed and otherwise prepared, but not embalmed, and in 24 hours he was in the ground in a coffin that had spaces between some of the planks to facilitate decay. Since I'm not Jewish, the burial society wouldn't have anything to do with me but I wouldn't mind that for myself; though I think regular funeral homes would really try to make you feel lousy for not going along with the Great American Funeral Potlatch that leaves your family in debt.

Hekate

[Kadie]

39. Coffe tables and blanket chests, you may be on to something there

Costco may be starting a new fashion trend for the home. I wonder how long before we see them used on HGTV?

[TrueAmerican]

41. Time to start the outsourcing to China

that'll be next, if not already begun.