I read some articles today about retail giant Wal-Mart selling discount caskets. Great. Now I can buy food that kills me quicker, ammunition, and even a casket (well, I’d have to order the casket online at wal-mart.com) all under one giant, suburban roof.
Seems like they’ve gone after so many industries that used to be locally owned (grocery stores, salons, eye care, pharmacies) and now are competing to a certain degree with your neighborhood funeral parlor (at least they’re not offering to do the services in the furniture department).
I was thinking about how funeral homes and service providers will react and am wondering if what we’ll see is an offshoot of the banquet industry. No outside food or supplies allowed. Just like how I can’t rent a banquet hall and cater it myself (in most cases), I wonder if funeral homes will adopt a policy that will not allow outside equipment caskets. It’s morbid, I know but it’s probably a very real concern for funeral homes. Or is it? Has anyone had any experience with this or if you’re in that industry, has the availability of discount caskets affected business?
Just curious.
