Wal-Mart expands into the casket business

Now funeral homes can add themselves to the laundry list of disgruntled local businesses unable to match Wal-Mart's "falling" prices. This past week, the national retailer of, well, everything added yet another niche item to its seemingly endless inventory: the casket.

Last week, the discount department store chain discreetly posted a selection of fourteen, 18 gauge steel coffins on its website. Not yet available in stores, mourners in need of a deal can pick up one of the Wal-Mart's "Made in the USA" sarcophagi for anywhere from $895 to $2899. What's more, they come with an array of pre-customized finishes with "Mom Remembered" on the bottom of the pricing tier and a "Pieta and Last Supper" emblazoned model towards the top. A "100% bronze" and sienna-finished design is most expensive.

According to this report from the Associated Press, a company spokesman says that the big box retailer is "simply conducting a limited beta test to understand customer response" to their commercial endeavor. Of course, this new foray in the funeral industry might wind up pushing the boundaries of Wal-Mart's return policy, not to mention its "Satisfaction Guaranteed" credo.

That being said, Wal-Mart has never been one to shy away from delving into a new market. In the words of the company's late founder, Sam Walton, the "secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want."  Too bad then that the US government already beat them to the punch in the discount coffin department.

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