Walmart Now In ''Death Business''

Walmart can be called a true cradle-to-grave retailer now that they are selling caskets and urns at prices that they hope will bury the competition.

Nobody sells more toys and baby goods, or anything for that matter, than Walmart. Now the Arkansas-based retail giant hopes to cash in on something as certain as taxes - death.

Just go to Walmart.com and type in the word "casket" on their search engine and you can go shopping for the right box to be buried in. There are 27 models to choose from with names like "Lady de Guadelupe" or "Dad remembered" or "Lovely in all ways."

We asked a number of people strolling the downtown Chattanooga streets if they knew Walmart is selling caskets. The overwhelming resonse is echoed by John DeJesus who laughed and said "no I sure didn't know."

We checked several funeral homes, by phone and in person, and most directors had no idea Walmart is now a competitor in the casket business. Most also declined to talk on camera about it, except for Brenda Turner of locally owned Turner Funeral Home.

"It's a free market and we have to respect that it's a free market," Turner said.

Pricing for Walmart caskets starts at $895 with most selling under $2,000. The most expensive we found is about $2,900, the "Sienna Bronze" casket. That is cheaper than what most funeral homes charge, in some cases thousands of dollars less.

The official word from Walmart corporate offices is they are just "beta testing" the casket market and they want to see what kind of customer response they'll get. The company is also selling urns for human and pet cremains.

But the people we asked seemed a little cold to the idea of buying a casket on-line from Walmart.

"Walmart for a casket, I don't think so," Patty Johnson said with a chuckle.

Another concern people have is Walmart's ever growing dominance, especially in smaller cities.

"I think they're putting too many of the little men out of business," Jean DeJesus said.

If you do buy a casket at Walmart keep in mind there are no returns unless it is damaged in shipping. Turner said that's just one of several reasons why buying local is better.

"I think it has a lot to do with the service, the kindness, the personal touch, you can't erase the value of that," Turner said.

A spokesperson for the company that makes caskets and urns for Walmart, Star Legacy Funeral Network, said the first week of on-line casket sales were better than they or Walmart expected.