Wal-mart sells appalling items online

By Zachery Lashway
In late October the world’s largest retailer made its presence in a much unexpected market.
Wal-Mart has decided to keep its customers even after they die by selling caskets and urns on its Web site.
“Caskets just aren’t Wal-Mart’s specialty. I feel Wal-Mart is just trying to get more money. They are trying to get their hands in as many markets as they can,” says Kyle Brassard a 21 year old college student.
Much to peoples surprise Wal-Mart is not the only department store selling caskets on its site. Costco, Wal-Mart’s discount competitor was the first department store to furnish its website with the end-of-life items.
Wal-Mart’s caskets range from $895 to $2899 and come in 14 different models. There are 19 different models of urns and the prices range from $94.05 to $214.05. Wal-Mart guarantees shipment to the customer within 48 hours of purchase.
Bert Wilcox, the Funeral Director and owner of Chateaugay Funeral Home, says he learned of Wal-Mart’s big move to sell caskets through a casket salesman in late October via E-mail.
“Its fine with me, it’s whatever the family wants, if they want to buy their casket from Wal-Mart they are entitled to do so. I do think it could eventually take a toll on funeral homes with their sales of caskets,” says Wilcox.
It’s federal law for funeral homes to accept third-party caskets, so whether customers buy their caskets from Wal-Mart, Costco or decide to make them themselves, funeral homes are obligated to accept them.
Although Wal-Mart claims to sell caskets at prices that undercut many funeral homes they are still quite comparable to Wilcox’s prices. Matter of fact, Wilcox’s most inexpensive casket is cheaper than Wal-Mart’s cheapest casket.
“My caskets start at $850 and can range in price up to $6900. I don’t carry very expensive caskets because our area generally doesn’t have a lot of money to spend on funerals,” says Wilcox.
“I feel I could get better quality, variety and service from an actual funeral home. Funeral homes have more experience. You can get a hands-on-feeling on where your money is going when you deal with a funeral home,” says Brassard.
Beverly Gillette, a retired senior citizen who has not yet made her funeral arrangements, feels Wal-Mart and other department stores selling caskets are overstepping their boundaries.
“Wal-Mart is not a place for caskets to be sold. Wal-Mart is not in the business to sell caskets. They don’t have the knowledge in the casket industry,” says Gillette.
Gillette who plans to be cremated says she wouldn’t consider buying an urn from Wal-Mart or a casket for that matter.
“They don’t have the knowledge about caskets, knowing them, the material or the life expectancy of the product. I just don’t think they have the knowledge a customer needs,” says Gillette.
Trevor Rabideau, a funeral director at Walker’s Funeral Home believes funeral homes serving larger areas with bigger populations will be more affected by Wal-Mart’s decision to sell caskets.
Rabideau says our area probably won’t experience the impact of Wal-Mart selling caskets for at least another five to 10 years from now. He says he would extend it that long because of the area.
“Our area is just starting to experience the influx of people who want to be cremated. It was five to 10 years ago the larger areas with bigger populations experienced the influx of people wanting to be cremated and it’s just making it to the North Country. But when the trend does make it up here we will deal with it,” says Rabideau.
“Our area is very traditional. People want to see the casket, touch it, feel it and see what they are buying. But there are things a customer can’t change when they purchase a casket from Wal-Mart, things like color and material, what you see is what you get and when the time comes they screw up an order it’s no skin off Wal-Mart’s back. To them it’s just another purchase. But eventually it will change the way people purchase caskets and urns,” says Rabideau.
Rabideau believes Wal-Mart decided to sell caskets because there is such a competition with every item on the market and they wanted to be a part of it.
“Wal-Mart wanted to touch on a market that hasn’t been touched on before, another avenue to make money,” says Rabideau.
Freda Whitfield, an 81 year old retired nurse already has her funeral arrangements paid for. She says even if she didn’t have them made she still wouldn’t turn to Wal-Mart for a casket.
“I feel Wal-Mart is underselling to the point they’re putting some businesses out of business,” says Whitfield. “Furthermore because this option is very new to customers, I don’t think it will affect this area too much. The customers in this area will prefer to go through funeral homes of choice to purchase their caskets or urns.”
When a customer searches for the right casket with the right price Wal-Mart gives the customer another option. However, there is one big thing Wal-Mart and other department stores can’t offer customers when they purchase a casket or an urn.
“One thing they can’t sell is our service. The service will never be taken from us. Service is one thing they cannot provide to people,” says Rabideau.