THE AMERICAN WAY OF DEATH

(For the benefit of English speakers, as opposed to American speakers, I'm informed a casket is a coffin.)

Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Costco Wholesale Corp., the largest
U.S. warehouse-club chain, is test-marketing caskets at two of
its Chicago-area stores, the Associated Press said.
Costco is offering six models of caskets that are being
displayed next to mattresses at a North Side Chicago store and a
suburban store in Oak Brook, AP said. Each of the Universal
Casket Co. steel models is priced at $799.99 and comes in colors
including lilac and blue, AP said.
``This is certainly something that can be an easy value,''
Gina Bianche, a buyer for Issaquah, Washington-based Costco,
said. ``I don't want to say cheap value, but it just needs to be
done.''
Manufactures, funeral supply stores and Internet sites sell
caskets directly to the public, yet general retail stores have
previously avoided the market, David Walkinshaw, a National
Funeral Directors Association spokesman, told AP.

I think putting them next to the mattresses is a nice touch! If this works then perhaps they could start selling them in gun stores too? Surely that's a logical tie-in?

And what about here? Perhaps Park N Shop could put them next to the dodgy fish-balls? Or the live poultry markets could sell them in case you pick up some avian flu? And ministers of various religions could start leaving a little pile of cards next to them so you can contact them easily. You could buy the coffin, arrange the funeral and sort out the catering needs all in one shopping trip. In fact the more I think about it the more this is perfectly suited to Hong Kong and it's endless rush to do everything as fast as possible (except for when escalators are involved obviously - only a lunatic would walk on an escalator when you can just stand still and let the machine take the strain, no matter how much of a rush you're in).

The possibilities are endless.