Coffin business?

[tinknal]

"When it comes to selling coffins, Mike Zoff is thinking outside the box.

The 57-year-old Arden Hills resident has just set up shop in a tiny storefront on Smith Avenue on St. Paul's West Side, put a wooden coffin in the window and stuck up a sign announcing "Coffin Shoppe."

And how much is that coffin in the window?

Not much.

Zoff, who builds the coffins himself, hopes to bury the competition by selling discount but dignified containers that start at $225 for the plainest, unfinished pine box. The prices at Affordable Coffins & Artery will range up to about $800 for fancier, custom jobs. "

http://www.twincities.com/news/ci_19785843?source=rss

[pamda]

Cool ideas. It's hard to imagine how much people spend thinking they have to buy from the funeral home etc. The last funeral I went to the man, who was a ww2 vet, and civil war fanatic, was buried in a plain pine box, adorned with wooden leaves etc..from the civil war era. Box was built by a nephew and cost next to nothing. It even had rope handles. His best friend stood guard with our friends civil was era hat and musket. Very impressive and very low cost.

[ErinP]

Some areas don't allow plain pine boxes. I remember going through this for my aunt. My uncle really wanted just a plain, pine box, but (I can't remember if it was city or state) requires a concrete vault, as well as a double lined, metal casket.

[tallpines]

He should fashion them with shelves.

Buy now.

Use as book case until needed.



Our Mennonite neighbor made beautiful coffins for about $600.oo but now has switched to buiding Mennonite buggies.

[foaly]

I think this is brilliant! Just make sure the cemetery you want to be buried in allows it. If not, find another plot.

[Yldrosie]

A good idea for a home business would be building pet coffins. You could get really creative with interiors.

[ErinP]

Actually, that's probably the better idea right there. Pet burial laws aren't nearly as strict as human ones. And really anything in the pet-loss business would be a money maker. People spend a lot of money on their pets...

[Ken Scharabok]

In most states burial laws are regulated by a State Board of Funeral Home Directors - or such. In their best interest to keep out competition.

Yep, environmental laws come in with potential ground water pollution.

Some places are setting up 'green' burials. Can be buried in just a shroud in a woodland setting.

As noted pet cemeteries can be quite profitable. Daughter of a friend in the Dayton, OH area has one which includes an crematorium. There is something like a national Pet Cemetery Association.

In Croatia my family association goes back to the late 1700s. Church cemetery. The same plots keep being reused. Now they are doing metal caskets and chambers so the cemetery is filling up.