‘Shop Till You Drop’ Gets New Meaning

Shoppers walking down busy Flatbush Avenue in the New York borough of Brooklyn usually do a double take when they pass a store that opened just last month. Stuck amid the delis and clothing stores is a casket store operated by Van Nuys-based Direct Casket. The store is Direct Casket’s second in the Big Apple. It has five in California. Founder and President Ray Silvas acknowledged that the retail stores are still misunderstood by many consumers. “There are a lot of skeptics,” he said. “This is a new concept. Everybody needs one. Many people don’t want to talk about it, but once someone starts talking, they won’t stop.”