In 1999, Raymond A. Cooper opened the Heavenly Rest Casket Co. on Carrollton Avenue with the goal of making the buying of a casket a little bit easier. And business has been good.
"Things are going great. As a matter of fact, we're about to open up a store in Lexington," said Cooper, 37, who runs the retail business with his wife, Brenda.
The storefront casket operation, once at 303 Carrollton Ave., has moved a few doors down. It is now at 307 Carrollton Ave. in the building that once housed the law offices of the late Callestyne Hall-Crawford.
Cooper will operate the company at the new location from now on, he said. He is planning to add a casket showroom on the building's second floor.
He said the company can help people select a casket at any time a funeral is being planned. "Most of our sales are at-need. People come in and buy a casket, and we deliver it to the funeral home."
Heavenly Rest now is able to deliver a casket to any funeral home in the state without a delivery charge, he said.
The company offers a complete line of popular, name brand caskets from leading manufacturers, such as the Memphis Casket Co. and Batesville Casket Co., he said.
"The only difference in my caskets and the funeral homes' caskets is that they put a greater markup on theirs," Cooper said.
When he first opened his casket business, Cooper said, a state law prohibited a retail operation from selling caskets to a family at-need. He took the state to court and prevailed, citing existing federal law that permitted the retail selling of caskets at all stages of the funeral process.
He said his company has expanded and now offers headstones.
