SECOND-HAND STORE OFFERS SLIGHTLY-USED COFFIN FOR SALE

For Sale: Casket. Slightly used.

It appeared earlier this week next to the tables and chairs lining the sidewalk next to Peddler's Corner, an antiques and second-hand store at the corner of Broadway and Sprigg Street. Price tag: $65.

The casket has a mysterious history.

A middle-aged woman walked in the store Monday and asked manager Lonnie Brandes "if I bought stuff."

He walked outside with her to find, in the back of her small pickup, a coffin.

He bought it. "I kind of like weird things," he says in explanation.

The casket was in good shape and about six feet long. The top was made of see-through glass, the bottom lightweight metal. The inside was silky.

The woman told Brandes her husband acquired the casket while attending mortuary school.

The family apparently learned that coffins can be versatile. "They had used it as a coffee table," Brandes said.

The family also took advantage of the glass top by putting a terrarium inside.

The woman didn't say why she'd want to get rid of such a grand terrarium.

Where she's from also is unknown.

"I didn't ask too many questions about it," Brandes said.

He reasons that putting a coffin on the sidewalk is at least a good way to get people to notice his business.

It's been a source of humor among his regular customers, who wonder whether his business license covers coffins.

In his 2 1/2 years in the business, Brandes has bought and sold odd items before. A shoe shine stand, for instance.

"But this is the first (coffin) I've ever had," he said.

It might not be the last. "I like weird things," Brandes reiterated.