Eternal Image Inc (fka ETNLQ)

[al44]

from Detroit Free Press:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/NEWS01/804200615/1003/NEWS


Maybe you can take it with you to the grave.
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If "it" is an obsession with pro baseball, outer space or doe-eyed figurines, Eternal Image of Farmington Hills has something to sell you.

For the right price, you or your loved one can be buried in a coffin or have your ashes placed in an urn bearing the logo of the Detroit Tigers, for instance.

The company's youthful president -- Clint Mytych, 27 -- says business is building for his brand-name urns and special coffins.

Mytych says it's all about the brands, and so far his company has struck licensing deals with big names like Major League Baseball, Precious Moments figurines and -- yes, Captain Kirk -- even the "Star Trek" classic television series.

QUESTION: Did you come up with this idea?

ANSWER: Yeah, I did. The idea was simply to bring brand names, like everyday household brand names, to the funeral industry and incorporate those brand names into caskets and urns. Because there simply wasn't anything like that in the industry yet.

Q: So what's the most popular so far?

A: Well, I have to say Major League Baseball. And our most popular product of all, right now, is the New York Yankees urn.

Q: Of course.

A: We sell more of that than any product in any line.

Q: Damn Yankees. They're No. 1 in everything. Including urns for your ashes.

A: Go figure.

Q: What kind of guy wants his ashes in a Yankee urn?

A: Well, I can't answer that. (Laughs.) But I can tell you, I'm a native Detroiter, so I'm all about the Tigers. But I can tell you something interesting. We sell ... baseball urns to people as young as 30, 32 years old. People that want it well in advance, because it's cool. It has a kind of sizzle factor. Either they just want it around their house or they know that's what they'll want to go in one day.

Q: Have you picked out one for yourself?

A: Everybody asks me that. No. I just turned 27 so I don't think about it too often. ... In a few years, when I'm past 30, maybe, I'll take a look and see what I'm interested in. I can tell you I prefer to be buried. I have no interest in being cremated, but that's just me.

Q: You have "Star Trek" stuff?

A: Yes, "Star Trek" comes out later this year.

Q: Is there a casket that says, "Beam me up, Scottie"?

A: No ... but it's reminiscent of a photon torpedo.

Q: Any other dream brands out there?

A: I'd love to get a car company one day -- to be able to do a classic Corvette or a classic Mustang product.

Q: You gotta get Harry Potter. That would be huge!

A: (Laughs.) We may need to let that fan base age a little bit.

Q: Do you get any unusual requests you cannot fill?

A: A Three Stooges product. ... (But) I got one that's even odder. ...We got asked if we do any tiny caskets for fish. ... I don't know if they're looking for goldfish or deep sea fishing. I don't know what type of fish you'd put in a casket.

Q: Well, maybe somebody has a beloved pet carp somewhere.

A: I heard some of those koi fish, in those ponds, can cost like $800-$900. So maybe you just don't want to bury it in the dirt when it's dead, I don't know.

For more information, go to www.eternalimage.net.