Caskets galore: Henry Co. natives open casket and flower shop

Eric and Katherine Giles are the owners of E & K Caskets.

Caskets come with customization options like more intricate designs on the exterior.

Though E&K Caskets sells caskets, they also have a flower shop.

Eric Giles with one of the caskets available for viewing in the showroom of E & K Caskets.

The flower shop offers sympathy cards and arrangements for any occasion.

The business offers a selection of customizable styles and designs.

This caskets in the E & K Caskets showroom displays an arrangement made by the shop owners.

Two Henry County natives have opened a business to help serve residents while they go through what may be one of the most difficult times in their lives.

Eric and Katherine Giles run E & K Caskets, which opened around a month ago. The business sells caskets to individuals and funeral homes and also has a flower shop that sells arrangements, sympathy items, gift baskets and more.

Both grew up in the county. Katherine Giles moved to Winston-Salem and worked in the medical field, for car dealerships and in customer service for many years before returning in 2021. Eric Giles moved to Danville for 14 years where he worked at a chemical plant before returning.

They got married on July 9, 2021.

The shop, located at 8620 A L Philpott Hwy in Martinsville, used to be a pawn shop before the Giles purchased it and transformed it with some minor work. They painted the walls, tiled the floors and cleared out the room that is now the flower shop.

"We’re looking to help the community as well as the funeral homes," Katherine Giles said. "In difficult times we want to be a place of comfort for them."

"We saw the costs of funerals … We wanted to help people," Eric Giles said. They do this by purchasing caskets wholesale to sell to customers and funeral homes and by having a large variety of caskets that sell at different price points.

"Looking at the prices at funeral homes, we know you can get those a whole lot cheaper," Eric Giles said.

Individuals can purchase a casket from them and then have the casket delivered to the funeral home of their choice. The Giles purchase the caskets from different suppliers and said they are in the process of figuring out the supply and demand in the area.

Once they have a better feel for the needs of the community, they plan to have more stock of caskets on site in their building, the couple said.

They offer almost any customization that customers can think of, including colors, materials, interior and exterior designs, thickness of casket walls, sizes and more. If they don't have the caskets in the showroom or in storage, they order the casket to the shop.

The caskets can be customized to different military branches; one for the Army is on display in the showroom.

Katherine Giles said that around Halloween some people buy coffins to use as decorations. Eco-caskets that are environmentally friendly and mostly made of wood are also available. Even glass caskets are available.

Flower arrangements for sale in the flower shop are made by both Eric and Katherine Giles, but they also sell the supplies for customers to make their own arrangements. This includes the faux flowers, Styrofoam pieces, stands, ribbons, wreaths, containers and more.

They also plan to expand their offerings in the future with more customizable "in memory of" items and are purchasing printing equipment that will allow them to expand their customization options for both items in the flower shop and the caskets.

The Giles ran their business through the Martinsville-Henry County Chamber of Commerce Startup MHC program and were awarded prize money that allowed them to purchase that printing equipment and taught them valuable skills for running their business, the couple said.

"It was pretty interesting. We learned some stuff and we got to know people," Eric Giles said.

"We grew from it too," Katherine Giles added.

The shop also has booklets at the front counter that lists out the different funeral homes in the area and different catering businesses as well. Katherine Giles said they did this to help people who may not know what is available in the area with making arrangements during hard times.

The store will have a ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. Monday with prize giveaways and light refreshments. For more information on the store visit the E & K Caskets Facebook page.

Monique Holland (276)-734-9603

[email protected]

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