Madison resident Collin Dennise went to a local Bath & Body Works last Saturday and tried to sell his mother’s corpse to the store.
Dennise blames the misunderstanding on the store’s ambiguous and misleading name.
“Bath & Body Works? Yet they don’t want bodies,” Dennise said. “I don’t get it.”
Bath & Body Works is known for its fragrant organic lotions, soaps, candles and other skincare and home products.
Store manager Erin Anderson said no one had mistaken the store for a proprietor of corpses prior to Saturday’s incident.
“No, no I have never had anyone try to sell us a dead body before,” Anderson said. “I was sure it was a joke until I saw the giant smelly body bag [Dennise] had dragged inside.”
Dennise reportedly asked for $200 for his mother’s entire body, but said the price was negotiable.
“[My mother] didn’t leave me any money, and my gambling addiction has left me in a few jams,” Dennise said. “So I was just being resourceful.”
Anderson declined Dennise’s offer and shortly thereafter called the police. Dennise said he now plans to sell his mother’s organs online.
“It’s what my mother would have wanted,” Dennise said, before quietly adding, “maybe.”
Despite losing some customers due to the commotion of the incident, Anderson and other Bath & Body Works employees remain optimistic about how the event has impacted business.
“On the bright side it has given us inspiration for a new scent,” Anderson said. The new fragrance, which will be named Summer Death, is set to be released next year and will be available in lotions and hand sanitizers at select locations.
