 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
adapt to move away from tradition
By Lorrie Grant
USA TODAY
The business of funeral and burial arrangements is changing.
In some cases, it involves new entrepreneurial services outside the somber confines of funeral parlors. In others, it is new selling strategies by purveyors of more traditional funeral services.
Few have taken the latter trend as far as Mark Panciera with his Florida chain of three funeral stores -- two in strip centers -- with department-store flair.
Shelves display quarter portions of caskets, in various woods and metals, as well as decorative urns. Keepsake boxes, memorial quilts and garden stones are neatly placed in large curio cabinets. The décor is pastel.
''It's a novelty store that promotes funeral services,'' says Panciera, owner of The Memorial Store in Hollywood, Fla. He says his aim is to sell the services in a comfortable way.
The traditional arrangement of selling a package of funeral products and services out of funeral homes remains dominant, but other retailing formats are on the rise.
While Panciera is ahead of the curve with mall stores, some funeral directors have created stores connected to their homes. The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) cites outlets in Milwaukee, Albuquerque and Columbus, Ohio.
''They had to rethink how they would market their product,'' says Allen Siverls of Liberty Service, a Detroit-based company that acquires and manages funeral homes.
''People are used to going into a retail environment to shop. They are not used to going into a basement of a funeral home to pick out a casket.''
The business of death has undergone some dramatic changes the past 5 years. Federal regulations limited linking of services in the industry and allowed third-party sales of caskets. That, as well as a rise in cremations, has hurt profits and forced funeral directors to consider new strategies.
At the same time, consumers have become more demanding. As with weddings, many customers are forgoing the traditional to create a final goodbye that is different and personal.
''The icons have changed from a casket and religious symbol to music from Elton John and a Harley-Davidson,'' says Kelly Smith of NFDA.
Panciera is a third-generation funeral home operator. He has presided over the family businesses, Panciera Memorial Home and Panciera Funeral Homes, since 1993.
A Florida Atlantic University MBA graduate, he says the stores he began opening in 1996 were a natural progression for his overall operation.
''The retail space is the sales point. But all of the services are being provided at the traditional funeral home,'' he says.
Panciera, 38, says his stores are simply less intimidating than a funeral home -- though each is located near a cemetery. They are brightly lit and have plump sofas. Silk floral arrangements dangle from pedestals and cabinets. Serene pictures, the burble of miniature fountains and scents from aromatic devices all add to a sense of calm.
''The couches and coffee table and chairs create a homelike environment. We want everyone relaxed. It's an inevitable decision that has to be made.''
With nearly 2 million U.S. funerals a year and average spending at $7,500 each including burial and grave marker, the inevitable decisions those consumers make is big business.
Perhaps most threatening to the funeral services industry is greater acceptance of cremations. It has accelerated as social trends have weakened religious, ethnic, cultural and family traditions: Elders move away to retirement communities; parents divorce and live in separate states; their baby boomer children relocate for jobs.
''Baby boomers changed just about everything they came in contact with, and the death-care industry is no different,'' Siverls says. ''One of the biggest changes is cremations.''
Cremation is used in 25% of U.S. deaths vs. 18% a decade ago, according to the Cremation Association of North America. Western states have the highest cremation rates (Hawaii's rate is 61%) and southeastern states, except Florida, have the lowest.
Cremation also has brought more non-traditional players into the business of death, such as entrepreneur Paul Layer, 43, owner of Aspen Funeral Alternatives crematorium in Albuquerque.
''What we're seeing and trying to respond to is this generation wanting to have it their way,'' Layer says. New Mexico's 37% cremation rate is well above the national average.
Aspen Funeral is a 2-year-old offshoot of traditional French Mortuary. But it will not be confused with it.
Aspen is housed in a converted restaurant with fluorescent lights instead of chandeliers and a chapel with stackable chairs instead of pews.
''It looks more like your insurance company or local business office rather than a funeral home,'' Layer says.
Ashes can be buried in a cemetery lot or cremation garden, placed in a columbarium (a vault with niches for urns), kept at home or scattered.
Whimsy is the way of many today, and that has brought out other entrepreneurs to provide new services for the ashes. Among them:
* Celestis, based in Houston, arranges memorial services in space, including the moon. It is best known for sending into space some of the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry.
* Eternal Reefs of Decatur, Ga., makes cremated remains part of artificial ocean reefs around the world.
* Celebration Forest in Sandpoint, Idaho, incorporates about a tablespoon of a loved one's ashes into 20-by-24 gold-framed landscape picture of trees, mountains and clouds.
There is even a small e-commerce segment of the funeral industry, with CasketExpress.com offering a catalog of caskets for less than $1,000, and UrnMall.com for creative urns for people and pets.
Panciera sees bigger changes ahead. He sees larger stores in larger malls as part of a move to reach customers earlier in life with different services.
''Our focus in the future is providing for the final third of your life, such as estate planning and funeral pre-arrangements.''
Copyright © 1997 - 2008, Celebration Forest.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.