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| The Mall |
Now,
it seems, you can have it all. One-stop lifetime shopping from baby clothes, to wedding supplies, to tax
services, and funeral arrangements.
Earlier
this year, a California funeral home, Forest Lawn Memorial Parks &
Mortuaries, http://www.forestlawn.com began placing kiosks in 4 southern California malls.  |
| Mall Shopping |
The cart
kiosks are low key, featuring urns, some with themes, to entice folks to stop and
talk to the advanced planning representative that staffs the cart. Literature
and brochures are also available and may be taken
home and perused.
While
at first the idea seems a tad unconventional, it’s really just another way of
But
Forest Lawn is not the first funeral home to open a mall kiosk about death. An Indianapolis, Indiana funeral home, Flanner &
Buchanan Funeral Centers partnered with two Indianapolis area Simon Malls
beginning in 2004 to provide unmanned kiosks to market their cremation
services.  |
| Flanner & Buchanan Kiosk |
It
proved to be very successful, not only in assisting people in making pre-need
decisions but also in placing several sets of cremains in area cemeteries.
Cremation
is now the fastest growing service for funeral homes, and having the ability to
feature urns, photos of eco-green cemeteries, and cremation jewelry at a mall kiosk is
an excellent strategy. It seems that most consumers view cremation as an alternative to a funeral. They don’t understand that a funeral service can still be held, and the cremated
remains can also be placed in a cemetery plot. 
Today, not
only are funeral homes stepping out and becoming more visible, they are also
starting to engage potential customers online through social media. Since the
recession of 2009, funeral homes have seen a decline in the use of their
services.
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| 2013 Hearse |
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| 1960 Hearse |
Not
too surprising since the average cost of a “traditional” funeral has gone up about 940% in
almost 50 years. According to the National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA)
http://nfda.org, the cost of an adult funeral in
1960 was $708. In 2009 (the last year
figures were available) the cost was $6,560. Add the price of the cemetery
vault ($1,195) and a funeral will now run around $7,700.
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| Donate to Science |
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| New England Burials at Sea |
Consumers
are now looking for alternative methods to the traditional ‘burying their
dead.’ Cremation is just one of these options, along with burial at sea and
donating your body to science.
 |
| Crematory |
And
the cost of cremation is a relative bargain compared to a traditional funeral
and burial. The average cost of a direct cremation (no service) is between $700
and $1,000, and that covers the cremation, urn, death certificate and taxes.
Adding a funeral service, graveside service, or cemetery plot will cost extra,
so plan accordingly.
In
1960 only 3.56% of those who died were cremated. As of 2011, 42% had chosen
this alternative. That’s more than double the rate of cremations in 1995, and
the Cremation Association of North America http://www.cremationassociation.org
predicts that by 2050, over half (51.12%) of those who die will be cremated. |
| Mall Food Court |
While
it may seem a bit morbid or morose to some, it is just another opportunity for
each of us to consider what we want to happen to our remains after death and
provides a way for that conversation to begin; even if it is at the mall, over
an Auntie Ann’s pretzel, – it’s still a beginning.
And
as the band Semisonic sings in “Closing Time” -
“Every
new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…”
How
prophetic.
~
Joy
