Funeral Industry Reinvents Itself

From a discreet presence in the past, today’s funeral industry is redefining its services in response to changing consumer demands. And while an aging population assures an expanding customer base, the competition has never been stronger.

Aggressive marketing has replaced subtle, image advertising. One area provider markets itself as a “society,” suggesting it is a nonprofit, although it’s not. Another advertises “at least $200 lower than society pricing;” a third informs us: People say, “It’s all about money!” We say “It’s all about planning.”

There’s family-owned, locally-owned: Another advertises more than 18 years of local service plus benefits only a national network can provide.

Several trends have collided, setting the the stage for these new messages.

• The Federal Trade Commission’s 1984 mandate, “The Funeral Rule,” requires funeral homes to provide price lists for comparison shopping.

• The public is more willing to discuss death and dying openly.

• And there’s growing acceptance of cremation.

National Funeral Directors Association, based in the Brookfield, WI, has tracked the industry for more than 120 years.

Spokeswoman Katie Monfre said there’s more emphasis today on memorializing and celebrating a life lived, and less on death.

“Today’s consumers are more event-based than product-based,” she said.

Bell Brothers Funeral and Cremation Services in West Duluth is the region’s largest provider of funeral services north of the Twin Cities. It’s part of the Alderwoods Group with more than 800 facilities worldwide.

With its Jarvi-Dowd Chapel affiliate in Duluth’s East Hillside, Bell Brothers served 425 families last year. Its emphasis is on education and preplanning.

Cremation, for example, doesn’t have to mean a funeral or memorial without a body. “It’s amazing how many people confuse cremation with immediate cremation,” said Mark Boettcher, managing funeral director.

Unique to the region at Bell Brothers is the “options room,” where clients may choose a casket from an array of wall-mounted corner portions. The display of gleaming wood and dignified metal makes them appear more as finely crafted furniture. Each has a full photo and description. Every item clearly displays prices.

“Funeral homes are getting away from a casket showroom,” said Monica Berryhill, like Boettcher, a managing funeral director. “Caskets can be so intimidating.” Noting bright, hopeful illustrations on the walls, she stressed that clients can take their time, and that there’s no pressure to purchase.

Bell Brothers recently conducted a funeral in which the deceased was put into a wooden casket, lovingly crafted by a skilled family member, Berryhill said.

Hayward

Anderson-Nathan Funeral Home in Hayward is in the heart of Wisconsin’s lake country. The small community swells to a summer population of about 60,000.

This is a busy time of year with spring burials, common in areas where the winter temperatures prevent opening of the ground, said funeral director Paul Kraemer. Months after the funeral, he’s there for the difficult committal that can open fresh grief.

“What we are here to do is gently take you by the hand and lead you through some of the most difficult times of your life,” he said.

The Hayward home has a reputation for breaking with tradition to personalize the services. “I was born and raised in a funeral home,” said Kraemer. “My philosophy is to give the people what they want.”

That includes a kids’ room with a large-screen TV tuned to the Disney Channel, helping parents feel comfortable allowing their children to participate.

“So many grandparents are babysitting their grandkids these days and (the children) get real close to their grandparents,” Kraemer said.

When a local firefighter died, Kraemer arranged for the casket to be transported in the fire truck rather than the hearse. “It was powerful,” he said.

Anderson-Nathan funeral home operated independently from 1937 until six years ago when it became part of a larger private company, Keystone Group. Keystone also owns funeral homes in Solon Springs, Minong, Spooner and Rhinelander.

“The corporation has really helped us to grow,” said Kraemer. Construction of a new crematorium in Hayward also serves the other Keystone affiliates.

Competitive pricing

Two large, corporate funeral and cremation facilities in Duluth undercut traditional homes in pricing. Advantage Funeral and Cremation services in Duluth advertises cremation for as little as $695, including basic services, an alternative container and crematory fee. Another, the Cremation Society of Minnesota with facilities in Eau Claire and Duluth, advertises cremation starting at about $900.

By contrast, the itemized basic services fee alone at Nathan-Anderson in Hayward, and some other traditional funeral homes, exceeds the entire cost of a cremation at Advantage, and the Society.

Neither made a representative available for this story, but their price lists were readily provided.

Some traditional industry competitors call them “discount stores” offering minimal service that won’t satisfy everyone.

Monfre of the national association said many funeral homes sold to the big chains in the last decade continue to be run by original owners. The pace of consolidation has slowed, however.

“The economy has slowed and that reflects on any business,” Monfre said. “They’re all looking at the bottom line.”

Becoming part of a larger corporation gave many small funeral homes security and access to professional talent and financial resources. In general, the number of individuals going into mortuary sciences is declining, according to the association, and Monfre said fewer children are staying in their family businesses.

An exception is the Downs Funeral Home in Superior, a five-generation family business that began in 1888.

Rob Downs II, said people appreciate that continuity, and he speculates ownership turnover in many homes is due to expectations of the profession. “It’s a full-time, time-consuming job. You have to be on call all the time. I don’t think people are as willing to do that anymore.”

The other changes affect traditional funeral homes as well: About 35 percent of his clients are choosing cremation there, instead of from the chains.

“Inflation affects prices,” he said. “Each year you sit down and figure out what your overhead is going to be. There’s up to $1,000 disparity among (area) funeral homes and a few more people are going out shopping (for funeral services) but not a great deal,” he said.

Simplicity for others

With full price disclosure, it’s difficult to argue with the total bill. It’s also difficult to find anyone dissatisfied who will talk.

One couple produced receipts from services rendered in 1994 when the wife’s mother died in a Superior nursing home. The couple never confronted funeral directors at Downs Funeral Home, which provided the service. In retrospect, they said a discount option would have been sufficient.

They accept the costs of transferring the body from the nursing home directly to the crematorium and crematory charges of $200, even the $95 for the plastic box in which they received the “cremains.”

But they question the $995 for basic service fees that brought the total to $1,649. Ironically it was just weeks after the Federal Trade Commission amended the Funeral Rule, allowing funeral homes to charge a “basic service fee” to cover such costs as 24-hour service availability, funeral counseling and other overhead.

“We spent 37 minutes in their office, parked on the street and had two cups of coffee,” said the wife.

Today, Downs charges a $1,690 basic service fee, a price in line with what most others charge in the area, according to the funeral home.

Tradition and practicality

Minnesota’s Iron Range has a long tradition of what some would call fierce loyalty. They carry the concept of family owned further: Range Cooperative purchased its first funeral home in 1933. Today it operates homes in Virginia and Hibbing and built a third facility in Hoyt Lakes in 1997.

The cooperative has owned various businesses over the years, including grocery stores and creameries. Today they operate an LP gas company and the funeral homes. At the end of the year, consumers get rebates if the business made money.

“The people who have been with Range Funeral are very, very loyal,” said Leon Wysocki, general manager for all three sites. They do image advertising, on Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day and Christmas. “Image is very important,” said Wysocki. “You lose that and you lose ... you don’t take anything for granted.”

The Hayward home has a reputation for breaking with tradition to personalize the services. “I was born and raised in a funeral home,” said Kraemer. “My philosophy is to give the people what they want.”

That includes a kids’ room with a large-screen TV tuned to the Disney Channel, helping parents feel comfortable allowing their children to participate in family funerals.

“So many grandparents are babysitting their grandkids these days and (the children) get real close to their grandparents,” Kraemer said.

When a local firefighter died, Kraemer arranged for the casket to be transported in the fire truck rather than the hearse. “It was powerful,” he said.

Anderson-Nathan funeral home operated independently from 1937 until six years ago when it became part of a larger private company, Keystone Group. Keystone also owns funeral homes in Solon Springs, Minong, Spooner and Rhinelander.

“The corporation has really helped us to grow,” said Kraemer. Construction of a new crematorium in Hayward also serves the other Keystone affiliates.

Competitive pricing

Two large, corporate funeral and cremation facilities in Duluth undercut traditional homes in pricing. Advantage Funeral and Cremation services in Duluth advertises cremation for as little as $695, including basic services, an alternative container and crematory fee. Another, the Cremation Society of Minnesota with facilities in Eau Claire and Duluth, advertises cremation starting at about $900.

By contrast, the itemized basic services fee alone at Nathan-Anderson in Hayward, and some other traditional funeral homes, exceeds the entire cost of a cremation at Advantage, and the Society.

Neither made a representative available for this story, but their price lists were readily provided.

Some traditional industry competitors call them “discount stores” offering minimal service that won’t satisfy everyone.

Monfre of the Funeral Directors Association said many funeral homes sold to the big chains in the last decade continue to be run by original owners. The pace of consolidation has slowed, however.

“The economy has slowed and that reflects on any business,” Monfre said. “They’re all looking at the bottom line.”

Becoming part of a larger corporation gave many small funeral homes security and access to professional talent and financial resources. In general, the number of individuals going into mortuary sciences is declining, according to the association, and Monfre said fewer children are staying in their family businesses.

An exception is the Downs Funeral Home in Superior, a five-generation family business that began in 1888.

Rob Downs II said people appreciate that continuity, and he speculates ownership turnover in many homes is due to expectations of the profession. “It’s a full-time, time-consuming job. You have to be on call all the time. I don’t think people are as willing to do that anymore.”

The other changes affect traditional funeral homes as well: About 35 percent of his clients are choosing cremation there, instead of from the chains.

“Inflation affects prices,” he said. “Each year you sit down and figure out what your overhead is going to be. There’s up to $1,000 disparity among (area) funeral homes and a few more people are going out shopping (for funeral services) but not a great deal,” he said.

Simplicity for others

With full price disclosure, it’s difficult to argue with the total bill. It’s also difficult to find anyone dissatisfied who will talk.

One couple produced receipts from services rendered in 1994 when the wife’s mother died in a Superior nursing home. The couple never confronted funeral directors at Downs Funeral Home, which provided the service. In retrospect, they said a discount option would have been sufficient.

They accept the costs of transferring the body from the nursing home directly to the crematorium and crematory charges of $200, even the $95 for the plastic box in which they received the “cremains.”

But they question the $995 for basic service fees that brought the total to $1,649. Ironically it was just weeks after the Federal Trade Commission amended the Funeral Rule, allowing funeral homes to charge a “basic service fee” to cover such costs as 24-hour service availability, funeral counseling and other overhead.

“We spent 37 minutes in their office, parked on the street and had two cups of coffee,” said the wife.

Today, Downs charges a $1,690 basic service fee, a price in line with what most others charge in the area, according to the funeral home.

Meanwhile in Northastern Minnesota on the Iron Range, there’s a tradition of fierce loyalty, and some Rangers have taken the concept of “family-owned” to the ultimate: operating funeral homes as cooperatives. The first was purchased in 1933. Today Range Cooperative operates homes in Virginia, Hibbing and a third built in Hoyt Lakes in 1997.

Over the years, the co-op has owned various businesses, including grocery stores and creameries. In addition to the funeral homes, it operates an LP gas company. At the end of the year, consumers get rebates if the business made money.

“The people who have been with Range Funeral are very, very loyal,” said Leon Wysocki, general manager for all funeral homes. They do image advertising, on Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day and Christmas. “Image is very important,” he said. “You lose that and you lose . . . you don’t take anything for granted.”