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Taphophilia (dot) Com...
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Thanatology and Taphophile Issues, Cemetery,
Funeral Industry and Death Related News.
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The business of funerals now includes casket stores |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Thursday, 27 May 2004 |
FOREST GROVE -- Jeffrey Hoyt, an undertaker by profession, knows what frightens the grieving most: casket selection. He has seen too many people gasp when confronted by the sight of empty caskets for sale.
So he set about changing the experience by making casket selection, and other aspects of putting on a funeral, a more conventional shopping experience.
He set up a store within his Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral Home in Forest Grove. Amid soft, atmospheric lighting, he displays dozens of quarter-sized caskets in all designs and colors. The store extends beyond caskets to provide a kind of one-stop shopping for the grieving. Other merchandise includes urns for ashes, burial garments, tombstones, keepsakes and gifts.
"Some families would have a really hard time selecting a casket," said Hoyt, 45. "Since we set up the store, people actually seem comfortable selecting a casket. Often, they begin to browse before we even talk about it."
It may help that Hoyt starts people off in the gift room. A large oak table with comfortable chairs is surrounded by brightly lit shelves where posters announce that a funeral is a celebration of life. Prices range from $2.25 for a greeting card to $250 for a flag case. In between are flower seeds, military pins, silver cross pendants, white candles, register books, picture frames, blankets, garden stepping stones and keepsake urns.
Hoyt is not alone among morticians in his entrepreneurial expansions.
Steve Heaton, president of the Oregon Funeral Directors Association, said more funeral homes are making arrangements that are more reflective of a person's interests and easier for the grieving.
"The interests and desires of families during a funeral have changed dramatically," Heaton said. "Old traditions don't seem to meet the needs of more modern folks. People are looking for more personalized arrangements. They want more of a boutique experience, and funeral homes have to adapt to that."
Dozens of funeral homes across Oregon are embracing that change, he said, by setting up in-home stores and offering services that once were beyond the reach of the funeral home, such as playing a video of the deceased's life.
Hoyt recently turned about a quarter of his funeral home into a reception area where he can set up tables and chairs and make catered food available for a memorial reception. That's proving to be a popular option for many families, he said.
He plans to remodel the chapel by installing new carpet and replacing the 185 wooden pews with chairs and tables where families will be able to have either a traditional service or a more secular event presided over by a friend.
His services extend beyond the funeral home.
Recently, a family wanted to honor the deceased's passion for golf. Hoyt and his team created a pipeline into the open grave, allowing each person to drop a golf ball in. The casket was lowered into place atop the golf balls.
"It's a time of change for us," said Hoyt, who co-owns three funeral homes with his wife, Debra Rose-Hoyt. The other two are Forest Grove Memorial Chapel and Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt in Vernonia.
Joan Burnsed, 43, said she has used Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt several times over the years to bury relatives. The new in-house store, she said, has been a big plus .
"It's so easy. Everything is very centralized," she said. "All options are right there at your fingertips, and that makes the experience much easier."
Hoyt and Rose-Hoyt purchased Fuiten, Rose & Hoyt Funeral homes in Forest Grove and Vernonia in 1992 from Debra's parents, after working for them for 10 years. They purchased Forest Grove Memorial Chapel in 1996.
They've created in-house stores in both Forest Grove homes but not in Vernonia, which Hoyt said serves only 25 families a year. The two Forest Grove funeral homes combined serve about 250 families a year.
As they continue to fine-tune and expand their approach to a changing marketplace, the couple hope that their business will remain connected to the community and stay traditional by remaining in the family.
Their son, Gregory, 18, plans to begin a mortuary apprenticeship in the summer.
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrowest/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_west_news/1085140561238930.xml
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Taphophilia?
taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)
ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"
DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries
Quote Repository
“No one here gets out alive” Jim Morrison from Five to O
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The Men of Mortuaries 2008 Calendar is now available! All sale proceeds benefit KAMMCARES, a breast cancer foundation.
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