It’s been called a “hipster” funeral home.  That’s at least what one person labeled Brooklyn, New York’s new contemporary funeral home, Sparrow.  Erica Hill, a co-owner of Sparrow says this of comments like that, “Yes, we look different than what you expect a funeral home to be, but that’s okay.”

According to this article in Morning Brew about Sparrow, the on-street, storefront funeral home looks something like a commercial storefront, and it does sell soaps, greeting cards, and incense during the day but also functions as a full-service funeral home.  (You can see photos -both inside and out – of the funeral home in the linked article).

Hill believes, according to the article, that there is an underserved audience that looks at funerals, cremations, and the accompanying services differently than what is commonly thought.    Hill says she believes that mourners want funerals that are “reflective” of the deceased and they haven’t always found that in traditional funeral homes.  Here’s what she says in the article,  “I would go to all these funerals, wakes, viewings, and walk away feeling like that didn’t represent the person who died. You’d go into a funeral home and it would just feel…yucky. . . .  Why isn’t there a celebration that really reflects who they are?”

It appears that she believes that her facility that is “muted and modern” can facilitate that type of service.

Sparrow has been open since November and has served as the venue for seven funerals to date with two more on the schedule.  According to the Morning Brew article, Sparrow will have to hold eight to ten services per month to achieve profitability.  The article states that their prices run from about $7,500 for a viewing, ceremony, and casket to $5,000 for cremation with a memorial service to about $2,400 for cremation alone.

Funeral Director Daily take:  I’m probably the wrong guy to ask because I’ve lived in a rural community setting my entire life.  However, from my point of view, urban lifestyles are changing.  At least prior to Covid-19 and also prior to the summer of 2020 riots in the streets across America, there was a movement trend to the urban cores and downtowns virtually all over the country among empty-nest workers, young single or childless workers, and retirees.

Upscale condos and upscale apartments in metropolitan urban cores were in high demand.  More so than the funeral home itself is the question of these neighborhoods being able to continue to grow with the upscale demographics that they were growing with once we come out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There is probably something to be said that those new luxurious condos or apartments that have filled with the demographics listed above will create their own neighborhoods with favorite restaurants, grocery stores, and yes, funeral establishments.  So, in time, we may see these “storefront” funeral facilities become coveted community members in these developing urban communities.

Again, from my point of view, Sparrow is an American version of the successful Exit Here death care business in London started by Oliver Peyton. You can learn more about Exit Here from their website here.

More news from the world of Death Care:

• “You can’t put them in a cupboard”:  Funeral industry hit by Covid-19 staff shortages.  The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)
• FEMA helps with funeral expenses linked to Covid-19.  MSN
• Twiford Funeral Homes honored with national recognition.  The Coastland Times  (NC)
• Twiford Funeral Homes website

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