A couple of recent articles that I read give an indication of how the financial success of cemeteries can vary based on location and/or the clientele that may be using the cemetery.

 

I’m from the state of Minnesota and more specifically an area outside of the metropolitan Minneapolis/St. Paul demographic market.  My area of Minnesota was settled in the last half of the 19th Century by immigrants most generally from the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Finland.  These pioneers received their government allotment of land, began farming and immediately established small communities centered on the church.

 

Most of these churches were positioned so that they were within about 30 minutes of a horse-drawn buggy ride of the agricultural family members. That close proximity to members eventually led to hundreds, maybe thousands, of these low number of member churches dotting the countryside of Minnesota.  And, I’m guessing, that modus operandi for setting up church locations was probably followed in all rural areas as America grew westward.

 

Each of these churches also, because of necessity, had a cemetery that grew around that church for the next 150 years.  Today, however, especially with the advent of transportation and family farms becoming larger corporate farms the need for these country churches has waned.  My mother’s church, where my maternal grandparents are buried, closed two years ago. . . .but the cemetery is still there.  The cemetery has virtually no new graves being sold. . . but it does require some funding to be available to fund upkeep of the grounds.

 

Contrast that with the cemeteries which began, again because of necessity, in what have become large metropolitan areas.  They generally covered many acres and served many different churches from the metropolitan areas.  While cremation has taken its toll on grave space sales and interment fees these cemeteries have been able to continue to grow, and in many cases thrive, because of the optionality that they can offer.

 

By optionality, I mean mausoleums, cremation niches, crematories on site, and in many cases the availabilty of venues for services. . . . even the growing trend to host weddings.  In other words, they give these cemeteries a potential ability to raise revenue.  As a matter of fact, Service Corporation International CEO Thomas Ryan made this comment in the company’s 2nd Quarter 2024 Earnings Call, “. . we continue to see long-term strength in our premium cemetery inventory and sales production.”

 

Recently I’ve seen articles that focus on privately owned community area cemeteries that are trying to offer more optionality via the idea of installing their own cremation equipment. . . . equipment that would either be used as a trade service for funeral homes without their own crematory or, possibly, to enter the cremation disposition business going directly to the consumer and competing against local funeral homes.

 

One cemetery operator, Troy Nikola,who owns the Princeton Memorial Park and Mausoleum in Robbinsville, New Jersey, is one cemetery operator who wants to install his own crematory.  Here’s what he says according to this article from the New Jersey Monitor, “The rising cremation rate presents a serious challenge. One of my cemeteries, for example, has seen new grave sales decline by 90% from 100 grave sales per year to just 10 grave sales per year. Burial services have dropped by 50% from 120 services a year to 60. And this shift threatens the long-term financial viability of cemeteries. . . .If cemeteries are not allowed to adapt, such as by operating their own crematories within the cemeteries, they will struggle to survive.” 

 

Here’s another article from Decatur, Georgia, where a cemetery operator has indicated an interest in building and operating a crematory in his cemetery.  In a letter to the cemetery neighbors he makes this statement indicating that he would like more options for consumers at the cemetery, “Today, three in five Americans choose cremation, and this trend is expected to continue rising in the coming years. As a result, many of the families we serve at Washington have asked us to provide an all-in-one location where they can make cemetery, funeral, and cremation arrangements—in a place they know and trust.”

 

Funeral Director Daily take — “Owners want optionality for consumers, cemetery neighbors worry about the environment” —-  If you read both of those article you will notice that there does not seem to be any issues of the consumer public against having more choice in their options.  However, there is a great deal of concern by neighbors that crematories that operate near residential areas or schools need to provide a clean air environment in the neighborhood.  And, at least among neighbors, that continues to be a bigger issue than the ability of, in some cases, century old businesses to modernize their consumer selections.

 

And even while cemeteries were probably located in the area first I don’t see it getting any easier to build crematories in densely populated areas in the future.  Depending on the population size of the market area cemeteries may find their best money-making alternatives in the mausoleum and columbarium markets.

 

Related Article — “The Crematory Dilemma: Continued consumer choice vs. the NIMBY attitude”  – Funeral Director Daily

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Cremation Society of South Carolina – Westville Funerals becomes first in the nation to launch “Remembrance Reels” .  Technology Today
• Live well, die well:  As Korea ages, investors turn to funeral services.  The Korea Herald (South Korea)
• Cyrus church to deny rites to those that choose cremation.  Cyprus Mail (Cyprus)

 

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