It’s interesting to me that when I look at the financial results of the public companies in Death Care and also try to understand the continual business potential of Death Care, I seem to see that cemetery financial results are passing funeral home results in many locales.  And, I’m coming around to the fact that “Legacy” is very important to many people while the disposition of their body seems to be secondary to that “Legacy” in the arrangement process.

 

I don’t think that is the way it has always been. . . . . but cemeteries are making a much bigger play on “Legacy” of an individual or family than they ever have before. . . . It’s one reason that I see great potential in cemeteries for the next couple of decades.

 

I think cemeteries can profit greatly even in a world of less and less traditional burials.

 

You see, cemeteries seem to be creating premium spaces for those that want “Legacy” after their demise and those premium spaces can come in cremation columbariums and niches as easily as they can in mausoleums and grave spaces.  One cemetery that seems to be doing very well in that type of business plan is Hollywood Forever in Los Angeles.

 

In order to create premium pricing philosophies a business, such as a cemetery, needs to create a hype or market demand for their service.  Many cemeteries in urban areas, such as Hollywood Forever are doing that by making their grounds more accessible to the living.  Hollywood Forever, for instance, offers movie nights on the cemetery grounds once per week in the Summer.  Here is a short list of what will be screening the rest of this summer.

 

The crowds seem to be very large as evidenced by the photos you can see here.

 

Here is the website of Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

 

Here is the “Premium Memorialization” page from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery website.

 

 

Bringing out the Stars:  You know the movies are getting popular when the stars turn out.  This recent article from Entertainment Weekly and the news video from NBC featured below prove that point when well-known actresses Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock showed up at Hollywood Forever during a screening of the 1998 movie Practical Magic to promote the September release of their new feature, Practical Magic 2.

 

 

It’s not just happening in Hollywood:  What I call the “Cemetery Renaissance” is not just happening in movie-loving Los Angeles.  Cemeteries and funeral home/cemetery companies of all sorts are finding that added immersion or exposure to their green spaces and the simple fact of letting Death Care consumers know what might be possible for “Legacy” building for cremation and earth burial consumers is fueling this re-birth of the urban cemetery.

 

Here’s a comment from this article in Worth Magazine by William Villanova, CEO of the famous Frank Campbell Funeral Home in New York City, “First-generation clients built something from nothing, and they tend to want their service to reflect that arc, where they came from, what they overcame, the specific things they did.” They’re often more hands-on with their own planning because they built their whole life being hands-on.”

 

Related Articles — Here are a couple of recent articles from Funeral Director Daily that show the trends of cemeteries and their potential:

• New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery becomes more immersive
• SCI’s CEO Thomas Ryan answers questions on the company’s “Cremation/Cemetery strategy”
• Everstory Partners aims for more of the “Upper K”

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• “Simplicity”:  How a natural burial park works in Maryland.  Video news story and print article.  NBC News Channel 4 – Washington (DC)
• 19 Creepy Catacombs around the world you can visit.  Atlas Obscura
• Why does a cemetery in a Rocky Mountain ghost town have a new landline?  CBC Lite – Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)

 

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