The Calgary Stampede

It seems to me that in this day and age of declining revenues per case in the funeral business, that every ancillary service a funeral home/crematory can secure can be a god-send for business.  Many funeral homes will try to sell a better casket or urn, or will push cremation jewelry or an urn vault to add to the revenue mix.

However, it is apparent to me that the simplest way to add major revenue is to simply add more funeral calls.  With that in mind I read an article entitled, “Multicultural funerals cater to Calgary’s Communities“.  I must say that as a midwestern native who has had the opportunity to visit Calgary on a couple of occasions during trips to Banff National Park, it struck me as odd that Calgary had a  multicultural community as my viewpoint and image of the community is the famed Calgary Stampede based on the old-West of the past.

However, it appears that the larger Calgary community has become, as have many other cities, a melting pot of different cultures.  I also found that article that you can read here talks about the forward looking Pierson Funeral Home of Calgary and how they have positioned their business to not only cater to the traditional Calgary funerals and cremations but to cater to this new generation as well.

The article talks about Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims in the Canadian city and one of the requirements of each of those faiths is to bathe the bodies of their loved ones.  The article talks about how the Country Hills Crematorium in northeast Calgary was designed and built as a partnership between South Asian business leaders and the Pierson Funeral Home.  According to Michael Pierson, President of Pierson’s Funeral Home, “We built the bathing rooms, another element was to have an easy and simple way to have the cremation part of the ceremony so family and friends can actually witness the cremation”. . . adding that some families want to place the body into the furnace themselves and witness the event close-up.

Pierson believes that traditions will continue to shift, populations will change and that more new facilities will be built with diversity in mind.  This will include everything from cultural religious practices to on-site catering for specific types of food.  In the interim, it appears that Pierson will have a head start on the death care business in this community segment.

Funeral Director Daily take:  We’ve said before the funeral traditions of North America and its population are changing from what was once Catholic, Protestant, or Baptist.  There are a lot of folks that need death care services with a twist – and some twists are few and far between – but some twists, such as an entire religious population, may need some different services than today and used quite often.

We think it is only smart that you look at what is happening in your community and see if there is a need that is not being met for some population sector in the community.  Is there something that your funeral home can offer that no other funeral home is?  What ethnic group is underserved in your community?  Can you offer something to add their services to your business rather than someone else’s business?  Forward looking thinking can pay off in big ways down the road.

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