A surge in popularity for cremations in the US is threatening to overwhelm its “mom-and-pop” funeral homes, which count on big burials for their profits.
The recipients of the pricey goods Mike Nicodemus sells will not be around to enjoy them.
For the baseball fan, he offers a cremation urn with the favourite team’s logo. Military veterans can spend eternity encased in a bronze container inscribed with the emblem of their service, or in a case displaying an American flag.
The brightly lit cremation showroom at Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home and Crematory in Virginia Beach is the culmination of Nicodemus’s effort to turn cremation into a touch-and-feel consumer activity akin to shoe shopping and wedding planning.
“Let them look around, let them shop, let them browse to see what’s out there,” he says. “If you don’t take the initiative during the arrangement conference to let that family know what’s available, they don’t know.” Continue reading