Dealing With Death; Storefront Funeral Homes, A New Approach
Clarksville – If you’ve lost a loved one, you certainly know the financial toll it can take it can take on top of the emotional pain.
Most funerals begin around $6,000; some are far more than that. But a new venture opening this year in Clarksville brings a bit of a counter-culture to the funeral scene while promising big savings along the way.
We’re talking about a business called Community Funeral Service. And it’s definitely not your typical funeral home, mainly because they operate out of a downtown storefront versus the more traditional stand-alone funeral home buildings we’re accustomed to.
Owner Ray Wood says they can do a basic package for just under $3,400 and that includes the casket and grave site burial. And Wood says consumers are responding.
“You are doing $40 a month, 26 payments,” said Funeral Home Owner Ray Wood.
A contract is in the works at Community Funeral Service in Clarksville. Nothing unusual about this face-to-face funeral prep. But Owner Ray Wood will be the first to tell you that his funeral home is not the norm.
“I’m sure when you walked in the door, you thought this was not a traditional funeral home and we’re by far not a traditional funeral home,” Wood said.
The first indication is a downtown storefront location holding visitations and funerals inside and caskets for sale in a back room. They opened back in February. Wood says business is good, around 40 funerals so far.
“We take care of the families and the loved ones from the moment of death until after the burial or cremation, whatever the case may be, is over with,” Wood said.
Taking care, with what Wood calls a family atmosphere and low prices. A starting package for a funeral with burial is $3,385 not including things like flowers and sales tax.
$995 dollars covers direct cremation, a container for the process and no service.
So what is it that allows this place to keep the funeral costs down? Wood says the storefront location along Main Street in Downtown Clarksville is one part of that.
“We’re not in a stand-alone building; therefore our overhead is lower and we can afford to pass those savings onto the families that we serve,” Wood said.
The other part, Wood says, working with casket and vault makers on lower prices.
It’s creating an unconventional business model with naysayers at the start.
“We had several people, business people, say this is never going to work in this area, people are not going to want their loved ones in a storefront funeral home,” Wood said.
But Wood says there’s since been a change of heart and word of mouth, sending folks here.
“If you have any questions, call me,” Wood says to a customer.
It’s all taking a different path for their loved ones.
As for other ways to save money, direct cremation is a way to save costs by avoiding funeral services like embalming and transportation of the body.
You can still do a funeral but cremate afterwards to save burial costs. If you do that, Consumer Reports suggests looking into renting a casket for the ceremony. They say there could be substantial savings there. Funeral homes often refer to these as “ceremonial caskets,” so put that on your checklist for the funeral home if you’re interested.
Consumer Reports also suggests you don’t have to get a casket through the funeral home; you find them cheaper online.
