NY Funeral Homes' Less Grave Image | Connecting Directors

As cremations rise, funeral directors like Richard and Michael Ruggiero offer a wider range of ‘concierge’ services to the bereaved. When customers asked Richard Ruggiero to display their recently deceased mother’s cookware during her viewing, the co-owner of two F. Ruggiero & Sons funeral homes didn’t bat an eye.

?Our position has always been that this is your funeral,? he says. ?We’re here to direct you, not take over.?

In a shift away from the stuffy services of yesteryear, a growing number of funeral homes are touting personalized ceremonies, where customers can exhibit anything from a loved one’s treasured frying pan to their favorite Christmas decor. The trend is a welcome reprieve for funeral home directors, who are raising service costs and de-emphasizing pricey caskets amid the growing popularity of cremation.

At Joseph Farenga & Sons Funeral Home in Astoria, Queens, owner Gus Antonopoulos says customers often arrive with laptops in tow. Indeed, 19% of New York area funeral home directors say video tributes or personalized slide shows are the most popular service they offer, according to a report from accounting firm Citrin Cooperman & Co. Seventeen percent of directors say personalized services are the industry’s most positive change and more than a third of families used such custom services this year, up from 24% in 2008.

?A funeral is an event like anything else,? says Mr. Antonopoulos. ?After knowing someone for 20 or 30 years, you’re celebrating their life.?

Personalized services are also a way to grow revenues as lower-cost burial options gain favor. Nearly a third of local funeral homes say direct cremation and burials, which typically don’t include embalming or visitation and are priced lower than traditional services, are the biggest issues facing the profession. Cremations accounted for 30% of New York area funeral homes’ business in 2009, compared with 20% five years ago, according to the Citrin Cooperman report.

?If you went back 20 years, funerals were to an extent one size fits all,? says Ed Horton, managing partner of the funeral services practice at Citrin Cooperman. ?We’ve been telling funeral directors to price for their services, because that’s what’s special and unique.?

The average price for basic funeral services rose to $1,745 this year. That’s up about 12% from $1,555 last year, compared with an increase of 2% between 2007 and 2008. The average cost of direct cremation rose 17% this year, while the cost of a direct burial increased 16%.

Mr. Ruggiero concedes that special services have helped offset the increasing popularity of cremation. ?You’d be amazed how many people don’t even realize you can have a visitation with a cremation,? he says.

Funeral homes are also expanding what the industry calls ?knowledge-based services,? which can include everything from bereavement counseling to assistance with Social Security or veterans’ paperwork. Mr. Antonopoulos says he likes to think of it as a ?concierge service? for the afterlife; among other services, Joseph Farenga & Sons holds a candlelight ceremony each year for families of those buried.

At Ruggiero & Sons, Mr. Ruggiero brought in a social worker to manage three year-round bereavement counseling groups. So far, he hasn’t charged for them. ?If you don’t do it with sincerity,? he explains, ?people are going to smell a rat.?

Compassion is a tough business model, but funeral directors have the benefit of an undeniably steady trade. Citrin’s Mr. Horton says he hasn’t seen any negative effect on the industry from the recession. Sure, he notes, some customers may be scaling down flower arrangements, but few are willing to skimp on a loved one’s service.

For Mr. Ruggiero, whose family started Ruggiero & Sons in 1875, keeping services affordable is as important to the business plan as profits: Most of his customers are by referral.

?People recognize value,? he says. ?I’m here to help families, not sell goods.?

Source: CrainsNewYork.com

Photo: Buck Ennis