When the cremation company started in April of last year, there was no way they could have predicted that a worldwide Pandemic would happen soon.
As Covid-19 approaches the two-year mark, Solace Cremation has turned out to be a service for the modern age, a web-based business that offers a safe and remote experience while allowing customers to smoothly organize a loved one's cremation. Solace is based in Portland, Ore., and has operations in Seattle and Southern California.
After losing a parent, Crawford and Odusanya decided to research the funeral business and formed their own agency.
The funeral director tried to up-sell Crawford and his siblings on various products and services once after Crawford's father died of Parkinson's disease. Crawford asked, "Why would we want to do something different from what my dad chose?" He kept wondering if anyone had come up with a better end-of-life experience.
His mother died in his hometown ofSheffield, England. She wanted to be cremated, but she was paying $2,000 for a wooden casket.
Crawford says they came away from those experiences wondering how they could fully redesign the funeral home experience. They interviewed families who had similar reactions to Crawford. The process was old and cold, and most people thought it was all about money. They focused on modernizing the experience of saying goodbye to a loved one after abandoning their initial idea.
Service Corporation International owns a number of mortuary chains, including Funeraria Del Angel. In California, where funeral homes must list prices online, a loophole allows many to get out of that basic requirement. Most funeral homes won't reveal rates until you sit at a table with a big binder in front of you.
There is no need for all the funeral home visits, paperwork by hand, and in-person meetings if you have chosen direct cremation. People are very happy that we removed that from the equation. They have time to grieve with their families and plan a memorial.
The funeral rates increase with various purchases. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, cremation costs can go as high as $2,560 in the US. The funeral director at Solace says that cremation fees can pile up. She says that if you want a lock of hair, if your loved one is over a certain weight, or if you want a pacemaker removed, these all add up very quickly. People who are still overcome by grief end up agreeing to extra costs because they don't have time to shop around or negotiate.
Solace does not add any extra fees, it just adds a flat fee. The death certificate is the only extra cost, it depends on the state and the number of copies a family needs.
The Solace office is in Portland.
Michael Hebb is the founder of Death Over Dinner, a nonprofit that organizes events where people talk about death. He met Crawford and Odusanya at Endwell five years ago. He says the offer and pricing are important. It is not hidden away in a part of the funeral home website.
Liz Eddie is the founder of Lantern, a resource guide for end-of-life planning that also serves as a digital vault for documents. Eddie says that the Solace team takes one-on-one care with each customer. The experience is warm and connected and run by people who really understand customers needs.
Solace says it has grown quickly. It says revenue tripled from the year before to the year after. The startup collaborated with Good Mod, a Portland design company, and Rob Bruce, a former Nike employee, to create more permanent urns from 3D printed clay. There is a separate website for these for $195 and up.
We want to provide services that families want, instead of just trying to sell them anything.
