From Fine Dining to Final Farewells: Hospitality Experts Launch Memora Partners

By Thomas A. Parmalee

A newly formed funeral service company that includes a well-known figure in the funeral profession and a few fresh faces is gearing up to make its first purchase.

Memora Partners, which is family owned, has enlisted the services of John McQueen, who is renowned for bringing a higher level of hospitality to the funeral profession, to serve as its chief operating officer.

The company, which was launched in January, was founded by Abraham Merchant and Richard Cohn, who have spent more than 40 years together building restaurants and hotels across the country, along with Richard’s son, Gavin Miles Cohn.

Gavin, who serves as Memora’s president, says Abraham is “like an uncle” and refers to John as “an in-law.”

The Memora name, he said, is rooted in Latin and means “to remember, to mention, to relate and to remind.”

He added, “That encompasses what we are trying to do – at the end of the day, it’s about honoring a memory and legacy – and you do that through providing an experience.”

Abraham and Richard are longtime business partners, having founded Merchants Hospitality, a brand that “has been synonymous with excellence and innovation in the hospitality sector,” in 2004, according to its website. They serve as the co-chairs of Memora.

“The partnership between Abraham and my father has been very successful. Over four decades, they have developed numerous concepts in the hotel and restaurant industry across the country and internationally,” Gavin said.

“I see the hard work my dad and Abraham have done over the years – and the success they have enjoyed,” Gavin said. “I want to grow and continue that legacy – and although we have been very successful in the hotel and restaurant industry, we believe there is another branch of hospitality we can extend to … the funeral profession.”

Over the last several months, Gavin and the other leaders at Memora Partners have immersed themselves in the world of funeral service, attending various events and conferences.

“We understand our strengths, but we also understand our weaknesses, including a lack of experience in the funeral profession,” Gavin said.

And that is a huge reason they connected with John, who with his wife, Nikki, at his side, built Anderson-McQueen Funeral and Cremation Tribute Centers into the largest family-owned business in Florida before selling it to Foundation Partners Group in 2017.

Abraham and the Cohn family met John through an introduction made by Chris Cruger, the CEO of The Foresight Companies.

“Chris and I are great friends, and his introduction carried a lot of weight in getting the conversation going,” John said. “But what was more important to me was their vision from a hospitality standpoint. The other thing that resonated with me was the family ownership – as opposed to being a private equity firm or a large organization, this is a family. I spent my whole life in a family business, growing it and innovating … and that resonated with me.”

The funeral profession still follows many outdated practices, and Memora wants to add “a layer of innovation” that focuses on “experiences” as opposed to traditional services, Gavin said.

Their team can lean on its experience and expertise, as it has opened or created concepts for numerous restaurants, including Philippe Chow, Watermark, Industry Kitchen, Mezze on the River, and the Ophelia Lounge – across different markets from New York to Washington, D.C. to Nashville to Florida.

Whether it’s a “living room concept” where people dine in a casual environment amid a fireplace and a comfortable couch or at a high-end Chinese restaurant, Abraham and the Cohn family have always focused on bringing an innovative experience rooted in hospitality to customers.

Another differentiator the Memora team plans to bring to the funeral space is a stronger focus on customers, Abraham said.

For instance, in the restaurant space, they keep track of customers, so they understand their needs and history with a click of a button.

“It’s all available at a glance,” he said. “Someone could come in, and we will know what coffee or soda they like. We build that history to provide a great customer journey and to make everything seamless.”

Often, customers are surprised when they realize restaurant staff know their preferences. “You need to keep information but use it delicately,” Abraham said. “We are not looking to push sales but to provide a convenience and let guests know that we remember who they are and what they like and don’t like.”

Seeking Acquisition Candidates

Memora Partners is talking with various parties as it seeks to make its first acquisition in funeral service, Richard said.

“We are going after the legacy owners, not the big conglomerates,” he said. “We want to connect with people who are looking to have their good name and goodwill passed on and respected.”

Team members have been attending industry events and conferences not just to learn but to leverage opportunities to build trust and respect among funeral professionals, Richard said.

“Our time period is now,” he said, when asked when the company wants to make its first acquisition.

Gavin noted that while Memora will be “opportunistic” when it comes to where it plants its flag first, it has a basic framework that will inform its strategy.

“The key we are looking for in our first acquisition is for it to be a combination of being a suburb outside of a metro city,” he said, noting that the Columbus, Cincinnati, Louisville and Indianapolis markets are all attractive.

“We don’t want to come in and strip someone’s legacy of what has already been built, but we want to augment it with a layer of hospitality,” Gavin said.

As far as the size of the business Memora wants to buy, it is flexible but is initially targeting one in the 250-350 call range, he said.

Ultimately, Memora wants to own multiple funeral homes in the same market, Richard said.

“So, the first acquisition has to be in such a location that future opportunities might be found a day’s drive or a few hours away, so we can use it as a hub to expand,” Richard said. “We don’t want to be spread too thin.”

While many buyers focus on firms with a high cremation rate, Memora is leaning a bit the other way, John said.

“We are not opposed to a high cremation rate, but we are looking for more in the 60% burial, 40% cremation range,” he said. “We would love to acquire a firm that is doing burials but that is also well acquainted with cremation, but that may not be their primary driver. We still see a lot of value in burial.”

Memora is also open to buying the No. 2 or No. 3 firm in a given market, John said. “Sometimes people only want the biggest or largest in an area,” he said. “But we are comfortable partnering with the No. 2 or No. 3 guy and hopefully making them the No. 1 guy.”

Abraham Merchant

A Higher Level of Service

Whichever firm ends up being the first one Memora acquires, the company won’t offer cookie cutter options to families. The Memora team simply does not want its staff to hand out a list to families and say, “These are your choices,” Gavin said.

“We believe in giving them an experience,” he said. “What does that look like? It’s different for every single family.”

In general, Memora will focus on creating spaces that make families feel they are coming into a home instead of a place of business – similar to how McQueen made people feel by incorporating a café into his funeral home, where he served only Starbucks coffee.

“We want them to have cookies and coffee in a lounge environment – and to come to the funeral service not just when there is a death, but to have the funeral home be a place for the community,” Gavin said.

It’s also extremely important to the Memora team that they provide support to families before a death, during the funeral planning process and then afterward.

“During the planning process, maybe that looks like not only helping with the service but arranging flights and transportation for everyone who does not live in the town – and helping them with accommodations,” Gavin said. “We are dealing with people who are having one of the worst days of their life, and we should be here to offer not only our condolences but the support they need during their hardest time.”

The journey for the family should be purposeful, Abraham added, explaining that even the lighting from one room to another as a family goes through a funeral home should be intentional.

Gavin added, “We are a service company that also does funeral service – we don’t want to box ourselves in … why not think beyond funerals? Why not be a place to celebrate life – for birthdays, monumental events and community events?”

Training will be critical, John said.

“Merchants Hospitality trains its team to deliver exceptional service to guests, and I still feel that in funeral service, a lot of firms are lacking in that training aspect.”

He cited consumer research sponsored by Foresight that indicates families want and value transparency – and they also want everything to be simple and easy.

While John is currently working behind the scenes as Memora strives to make its first acquisition, he’ll become more front-facing and be putting his “boots on the ground” once the company buys its first location, he said.

Memora will bring a fresh vision to the profession, Gavin said. “We are in it for the long haul, and we collectively bring ideas from multiple generations,” he said. “We want to respect tradition but also blend that with innovation.”

If you’re interested in exploring your options and talking to the Memora team, you can contact Gavin Miles Cohn at Gavin@MemoraPartners.com.