Forest Lawn kiosk available for Burbank, Glendale area shoppers

When shoppers at the mall are searching for those perfect skinny jeans, they can also now shop for the perfect final resting place.

Forest Lawn Glendale recently opened kiosks at both the Burbank Town Center and the Glendale Galleria, where people can get information about funeral plots, urns and make plans for the Great Beyond.

“We try and go where our customers are and feel comfortable,” said Ben Sussman, vice president of community relations and media management for Forest Lawn. “People might not want to use a cemetery or one of our memorial parks as a weekend destination.”

Some shoppers said they appreciated the convenience of the kiosk.

“It’s a good method to get information to people,” said Jim O’Donoghue as he passed by the kiosk at the Burbank Town Center, located just outside of Bath and Body Works. “There’s nothing here that’s objectionable.”

But, he added, he probably wouldn’t use it.

“I think I need something more intimate,” he said. “If they can make the business model work, more power to them.”

One shopper stopped by the kiosk Tuesday afternoon to ask about plot prices, and another to grab some brochures.

“We’re not here to sell, we’re just here to provide information,” said Hilda Carabes, the company’s regional sales manager.

But some mall patrons said mixing shopping with death and dying was “tacky” and “morbid.”

Town center shopper Raul Lujan said he’d rather be behind closed doors when making funeral arrangements.

“It’s really intense when somebody dies,” he said. “Malls are like a happy place to me.”

Sussman said Forest Lawn has kiosks in four other malls located in Glendale, Eagle Rock, Claremont and Palm Desert.

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Follow Alene Tchekmedyian on Google+ and on Twitter: @atchek.

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