A new funeral parlour in Wolverhampton upset shoppers by displaying gravestones in the window. Two rows of marble tombstones startled people passing Co-op Funeralcare.
Now the offending monuments, on display in Tettenhall High Street, have been removed after the funeral directors bowed to the sensitivities of local people. Councillor Joan Stevenson, who represents the area, said: “People were startled – death is not a subject they want to be reminded of when doing their everyday shopping and I had several phone calls about it.
“They felt that gravestones lined up in a window did not fit in with the general appearance of the High Street.”
Steve Sheward, who owns the dispensing opticians next door, said: “It was a bit depressing. No-one objected to an undertakers being there but people don’t like being reminded of their own mortality.”
Lyndsey Davis, manager of ND Hair and Beauty opposite, said many customers had also criticised the window. “The main complaint was that the display was in bad taste,” she said. “It’s just not nice to see on the High Street.
“Undertakers are normally on the fringes of a town, and if they are on the High Street, they certainly haven’t got the goods on show in the window.”
Richard Parkes, district manager for The Co-operative Funeralcare, which opened last month, said the firm was pleased to have resolved the situation so quickly by removing the headstones.
A blind has also been installed to shield passers-by from seeing more on display inside the shop.
He added: “As a member-owned co-operative business, we are always keen to listen and respond to comments from the local community.
“The funeral home is a vital service for local people and we are sure that many families will continue to benefit from our professional and caring service in Tettenhall.”
Councillor Stevenson added: “We’re pleased the funeral directors have listened to the concerns of local people and removed them.”
14 Comments
You walk past a sweet shop and you see sweets, walk past a clothes shop and you see clothes so why would anyone be shocked to see grave stones at a funeral directors ?
We have a Co-op funeral directors on our high street and thay have a display in their window andI would hardley say it’s shocking it’s not as if they use real names and dates on the stones.
What would they do if it was an Anne Summers shop !!!
There’s probably a butchers shop with the remains of dead animals hanging in the window. Any complaints about that? I’m not a veggie but window displays of recently deceased animals make me feel more queasy than a window full of marble artefacts.
why not it happens to all of us. they are to be commended for bring it to everyones attention no worse than advertising cigarettes
Not new - where’s the prob ?
this is pathetic, people have totally over reacted. you cant hide away from the fact that death is part of life.
Its a funeral directors, what else do you expect to be in the windows? Smiley happy people? This country is getting rediculous!
Well, at least if the tombstones are on display you can actually see what you are getting for your money! Now Isn`t that better than someone, relative who does not like you perhaps, spending your money on somehing that YOU DO NOT LIKE!
Hahahaha..
WHAT!..Death is something that happens to us all.
Its a headstone.Its not black magic or voodoo.
What do you expect a funeral sales service to display?
Gucci shoes,Cream cakes or maybe Shovels and wheelbarrows.
The world has gone mad for goodness sake.
What next? Butchers having to remove the meat from their windows in case it offends vegetarians?
wanted to become a funeral director, changed my mind…its a dying industry
LOL..nice one Ress…(titters)
Get a grip! Once again the minority have won another little battle for political correctness, and have dictated terms of how it should be for the majority.
Dont see anything wrong with it, a lot of people I knwo already have their plots reserved and have pciked a headstone out…….If your gonna go you might as well go in style and have a decent headstone.
To all of us who think this whole thing is a ‘fart in the bath’. None of us (I think) live in Tettenhall with the big churches and graveyards, etc. Therefore a shop under the ‘unmentionable’ cheap shop name will survive. If Waitrose did memorials they’d be queueing round St Michael’s (not M&S - oh - hold on) churchyard bidding on eBay for a plot.