We gave you an article this morning that dealt with the State of Oregon.  The following article is a terrific business article that comes from their neighbor state to the north, Washington.

Here is a really interesting article that brings up many of the challenges of full-service funeral homes and what they face, especially those in metropolitan areas where the neighborhoods change and the cost of real estate is high.  It is from the Seattle Times Business section and pertains to the Dayspring & Fitch Funeral Home  This black owned funeral home is dealing with the dilemma of moving out of the City of Seattle, as many of their heritage families have to South King County, staying in the inner city and serving as the social institution that they have become for the new immigrant families there, or doing both by trying to operate facilities in multiple locations.

The article points out many business thought processes of the potential decision(s) that must be made  while dealing with many variables including the knowledge that:

1. Over the years the economic prospects for a traditional funeral home in Seattle have only been deteriorating.
2. Funeral homes in Seattle, according to the Dayspring & Fitch owners, are making more money by selling their real estate than doing funerals.
3. Knowing that they are a “low-frills’ funeral home and they expect that the rising business costs in the City of Seattle will make it nearly impossible to keep low prices.

Again, as I said, a great article about some of the big dilemmas facing inner city funeral homes.

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