It was only ten days ago that Funeral Director Daily brought you this article about Park Lawn Corporation adding to its Illinois cluster by purchasing two funeral homes northwest of Chicago.

We now have learned that another funeral home located in the greater Chicago suburban area has changed hands.  This one, as you can read in this article from Shaw Local, was sold to a family-owned operation in a nearby community.

The article lets us know that the Kahle-Moore Funeral Home of Cary, Illinois, has been acquired by Daniel and Joy Symonds who operate the Symonds Family Chapel in nearby Elgin, Illinois.  According to the article, the Kahle-Moore Funeral Home has been owned and operated by Steve Moore since 1978 and has been in business as a funeral home in Cary since 1964.

The funeral home in Elgin operated by the Symonds family has, according to the article, been in business since 1921 — 105 years of continuous operation.

Steve Moore, former owner of Kahle-Moore, was quoted in the article with this comment, “I’m confident that my partners, Daniel and Joy Symonds, will carry on our tradition of personal care and dedicated service to the Cary and Fox River Grove communities.”

In that same article, Daniel Symonds made this comment, “As a second-generation funeral director, I understand the importance of preserving the unique traditions of each family and community.  We look forward to serving Cary and neighboring families with the same care and dedication that has been the hallmark of both Kahle-Moore and our family’s funeral homes for generations.”

Here is the website of the Kahle-Moore Funeral Home

Here is the website of the Symonds Family Chapels.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  While I have no idea who the Symonds family might have been in competition with to make this acquisition, nor do I know who Park Lawn Corporation may have been in competition with in their recent Illinois acquisitions, I do believe that the combination acquisitions here prove that there is demand to purchase traditional funeral homes that can be “bolted on” to present operations to add economies of scale to smaller funeral homes.

I think that is an important fact to know in a time where we may see margins shrinking, not only because of consumer choices of less traditional funerals, but a time of rising business costs.  “Scaling” with the elimination of some redundant expenses, is one way a traditional funeral business may be able build up their profitability as they move forward.

As we enter a time when so many family-run operations state that they are looking to sell their businesses because of no family members following behind this generation, I think it is a very smart idea to take a look at those businesses to see if your family-owned funeral home can see opportunity in this type of situation.

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Death planning is big business as start-up’s valuation soars to $100 million.  Australian Financial Review (Australia)
• Here’s the difference between a Cemetery and a Graveyard.  Huffington Post
• Forgotten no more:  Volunteers reclaim Chloe Historic Cemetery, uncovering family ties generations in the making.  Video news story and print article.  KPLC Channel 7 – Lake Charles (LA)

Enter your e-mail below to join the 3,482 others who receive Funeral Director Daily articles daily

“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”