Funeral Director Daily

Top-read articles for the past 30 days

By Funeral Director Daily / November 17, 2022 /

We’ve already passed the mid-point of November and that means that Funeral Director Daily will go back over the past 30 days and let our readers catch-up with the Top Read articles in that time period. And, we are happy to tell you that we seem to have passed a point where we now consistently…

Online price lists are showing up

By Funeral Director Daily / November 17, 2022 /

Earlier this week I was informed by a Funeral Director Daily reader that online price lists have started to appear on the websites of Service Corporation International (SCI) funeral homes.  Just to be clear, I’m not sure that this is news or not — because I’ve never taken the time to check out individual SCI…

You can’t take it with you, but. . . .

By Funeral Director Daily / November 16, 2022 /

You have all heard it said many times, especially because we are in the funeral business, “You can’t take it with you“.  That refers to taking your bank accounts to the great beyond and spending money there. But, according to an article in Forbes Magazine, you can earn a lot of money posthumously.  As a…

Yes, things will change over time

By Funeral Director Daily / November 16, 2022 /

“There is an appointed time for everything.  And there is a time for every event under heaven –“.  That is the first verse in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 and the 2nd verse goes on to say “A time to give birth, and a time to die“. Any funeral director who has ever spent time on a…

Park Lawn Corporation adds 1,000 call acquisition

By Funeral Director Daily / November 15, 2022 /

In a press release made public on the heels of the company’s 3rd Quarter report, Park Lawn Corporation (PLC), with headquarters in Houston, Texas, and Toronto, Ontario, announced that they had acquired the Schrader, Aragon & Jacoby Funeral Home, Mountain View Memorial Park, and Bustard & Jacoby Funerals, Cremation, Monuments and Receptions of Cheyenne and…

Dignity plc and their price point pivot. . . . can they remain profitable?

By Funeral Director Daily / November 15, 2022 /

2022 marked a point in the history of Great Britain’s largest death care provider, Dignity plc, where they planned to increase consumer market share for their services by lowering their prices.  What they maybe didn’t anticipate was the highest inflationary pressures in the last 40 years on the costs of their services to happen at…

Park Lawn Corporation reports 3rd quarter — mixed results

By Funeral Director Daily / November 14, 2022 /

The 3rd Quarter of 2022 has shown a trend of less deaths than the comparable 3rd Quarter of 2021.  As a matter of fact, as you can see from this report from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), provisional deaths for 3Q 2022 numbered 751,497 as compared to 874,495 in the same quarter of 2021. …

The 11th Month, the 11th Day, the 11th Hour. . . . Honor it

By Funeral Director Daily / November 11, 2022 /

November 11th brings back memories in many countries.  It’s not just Veteran’s Day in America. . . it is a day of remembrance all over Europe.  Originally referred to as Armistice Day (Armistice, in Latin, means to “stand arms”).  It was at 11 am on November 11 (11/11) in 1918 that an agreement was reached…

Will Vermont lead a funeral director employee comeback?

By Funeral Director Daily / November 10, 2022 /

We’ve all talked about it and see it out in the profession — a lack of trained and licensed funeral directors to combat the coming years when America faces a wave of Baby Boomer deaths.  Without the influx of new professionals, many funeral homes will be understaffed which can lead to a vicious cycle of…

SCI sees “more mortality” than expected. . .What’s behind it?. . .I don’t think this will surprise you

By Funeral Director Daily / November 9, 2022 /

Because I report on them, and partly because I just like learning what is happening, I generally read the “Earnings Call Transcripts” that take place every quarter between the public company death care executives and the financial brokers that cover their companies.  If you’ve never read these they end up being a “give and take”…