Funeral Director Daily

What does a “K-Shaped” economy (or Consumer Divergence) mean for Death Care?

By Funeral Director Daily / January 19, 2026 /

  Back in 1971, according to this article from Pew Research Center, 61% of Americans fell into what was called the “Middle Class”.  The same article lists that number as 51% in 1923, and according to Finance & Commerce magazine, “Most economists agree the K-shape (consumer divergence) isn’t a short-term anomaly but a continuation of…

Can we move Death Care from an “Obligation” to an “Experience”?

By Funeral Director Daily / January 16, 2026 /

  Earlier this week I was watching the business news and the channel was reporting on Delta Airlines.  According to the talking heads that I was watching Delta Airlines has done a very good job in building market share by continuing to relate the “Experience” of flying Delta over the simple need to get from…

Our latest “Most Read” articles — Preneed, Acquisitions, Regional Operators, and Regulations all take a place

By Funeral Director Daily / January 15, 2026 /

  At Funeral Director Daily we emphasize that our articles deal with the “Business” of Death Care. . . . But “Business” has proven to be a very varied subject and our readers reflect and represent a great “Business Diversity” in Death Care.   That becomes clearly evident when you look at our Top Read…

Cemetery legal dispute ends in disinterment

By Funeral Director Daily / January 15, 2026 /

  A lengthy legal case of about four years that involved a Service Corporation International (SCI) cemetery and also included a well-known and succesful business family has ended in a disinterment ruling of the keepsakes and ashes in the grave according to this article from Oregon Public Broadcasting titled “After cemetery sold the same plot…

Learn about how “Technology is Reshaping Funeral and Cemetery practices”

By Funeral Director Daily / January 14, 2026 /

  If you have a little time this early afternoon I would suggest that you tune in to this online event that features Johnson Consulting’s Lacy Robinson and Ring Ring Marketing’s Welton Hong as they “explore one of today’s most captivating topics: “Technology and AI in the funeral and cemetery space”.”   This online event…

Can you the provide the opportunity for additional Preneed sales in the 1st Quarter of 2026?

By Funeral Director Daily / January 14, 2026 /

  “Strike when the iron is hot“.  That’s a 15th-century saying that came from the blacksmith trade and meant to suggest that the blacksmith should “bend the metal when it is hot and somewhat flexible”.  Six centuries later in a world with fewer blacksmiths I would suggest that the saying now means “act now to…

“When we put our aprons on, we forget about everything else”

By Funeral Director Daily / January 13, 2026 /

    Yesterday’s Funeral Director Daily column dealt with “Demographics” and how that change over time in your business area can lead to gains or losses in Death Call numbers.  With long-term demographic changes in one’s area of business it is difficult and costly to make the changes necessary — such as building a new…

Demographics can make a difference

By Funeral Director Daily / January 12, 2026 /

  When it comes to the Death Care business and your local funeral home “Demographics” do make a difference.  It might not be for a year, or  five years, or even a decade but demographic shifts in neighborhoods, cities, and states will eventually manifest itself in the numbers of death calls that funeral homes receive.…

Creedy, Jefferson form advisory firm

By Funeral Director Daily / January 9, 2026 /

    Long-time Death Care executives and advisors Alan Creedy and Danny Jefferson have again joined together to form a new firm to help those in the business.  A press release issued earlier this week announced the “formal launch of J & C Advisors, a newly organized advisory platform created to support independent funeral home…

Slow the erosion, relocate graves, or letting nature take its course. . . .

By Funeral Director Daily / January 8, 2026 /

    When it comes to a cemetery on a river bank and the river has moved the shoreline back over 20 feet in the past 30 years and you now realize that in the next couple of decades, as the erosion continues, you will be losing the cemetery — and the remains buried in…