Funeral Director Daily

It’s about demographics

By Funeral Director Daily / December 11, 2019 /

In the last couple of years it seems that we have seen no slow down in the marketplace for the acquisition of large family owned metropolitan death care businesses by the public company, venture backed, or equity partner backed large scale operators in the business.  You need think no farther back then last weeks announcement…

Carriage Services acquisitions, hiring. . and other news

By Funeral Director Daily / December 10, 2019 /

Last week public funeral home operating company Carriage Services was really in the news.  They not only announced the acquisitions of the Fairfax Memorial Park and Funeral Home in the Washington, DC area, but they announced the purchase from StoneMor Partners of the funeral home/cemetery combination facility Oakmont Memorial Funeral Home and Cemetery in Northern…

An interview from across the pond

By Funeral Director Daily / December 10, 2019 /

We came across this article in the Scotsman that you can read here.  It is an interview with Tim Purves who is the Chairman of William Purves Funeral Directors of Scotland.  Mr. Purves is the 5th generation family funeral director of the company which was started in 1888 by a craftsman and cabinet maker.  The…

Foundation Partners adds locations

By Funeral Director Daily / December 9, 2019 /

In a press release issued last week Foundation Partners Group announced that it had purchased a group of funeral and cremation operations.  The group consists of three business, that were owned by one party,  known as Advent Funeral and Cremation Services with locations in Falls Church, Virginia, and Lanham, Maryland.  Also included in the purchase…

It’s Wreaths Across America Week

By Funeral Director Daily / December 9, 2019 /

As a child and even as a young funeral director, I distinctly remember a plaque in our family funeral home that stated, “Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness the tender mercies of it’s people, their respect for the laws of the land,…

Illinois funeral director sentenced for preneed irregularities

By Funeral Director Daily / December 6, 2019 /

We received a couple of articles out of Springfield, Illinois, today concerning a southern Illinois funeral director who has been sentenced to prison for his role in failing to deposit payments for preneed funeral services. You can read about the case in these articles from WGN Web and from KFVS 12.  According to the articles,…

Visiting non-compete agreements

By Funeral Director Daily / December 6, 2019 /

It’s been a few years since I’ve actively managed our funeral home, but this recent article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune brought me back to one of the issues that I dealt with in the hiring of employees.  That was the issue of non-compete agreements or covenants not to compete. Non-competes have historically been used…

StoneMor announces California combo sale

By Funeral Director Daily / December 5, 2019 /

We said almost two years ago that the best way for funeral home and cemetery operator StoneMor Partners L.P. to right their ship was to divest themselves of some properties and use the cash proceeds to pay down debt so that they can get to a position where they are operating in a financial positive…

Social help in funeral costs

By Funeral Director Daily / December 5, 2019 /

Virtually all funeral homes in the United States are profit driven.  I’m aware of one funeral home in Minnesota — in New Ulm — which is a cooperative community based funeral home.  You can see their web-site here. However, I’m guessing that over 99% of funeral homes in North America are profit driven enterprises.   Today,…

Cape Town appeals for cremations

By Funeral Director Daily / December 4, 2019 /

On Monday we brought you an article featuring the Church of Greece telling its parishioners that they would be denied a church service if they choose cremation over the long traditional custom of earth burial.  Today, we bring you this article which deals with the topic of the City of Cape Town, South Africa, appealing…