Funeral Director Daily

The Trump tariffs and Death Care

By Funeral Director Daily / February 3, 2025 /

    The International Trade Association defines tariffs as such:  “A tariff or duty (the words are used interchangeably) is a tax levied by governments on the value including freight and insurance of imported products. Different tariffs applied on different products by different countries.”   I’m writing this on Saturday morning and the “Trump tariffs”…

Project “Trust” to gain business

By Funeral Director Daily / January 31, 2025 /

    Sometimes we make the process of gaining business or market share more complicated than it has to be.  We pay for focus groups and surveys and hiring marketing companies to tell us how to grow our businesses.  All of those methods can help and paying experts in those fields to do just that…

Should Disney be in the “Memorialization” business?

By Funeral Director Daily / January 30, 2025 /

    Over the last couple of decades there arises every once in a while the idea that the Walt Disney Company should get into some of the businesses that funeral home operators and cemetery operators specialize in.  That’s recently been in the news again.   I first really thought about Disney and Death Care…

New York funeral home acquires another location

By Funeral Director Daily / January 29, 2025 /

    This article from North Country Now of New York announces the acquisition of the Green Funeral Home of Gouverneur, New York, by the Frary Funeral Home.  From the company’s website which you can access here, it appears that the Gouverneur location will be the 6th location operated by Frary.   The article from…

Our opinion: Matthews sale of ‘brand solutions unit” consolidates company into “Death Care and Innovation”

By Funeral Director Daily / January 29, 2025 /

    I’ve heard from people over the years that thought Matthews International was “too complicated” of a company.  The company that started in 1850 and and produced its first-ever bronze memorial in 1927, according to this article on Matthews history, continued with ever-increasing products for Death Care but also entered other business segments over…

Research article about Carriage Services: “M&A to resume in 2025”

By Funeral Director Daily / January 28, 2025 /

  While it certainly is speculation on their part, one research contributor at Seeking Alpha, Caffital Research, says this about publicly held funeral home and cemetery operator Carriage Services, “The company has been quiet on the M&A front to improve the financial position throughout 2024, but with debt levels reaching a more desirable level, 2025…

Funeral Director Daily’s Tom Anderson to appear on Prelude webinar Wednesday

By Funeral Director Daily / January 27, 2025 /

    Okay. . . I’m generally not one to toot my own horn, but I did promise my friend Charis Rethorford, Head of Partnerships and Marketing at Prelude, that I would appear on one of their Zoom webinars to discuss the state of the funeral profession, as I see it,  with her.  If you…

Newcomer Funeral Service adds locations in New York and Indiana

By Funeral Director Daily / January 27, 2025 /

    With one acquisition announced in December and another in January Newcomer Funeral Service, based in Topeka, Kansas, continues to grow.  The Newcomer website states “Newcomer Funeral Service Group is an independent funeral home, crematory, and cemetery service provider based in Topeka, Kansas with operations in ten states.”   According to this press releasefrom…

North Carolina floods, Florida hurricanes, and L.A. wildfires: The tragedy of losing “kept at home” cremated remains

By Funeral Director Daily / January 24, 2025 /

    If you have read Funeral Director Daily for any length of time you will know that I am an advocate of “Permanent Memorialization” of loved ones.  My reason for that belief is pretty simple. . . 1)  It is just the way I was brought up and 2) I believe every life has…

Celebration coffee and business insights that may help funeral homes

By Funeral Director Daily / January 23, 2025 /

    I’m writing this article mid-morning on Saturday.  It’s already been a busy morning for me as I got up early and did my run and have since been to Starbucks for what I term my “Saturday Celebration Coffee” which celebrates my six consecutive days of running.  I take Sundays off!!   I’m also…