Posts

Should you have a surcharge for weekend work?

By Funeral Director Daily / March 7, 2023 /

    If funeral homes are going to continue to serve their communities with full service, they have to be profitable.  Many funeral homes have seen margins erode as families choose less service and other death care competitors move into their service areas.   Our friends at “2 Guys and a Question” podcast ponder that…

Park Lawn year-end sees mixed results

By Funeral Director Daily / March 7, 2023 /

      Park Lawn Corporation (PLC) released their 2022 4th Quarter and 2022 Year-End reports last week.  In doing so they announced that their Revenue numbers for both the quarter and the year increased while their Net Earnings decreased in comparison to the 2021 4th Quarter and 2021 Year-End.  You can see the press…

You can design your own casket

By Funeral Director Daily / March 6, 2023 /

      Last week I had a two hour drive and set my radio to a station on Sirius that featured a news talk show.  What was highly unusual was that the group of well-known broadcasters started talking about death care and then started talking about what their wishes would be for their own…

In Memoriam: Robert Waltrip, SCI founder — Services today

By Funeral Director Daily / March 3, 2023 /

        Robert L. Waltrip, age 92, founder of death care company Service Corporation International, died on Monday, February 27, 2023.  A Celebration of Life service is scheduled for today (March 2).  Interment is scheduled in the Reflection Garden of Memorial Oaks Cemetery in Houston, Texas.   You can access an obituary powered…

Bucking the trend

By Funeral Director Daily / March 2, 2023 /

    “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” is a popular misquote attributed to author Samuel Clemens, known by his pen name, Mark Twain.  However, that quote has stayed with Clemens (Twain) forever and is now simply a part of his lore.   The same thing may be said for cemeteries.  The demise…

Will rural funeral directors be able to replenish themselves

By Funeral Director Daily / March 1, 2023 /

    Funeral director Collin Bourgeois made this comment in this article from CBC, “I certainly tried to retire.  It lasted three weeks.”   Bourgeois is a funeral director and owner of and operator of a funeral business with three locations in northeastern Ontario.  After 45 years in the business he’s staying on the job…

Preneed to Millennials. . .Maybe so

By Funeral Director Daily / February 28, 2023 /

  Editor’s Note:  This article was scheduled for earlier this morning but for some reason was not picked up by our email subscription service. . .Well, better late than never.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Here is the article you should have received earlier today:   Sometimes things happen that can turn a fundamental business upside…

Acquisitions, buy-outs, creative ideas. . . here’s a recap of our month’s top stories

By Funeral Director Daily / February 27, 2023 /

    We are a little bit late this month but here are the stories that our readers found most interesting over the last 30 days. . .well, actually the 30 days from January 15, 2023, to February 15, 2023.  There’s something for everybody in these articles — acquisitions, buy-outs, local promotion, corporate thoughts, and…

Carriage Services reports Services and Revenue drops in 2022

By Funeral Director Daily / February 27, 2023 /

    Funeral home and cemetery operator Carriage Services reported their 4th Quarter and Year End Financial Reports last week.  You can access that report here.  In doing so they reported that the number of “Services” the company conducted had dropped 2.9% as compared to the yearly results for 2021.  The company conducted 47,184 services…

What’s with “Excess Deaths”?

By Funeral Director Daily / February 24, 2023 /

    This is one of those articles that I will write that probably has no answers.  It only brings up questions.  That question today is “What’s with Excess Deaths”?   When the pandemic hit and deaths increased for almost all funeral homes across the world, one of the questions asked was “With these extra…