Business

An Idea for Cremation Pricing

By Funeral Director Daily / September 13, 2018 /

Yesterday we published an article dealing with the on going price wars for “Simple” cremation in the United Kingdom.  It made me wonder about the different pricing methods used by full service funeral establishments in dealing with their cremation clients. For the sake of our discussion, in this article, we are dealing with those full…

Can this happen in the USA?

By Funeral Director Daily / September 12, 2018 /

We reported in early 2018 that Dignity, the United Kingdom’s 2nd largest funeral merchant with a reported 12% of total market share dropped pricing by 50% in its lowest priced service segment to try to grapple more market share away from leader Co-op Funeralcare who has a purported 16% of the market share.  All reports…

More on the Memphis Trial

By Funeral Director Daily / September 6, 2018 /

Here is an article from the USA Today about the Memphis cemetery trial.  This article gives some more insight into what is alleged to have happened and why plaintiffs believe that funeral homes are, at least in part, responsible. [wpforms id=”436″ title=”true” description=”true”]

Whose Liability is it?

By Funeral Director Daily / September 6, 2018 /

Tuesday marked the opening of a trial in Memphis, Tennessee that you can read about here that is trying to get a finding as to whose responsibility is it when families have had grossly mishandled burials.  In this case, that of the Galilee Memorial Gardens of Memphis,  a lawsuit in which  more than 1,200 families…

Back to School. . . . or maybe Not

By Funeral Director Daily / September 4, 2018 /

It’s the day following Labor Day and that, traditionally, is when most students joyfully scurry back to the classroom.  However, for those in a couple of funeral service collegiate programs it is not so easy this year. We learned last May that Mount Ida College of Massachusetts would be merged (or absorbed) by the University…

Extrapolating the Trends

By Funeral Director Daily / August 22, 2018 /

In the last couple of days I have read articles from different areas of the United States pertaining to the establishment of “Green Cemeteries” in those locales.  The first you can read here and comes from the southern portion of Illinois and concerns the City of Carbondale turning a city cemetery over to the option…

InvoCare moves forward despite headwinds Down Under

By Funeral Director Daily / August 21, 2018 /

Australian funeral service market share leader, InvoCare, is moving forward with capital expenses aimed at becoming more appealing to Baby Boomers in spite of several headwinds on funeral service down under.  You can read an article from Australian Financial Review on the slowing of InvoCare’s business here. In the article InvoCare CEO, Martin Earp, mentions…

Being Determined to Stay the Course

By Funeral Director Daily / August 15, 2018 /

Business decisions are generally not made lightly in the death care industry.  The same is true of public relations events put on by funeral homes and cemeteries.  Usually, these types of businesses are very thorough in their thought process so as not to annoy and/or lose a potential customer.  So once you have made a…

Mount Ida Students Find a Home

By Funeral Director Daily / August 10, 2018 /

Last April Mount Ida College decided to close its doors for good.  Most students from the college were able to find continuing studies when the University of Massachusetts – Amherst acquired the campus.  However, that school does not have a mortuary science program and those students from Mount Ida College with partially completed degrees, in…

What are you doing to add Ethnic Business

By Funeral Director Daily / August 8, 2018 /

It seems to me that in this day and age of declining revenues per case in the funeral business, that every ancillary service a funeral home/crematory can secure can be a god-send for business.  Many funeral homes will try to sell a better casket or urn, or will push cremation jewelry or an urn vault…