Business
Businesses commission research studies when there are unexplained difficulties with the business; primarily “business is down and we don’t know why”. Over four decades funeral businesses commissioned hundreds of studies to explain the causes of declining business. During the 1980’s and 90’s many funeral businesses in New York city metro area experienced declining…
Every so often when I am researching for articles I stumble across something that really fascinates me. Well, it happened last week and I enjoyed using the information to decipher what the “Average Size” of a funeral home is/was in the United States according to data compiled in 2023 which means that most of…
Funeral homes are a great study on this subject. With many being “Generational” in nature, have you ever wondered why some generational funeral homes stay “status quo” as the next generation takes over and other funeral homes either decline or grow in success with the same generation leadership changes? I think it is…
A recent survey found “mixed cost and price trends in the funeral sector”. The survey conducted by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of Great Britain probably has some correlation with the same trends happening in the USA. The regulatory authority (CMA) concluded that profitability for large funeral directors fell between 2015…
Service Corporation International (SCI) conducted their 2nd Quarter 2025 Earnings Call where they answered questions from investment experts about two weeks ago. You can access a copy of the transcript here. During the Question and Answer session of that call SCI’s Executive Vice-President and CFO Eric Tansberger responded to a question about…
I graduated from high school in 1976. The that time period around the 200th anniversary of our nation brought about profound thought change of women in the workplace. It was about that time, as you can see by the graphic below, that females caught and eventually passed males in college enrollment. Up until…
Pension funds and endowments have the responsibility of shepherding for safety, growth, and income their assets into a multitude of investments. I’ve learned that most of those types of investors invest in bonds and private debt for income and stocks for short-term growth. Some will invest up to 5% of the assets into…
The stock of major health care insurer United Health has dropped from $594 per share in April 2025 to Friday’s close at $237 per share. That’s about a 60% drop in value in a little over 3 months. And, from the trends that I’ve been watching and some recent announcements I don’t think…
Over the last century traditional funeral homes have been known to have a “moat” around them in relation to potential competitors. Those moats have brought about many barriers to entry to the profession and helped many family funeral homes thrive. However, as we move forward some of those advantages for existing funeral homes…
According to this article from the Beloit (WI) Daily News, funeral home owners Jarod and Tania Williams have acquired the two locations of the Brian Mark Funeral Home. According to the Brian Mark Funeral Home website, which you can access here, the company owned and operated funeral homes in Beloit and Clinton, Wisconsin.…
