Hillenbrand announced earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 (three months ended December 31, 2017). The company’s Batesville casket business had a 2% decline in revenue and a 3% decline in EBIDTA (earnings before interest depreciation and amortization). You can download the earnings slides here. You can read the Seeking Alpha earnings call…
Alva Review Courier reports that there is a shortage of funeral directors in Oklahoma. 36,000 people die annually and the number of licensed funeral directors, embalmers, student apprentices and funeral homes have declined. The Director of the State’s funeral board wants to streamline the process of certifying funeral directors. The Lacrosse Tribune says that dogs…
Quad-City Times reports that Weerts Funeral Home has been sold to Service Corp International. Weerts was founded in 1909 and adquired by David Deuth from Jim Weerts in 2005. The firm developed a state of the art cremation center in 2012. Service Corp International owns and operates 2,000 funeral homes and cemeteries in North America.
Motif Investing is bullish in the funeral industry for two reasons: aging baby boomers will increase the demand for funerals and cremations between now and 2036; and 80% of funeral providers are private which provides room for consolidation.
Matthews International announced revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2017 (3 months ended December 31, 2016). You can read the earnings release here and the Seeking Alpha earnings call transcript here. Funeral Director Daily will focus on the performance of the company’s memorialization segment which produces headstones, caskets and urns. Memorialization sales declined…
BUSINESS
How do consumers come up with the money to pay for funerals?
Yesterday we took a look at how funeral merchants should expect their clients to pay for the services that they select. Our article took a look at crowdfunding, credit cards, savings, and, of…
Paying for a funeral
I ran across this article the other day that is entitled, “Financing a Funeral: Crowdfunding, insurance, credit cards, loans, and payment plans”. The article comes from a publication called “The Enlightened Mindset” and appears directed…
Will “State of Mind” affect the acquisition market in 2023?
People from not only the United States, but from almost every country around the world have seen a whip-saw of economic conditions since the pandemic year of 2020. It was a pandemic economy that…
FINANCE
Dignity plc accepts buy-out offer
According to this article from Yahoo, Great Britain’s largest public death care company, Dignity plc, has accepted a buyout offer from a consortium that includes its largest shareholder group and one of the country’s…
Albuquerque’s historic French Funeral and Cremation business sold to executive employees
We learned last week that Albuquerque, New Mexico, based French Funerals & Cremation was sold. The company, founded in 1907 by Chester French, and operated by descendants for the past 115 years, elected to…
British funeral/cremation provider Dignity plc in takeover talks with private parties
Reuters reported last week that Dignity plc, Great Britain’s largest provider of death care services “(was) in advanced talks with a consortium compris(ed) of investment firms SPWOne V Ltd. and Castelnau Group Ltd. after…
REGULATIONS
More Jewish families opting for cremation
I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m certainly not an expert on the subject of faith preference and burial customs because the community that I served was, I’m guessing, at least 95%…
Children survivors: 12 year-old leads rally for “Bereavement classes” to be taught in public schools
My younger brother, Jim, and I learned about the death of a parent the hard way. I was a 19 year-old Freshman in college and he was a 15 year-old Sophomore in high school…
Body brokers sentenced to prison
“This is the most emotionally draining case I have ever experienced on the bench,” U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello said during Tuesday’s (January 3, 2023) sentencing hearing in Grand Junction, Colorado. That was…
CEMETERY
The interesting ownership of New York’s Pinelawn Cemetery
I live in flyover country so I don’t pretend to be an expert on the customs and traditions of New York’s funeral and cemetery business. However, I’ve been in the death care business my entire…
Wreaths Across America . . . Remember-Honor-Teach
If you are part of the Death Care business in North America part of your goal is to move families from grief to remembrance of their loved one. And, if we are honest about it,…
Winter at the Cemetery
As you may know I have lived my entire life in Minnesota. . . and this past weekend winter arrived. We had a little brush with snow and then our first Zero degree day was…
CREMATION
More Jewish families opting for cremation
I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m certainly not an expert on the subject of faith preference and burial customs because the community that I served was, I’m guessing, at least 95%…
CANA announces “First-of-its-Kind” credential for Cremation Specialist
The Cremation Association of North America (CANA) has developed an all new program to train cremation specialists. The first class begins in January 2023 and registration begins today. The following is complete information from CANA:…
Are funeral directors losing their “clout”?
There was a time when if you needed information on a task or a service you went direct to the source to find the information needed. Remember, when your watch didn’t work you would take…
PRENEED
How do consumers come up with the money to pay for funerals?
Yesterday we took a look at how funeral merchants should expect their clients to pay for the services that they select. Our article took a look at crowdfunding, credit cards, savings, and, of…
Paying for a funeral
I ran across this article the other day that is entitled, “Financing a Funeral: Crowdfunding, insurance, credit cards, loans, and payment plans”. The article comes from a publication called “The Enlightened Mindset” and appears directed…
There’s opportunity out there. . . go get the business
Last week was a great week to be inside in Minnesota. While many people were trying to get home for the holidays we had temperatures of 15 below zero with winds gusting into the…
PRODUCTS
I’ve said it before, “The niches are coming” to funeral service
I’ve said it before and truly believe it. Death care is changing and will continue to change. No longer are traditional funeral homes the only option for those who need death care services. …
Is hospice an ally or a threat?
Lee Webster has co-founded an organization known as the National End-of-Life Doula Alliance and served in leadership positions at the National Home Funeral Alliance and the Green Burial Association. According to this recent…
New York state approves human composting
One of the things that happened at the end of 2022 is that New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law that permits the State of New York to add Natural Organic…
