WWMT.com, the Telegraph and the Daily Star report that funeral directors are telling people not to take selfies at funerals. The most famous abuse of this practice was when Prime Minister Cameron, Barack Obama and Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidts took a selfie at Nelson Mandala’s memorial service. NPR reports that funeral prices aren’t transparent despite the…
Here are the guidelines of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) to voluntarily foster professional standards of care. ICCFA Cremation Guidelines Statement of Purpose The following Cremation Guidelines have been published by the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association to voluntarily foster professional standards of care and consideration by our members. Definitions Authorizing agent(s):…
The FTC Funeral Rule went into effect April 30, 1934. The rule was revised in early 1994. Who must comply with the rule? All “funeral providers” must comply with the Rule. You are a funeral provider if you sell or offer to sell both funeral goods and funeral services to the public. Funeral goods are…
REVOSE, Pa., Feb. 08, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — StoneMor Partners L.P. (NYSE:STON) (“StoneMor” or the “Partnership”) today provided additional data on the ongoing restructuring of its sales force. Total salespeople within the salesforce at January 31, 2017 numbered 766, which was 81 more than the prior year comparable period. The salesperson count at January 31,…
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…
BUSINESS
West Virginia: 113-year old firm purchased by 4th generation Ohio firm
When you look at the map the Ohio River separates the states of Ohio and West Virginia as well as the cities of Steubenville, Ohio, and Weirton, West Virginia. Now, however, the bridge over…
Loans are getting tougher for small business
You’ve probably heard it said before, “The only businesses that can get loans are those that don’t need them“. There’s probably some truth to that statement because if you really need a…
Finally some good news in America on life expectancy, but we’ve got a ways to go
It was only about two weeks ago that Funeral Director Daily reported the final numbers for life expectancy in the United States using the 2021 final figures. At that time, as you can…
FINANCE
Seeking Alpha author suggests that Matthews Memorialization Segment could be “spun off”
It’s Friday and going into the weekend it’s always nice to have something to think about. . . . How about this for today. . This article from Seeking Alpha looks…
Have investors lost faith in Death Care?
If you are an investor — and with IRA’s and 401K plans virtually everyone is in today’s world — the month of November 2023 gave you reason for optimism. After a couple of…
Matthews Memorialization segment reports 4Q of lower sales, improved EBITDA
Here’s what Matthews International CEO Joseph C . Bartolacci had to say in this prepared press release about the company’s 4th Quarter (reflecting an October 1 Fiscal Year beginning) operations of their Memorial segment, “The…
REGULATIONS
West Virginia: 113-year old firm purchased by 4th generation Ohio firm
When you look at the map the Ohio River separates the states of Ohio and West Virginia as well as the cities of Steubenville, Ohio, and Weirton, West Virginia. Now, however, the bridge over…
60 Years ago today. . . and the story of the “Kennedy casket”
Imagine it is lunch time at the funeral home you work at when you get a call from the hospital two miles away that you need to immediately bring the best casket you have…
Life Expectancy drops again in United States
According to this recent article from Stat, life expectancies in America have dropped and the gap between Men’s life expectancies and Women’s life expectancies continues to widen. The statistics show that men…
CEMETERY
An ongoing debate with cemeteries: Community assets for enjoyment or sacred spaces for the deceased?
There is no doubt that with the advent of rising cremation in our society cemeteries are used less and less, as a percentage of all deaths, by families as places of permanent memorialization. …
The Hispanic population and Death Care
I recently saw an e-mail alert from the American Heart Association with an odd title. The title of this particular e-mail information item was “Caregiving a concern as U.S. Hispanic people age faster…
Global Green Burial Alliance to form. . . .offers introductory webinar today
Funeral Director Daily (FDD) was recently notified that a group has been working to bring together what they call the “Global Green Burial Alliance” (GGBA). FDD received a statement out of Australia earlier…
CREMATION
Is Pet Death Care in your future?
Morgan Stanley equity analyst Simeon Gutman recently made this comment in this white paper from Morgan Stanley, “Americans are increasingly attached to their pets, which is clearly shown in survey results, and thus pet…
Pricing is relative, but one low-cost provider can beat us all up
Inflation has set in. . . I recently had to install a new air conditioning condenser to our existing HVAC combination unit. An air conditioning condensor, like a funeral or cremation expense, is something…
Private Equity claims another death care provider
While most of us have been anticipating some news on the acquisition front from Australia and the proposed takeover of InvoCare by TPG Capital or waiting for some news on the North American…
PRENEED
Learning from, and planning for, your funeral business in this economy
According to this recent article from USA Today “discretionary” consumer spending is down, consumer savings rates have fell, and use of consumer credit card debt has shot up in the last quarter with…
It has to work for everyone
Over my lifetime I’ve learned that if something can work for everyone involved it’s probably a good thing. Getting “it” to work out for everyone is probably one of the problems we have with health…
British preneed company being investigated for fraud
Trust is hard to earn. . . .and many times, harder to keep. Any business that promises a service at a later date in return for a payment now comes under scrutiny by…
PRODUCTS
Seeking Alpha author suggests that Matthews Memorialization Segment could be “spun off”
It’s Friday and going into the weekend it’s always nice to have something to think about. . . . How about this for today. . This article from Seeking Alpha looks…
’tis the Season. . . How’s your charitable giving?
It’s hard not to notice all of the mail I get at this time of the year from charities asking me to remember them in my charitable giving for the year. . . .…
How do you brand and market your Direct Cremation?
It’s Thanksgiving time and, of course, we all think about turkeys. I probably think about turkeys a little differently than you do, however, because at one time I served on the board of a…
