Service Corporation International (SCI) reported their 1st Quarter 2024 financial results last week. North America’s largest death care provider did show an increase in revenue of 1.6% to about $1.045 billion for the quarter, but showed Operating Income dropping 5.6% from the comparable 1st Quarter of 2023 and also showed a decrease of…
We learned late last week that CEO Kent Robertson was leaving cremation centered acquisition group and operating company Foundation Partners Group and also learned that the interim management of the Orlando, Florida, based business would be led in the interim by Chris Blackwell with assistance from former FPG CEO Bob Bukala. In…
A pager that allowed me out of the funeral home. . . .telephone transfers that allowed death calls to be “transfered” to one’s home phones. That’s about the extent of technology when I started in the funeral business. . . Oh, I suppose you also could consider electric typewriters and better carbon to…
Again today I’m building off some of the impressions that my friend, Rolf Gutknecht of LA Ads – A Marketing Agency had during his time at the recent ICCFA Convention in Tampa. As mentioned in yesterday’s article, Rolf puts out a little paper titled “Insights” which included his impressions of the convention. Today,…
A recent press release from Batesville give us information that the company has been named to “Newsweek’s list of Most Trustworthy Companies in America for 2024.” According to the press release “Batesville achieved a top 25 ranking in the Consumer Goods category, alongside a variety of global brand leaders, coming in at number…
BUSINESS
Are we in the midst of a paradigm shift, from “Services selection” to “Memorialization selection”, by the consumer
As things seem to do in my life, circumstances came together this week to have me reflect on changes in the Death Care profession/industry. First of all, here’s three items that came together…
Hollywood Forever’s “High-Rise” mausoleum and “Premium” products may be the future of cemeteries
This information (with photos) from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery announces the opening of their recently completed Gower Mausoleum. Here’s a paragraph from the cemetery’s recent announcement: “Hollywood Forever is honored to announce the…
Content planning to boost a funeral home’s online presence
Boosting Your Funeral Home’s Online Presence: An Action Plan for Content That Engages and Builds Trust In today’s digital world, a funeral home website is far more than a static brochure. It’s the…
FINANCE
HIllenbrand Industries sold
Since they sold Batesville in February 2023, Hillenbrand Industries has been out of the Death Care business. But, if you are a long-time member of the Death Care community the name Hillenbrand has…
Another private equity purchase on the horizon?
There is a lot happening in the Death Care world. . . especially when it comes to Death Care businesses changing hands. We recently learned that Funeral Partners, one of Great Britain’s largest…
Pure Cremation’s private equity owner putting the business up for sale
I learned through an article from Sky News and in this article from KillBait that Epiris, the private equity firm that acquired London area-based Direct Cremation provider Pure Cremation just over two years ago,…
REGULATIONS
Veteran Cemeteries will continue with burials. . . but what is open and closed on a government shutdown
Tomorrow is the last day of the federal government’s fiscal year. That is not necessarily a big deal except that the new federal budget year begins on Wednesday and as I write this on…
Indiana Court: “Death Doula” does not need a funeral director license
According to this issue of the Indianapolis Star an Indiana court of appeals ruled in late August that the State of Indiana “violated the First Amendment rights of a Fort Wayne “death…
Funeral Directors are heroes
The beginning of a recent article on the ASD Blog, authored by Jessica Farren, had a quote without, to my knowledge, an author’s acknowledgement. I will post it here with no acknowledgement…
CEMETERY
Are we in the midst of a paradigm shift, from “Services selection” to “Memorialization selection”, by the consumer
As things seem to do in my life, circumstances came together this week to have me reflect on changes in the Death Care profession/industry. First of all, here’s three items that came together…
Hollywood Forever’s “High-Rise” mausoleum and “Premium” products may be the future of cemeteries
This information (with photos) from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery announces the opening of their recently completed Gower Mausoleum. Here’s a paragraph from the cemetery’s recent announcement: “Hollywood Forever is honored to announce the…
Park Lawn adds Memorial Gardens in Taos
According to this press release from Park Lawn Corporation, the funeral home and cemetery consolidator added what they call their Taos Memorial Gardens adjacent to their existing DeVargas Funeral Home in Taos, New Mexico.…
CREMATION
Are we in the midst of a paradigm shift, from “Services selection” to “Memorialization selection”, by the consumer
As things seem to do in my life, circumstances came together this week to have me reflect on changes in the Death Care profession/industry. First of all, here’s three items that came together…
Pure Cremation’s private equity owner putting the business up for sale
I learned through an article from Sky News and in this article from KillBait that Epiris, the private equity firm that acquired London area-based Direct Cremation provider Pure Cremation just over two years ago,…
Can independent funeral home operators undercut “wannabe” national cremation providers on price?
The question posed in the headline is interesting. What is happening in Great Britain may be a precursor of what could happen in North America about the billing amount to consumers for the…
PRENEED
Preneed companies emerge as funeral home lending sources
Morgan Stanley, a global financial services firm that provides a wide range of products and services, including investment banking, wealth management, consumer banking, and brokerage services, recently made this comment in an article, “Life…
Co-op Funeralcare increases “Funeral Plan” sales over 17% despite cyberattack
An April cyberattack which you can read about here probably cost the parent company of Great Britain’s largest funeral home operator, Co-op Funeralcare, about a US$ 107 million profit swing but didn’t seem to…
Acquiring client families — “Any Which Way You Can”
As so often happens in my world I’ve had some real life and/or businesses experiences or discussions in the last week or ten days that has made me think about Death Care. And,…
PRODUCTS
News for the Profession
News from Suppliers and Practitioners that you can use. . . . From a Press Release from Foveo : Foveo Memorial Services Inc. (“Foveo) and Tukios, one of the profession’s leading…
Hollywood Forever’s “High-Rise” mausoleum and “Premium” products may be the future of cemeteries
This information (with photos) from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery announces the opening of their recently completed Gower Mausoleum. Here’s a paragraph from the cemetery’s recent announcement: “Hollywood Forever is honored to announce the…
News for the Profession
Sunset continues to redefine their process of finding assets for families. They recently announced that they have a new website that makes the search for assets even easier. Sunset is a free service…
