“Synergy” is an interesting word and one that is almost always used when companies align, merge, or are aquired.  It is defined as such, “the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects”.

That’s exactly how I look at it. . . . hopefully, making 1 + 1 = 3. . .a number greater than the parts.  However, as often as the word is used in press releases on acquisitions, mergers, and the like, it rarely works out as good as it sounds like it could be.

Back in early 2022 Funeral Director Daily published this article about Wilbert Funeral Services acquiring Memorial Monuments & Vaults, Inc. of Meridian, Idaho.  At the time Memorial Monuments was said to operate out of 19 locations in what I would refer to as the Rocky Mountain states — included were Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Nebrask, North Dakota, Montana, and Colorado.

Just last Friday I learned that Wilbert Funeral Services had appointed new National Sales Directors that appears to be a step in raising the Memorial Monuments Group profile nationwide.  It was also explained in the release that since Wilbert and Memorial Monuments had combined less than 2 years ago, Memorial Monuments, despite a declining burial rate, has shown double-digit growth metrics in annual unit volume for monuments.

When one thinks about the possibilities here, it is not hard to see why that has happened. . . and why Memorial Monuments more than likely will continue to grow.  Think about these factors working in this “synergy”:

• The Wilbert network has 3,000 trucks in more than 300 locations nationwide.  That’s probably the most powerful delivery system in the death care industry.

• Memorial Monuments has leading industry standard customer interfaces, a distributed manufacturing capacity, and world-wide sourcing capacity.

• Wilbert, as a self-standing operating company under the umbrella of the Warren Buffet Berkshire Hathaway company has the resources and capital to make a national move happen.

It’s been my impression that since the pandemic and the first pandemic-induced supply-chain issues that caused sourcing and delivery delays in the monument business that that issue has gotten better, but still sourcing of certain stones, design of monuments, and delivery of purchases has continued to be a problem for many monument companies. . . . which can become a problem for the funeral home or cemetery that sold the monument to the consumer.

My understanding is that Wilbert and Memorial Monuments has addressed all of those industry-wide issues with solutions that include the hiring of many designers and the continued investment in modern equipment in order to get artwork for monuments from and back to wholesale clients in lightning-like fashion.

If you are a funeral home or cemetery that deals in consumer sales of monuments you owe it to your customers to take a look at how Memorial Monuments could be your supplier.  You can access their website here.

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Funeral home inquiry:  163 families linked to ashes.  BBC (Great Britain)
• Williams inducted in Tennessee Funeral Director Hall of Fame.  The Tullahoma News (TN)
• Jewish gravestones vandalized at 2 west side cemeteries.  The Cincinnati Inquirier (OH)

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