I came across this article entitled “Lending USA introduces FastScreen, a New Tool for Pre-Loan Qualification for Funeral Home Merchants” and it reminded me of the struggles I had over the years about implementation of tougher credit policies on client families. The age old “push-pull” credit decision is that you don’t want to make it difficult for families, however, too much leniency and you may be doing your work for less than full payment or, in some cases, no payment […]
If you had any money in the stock market during 2021 it would have been hard not to grow your investment cache. During the 2021 calendar year the three indices most commonly referred to as a bellwether of the markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq, and the S & P 500 were up 18.7%, 21.4%, and 26.9% respectively. And, if you had watched the Funeral Director Daily Death Care Index (DCI) you would see that index, which holds […]
I enjoy learning. I know that there is an awful lot left to learn by me in my lifetime. And, it goes without saying that I love to learn more and more about the funeral profession because it was the profession that I earned my living in. I’ve also found out that sometimes I learn even when I don’t think I’m going to. So, when I saw this article entitled “Death rituals in Black community have been altered or forgone […]
According to this article from Business Wire online retailer Titan Casket grew its revenues by 400% in 2021. The company also disclosed that November 2021 was its “largest month ever”. Titan was started in 2016 and allows consumers to purchase their caskets directly online for shipment to the funeral home of their choice. Titan Casket also announced that they had started a wholesale unit that sells caskets direct to funeral homes and that business segment saw an increase of 15 […]
This article and video news story from CTV Canada explains that because of a chronic shortage of death care workers coupled with an increased number of deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO) “is calling retirees into service to fill out vacancies and for the first time, it’s allowing college students to work in the industry before they have completed their studies.” Funeral Director Joe O’Neil of O’Neil Funeral Home in London, Ontario is quoted […]
Arkansas Business announced in their publication in early January the acquisition of two funeral home locations by Smith Family Funeral Homes of North Little Rock. You can see that article here. Smith Family Funeral Homes acquired the Davis-Smith Funeral Homes located in Hot Springs and Glenwood, Arkansas. The addition of these two properties brings the number to eight funeral homes that Smith Family owns and operates. Here’s what Jeff Smith, owner of Smith Family Funeral Homes said of the addition of […]
I’m not one to get too excited over talk. . . .but, I’m also a realist who believes that where there is smoke, there is fire. And, it appears that the trend in America will not go to a longer work week. . . so, over time I’m guessing that we get to a shorter work week. If we do, how will it impact funeral service and the employment trends in our profession? America has went to a shorter work […]
I would guess it was twenty years ago or about that length of time that I was asked to volunteer as a board member of our community’s largest non-denominational cemetery. The cemetery was large enough and did enough business that it had a full-time caretaker who took care of sales, provided interment services using cemetery owned equipment, and supervised a small staff of part-time lawn care workers. The cemetery also had a monument sales representative who worked on commission. Revenue […]
Today we bring you this interesting article from the Iowa Capital Dispatch concerning a potential funeral director who believed he needed a waiver to receive his Iowa Funeral Directors License. One of the requirements for licensure by the Iowa Board of Mortuary Science is that the applicant has completed 60 college credit hours and maintained a minimum of a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) relative to those earned credits. The article tells the story of Andrew Merschman who had completed […]
In this press release from last week, Foundation Partners Group (FPG) announced a new acquisition and also gave some indication of its growth over the past couple of years. Foundation Partners Group is the privately owned death care consolidator based in Orlando, Florida, that appears to set its acquisition sights on cremation heavy firms. FPG is owned by Access Partners of Baltimore, Maryland. In the press release the company announces the acquisition of Baldwin Brothers Funeral and Cremation Society of […]
