Convening Together|ICCFA & Jewish Funeral Directors|Funeral Industry Decline-Your Funeral Guy

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In  March of 2011 The Jewish Funeral Directors Association (JFDA)and the International Crematory, Cemetery and Funeral Association (ICCFA)will be meeting together.

The Funeral industry is declining ailing to say the least, the rise of cremation, the great recession, and high unemployment have contributed to Funeral industry Decline

The coming together of the two groups may appear innocent enough but it appears to be evidence of the larger decline.

JFDA members will have access to all ICCFA educational programs and to the Exhibit Hall. In addition, the JFDA has created the following program specifically for its members:

via www.iccfa.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

National Prearranged Services Executives Indicted-Your Funeral Guy

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National Prearranged Services  (NPS) Executives have been indicted. These are responsible for 600-100 million dollars of preneed insurance funds.

ST. LOUIS | Officers at a prearranged funeral business defrauded customers, funeral homes and states out of as much as $600 million, according to a 50-count federal indictment announced Monday.

The U.S. attorney’s office in St. Louis announced indictment on fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and other charges against Randall Sutton, 65; Sharon Nekol Province, 66; Doug Cassity, 64; his son Brent Douglas Cassity, 43; Howard Wittner, 73; and David Wulf, 58.

All six defendants are from St. Louis County, and all were controlling officers for National Prearranged Services Inc., based in Clayton.

Brent Cassity is listed in the Missouri secretary of state’s office as the owner of Mount Washington Forever Funeral Home in Independence, which closed in July.

via www.kansascity.com

This is an incriminate story preneed  funeral theft and fraud. Incredibly the main tool in this incredible insurance theft were bottles of white out.

Officers of this company are now part of the criminal Lawsuit.

Funeral Industry| Funeral News | funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

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Mosque Going into a Funeral Home-YourFuneralGuy

A funeral Home in Oshkosh Wisconsin is being turned into a Mosque and Community center- nonspecific Mosque Image via Wikipedia

The times they area changing even in OSHKOSH, Wis. —A  FUNERAL HOME IS BEING is being turned into a MOSQUE AND COMMUNITY CENTER. Just another sign of Funeral industry decline. OSKOSH Wisconsin is   no large metropolitan area.

The Oshkosh City Council has approved the location of a mosque, despite objections from neighbors.

The council Tuesday night approved a permit that allows the Ahmadiyaa (ah-mah-DEE’-ah) Muslim Community to convert a former funeral home into a mosque and community center.

…………Neighbors opposed to the permit argued the mosque was the wrong use for the site and would be used 16 to 18 hours a day.

WLUK-TV reports Ahmadiyaa leader Khurram Ahmad says they will do their best to address the neighbors concerns. He says part of the Muslim faith is to be accommodating to neighbors.

via http://www.chicagotribune.com

Funeral industry| Funeral News| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

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Purchase by Matthews International Indicates Funeral Industry Decline-YourFuneralGuy

Matthews International purchase of a casket company indicates  the  continued Funeral Industry Decline. Purchasing “Freeman” consists of a casket company consolidation.

Matthews International Corporation ……..announced its acquisition of Freeman Metal Products, Inc. and related entities, including F&F Metal Products, Inc., Esser Casket Co., and Southern Heritage Casket Co. (collectively “Freeman“). Freeman, which has manufacturing operations in North Carolina, Texas and Alabama, is also a distributor of caskets primarily in the Southeast and South central regions of the United States. Terms of the transaction were not immediately disclosed. Freeman reported sales of approximately $21 million in calendar 2009.

Joseph C. Bartolacci, President and Chief Executive Officer of Matthews, stated: “Freeman is an outstanding organization and their customer focus is well-respected in the casket industry. We are excited to welcome them to our Funeral Home Products team and look forward to working with their customers and the Freeman family of distributors. This acquisition is expected to provide synergies in the manufacturing and distribution of our products and to expand Matthews’ market presence particularly in the Southeast and South central regions of the United States.”

via www.marketwatch.com

funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

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Marsellus Casket Co Bldg Demoished-Symbolic of Casket Decline-Your Funeral Guy

The building once produced the most expensive caskets in the world was demolished last week. This is symbol of casket decline traditional  funeral industry trouble. in the United States. It all relates back to the rise of Cremation.

Marsellus Casket Company once was the casket Company to the Presidents and the World’s elite.

Syracuse, NY — The Marsellus Casket Co. clock that told the time over Erie Boulevard for years is gone, brought down during demolition of the fire-ravaged factory.

Excavators continue to dig through the wreckage this morning of the 121-year-old red brick building that was destroyed by a fire Wednesday morning that burned for hours. Police and fire investigators say someone sparked the fire, but they aren’t sure if it was deliberate.

via www.syracuse.com

Funeral industry| Funeral News|Funeral Blog by R. Brian Burkhardt, Your Funeral Guy

Featured Image by Dick Blume / The Post-Standard

2nd Largest Funeral Corp-Continues decline-Your Funeral Guy

Income Decline illustration- Image via Wikipedia

The second largest Funeral Corporation in The United States Stewart Enterprises Inc (STEI)is continuing it’s Funeral Industry decline.

Stewart Enterprises Inc. said Wednesday its fiscal third-quarter profit edged lower as the funeral provider recorded higher costs and expenses.

The company said net income was $6 million, or 6 cents a share, for the three months ended July 31. That compares with net income of $6.1 million, or 7 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.

via www.businessweek.com

Now coming off the last year(2009) the worst in the funeral industry, due to the great recession the giant should find an easy path to growth.

Again this points to the fact that Families are paying Less for Funerals(less in Funeral Cost) and the rise of cremation.

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Funeral and Cemetery Preneed Down in the suburbs|Your Funeral Guy

Image by ChicagoGeek via Flickr

Funeral and cemetery Preneed, the  advanced purchase of prepaid funerals and burial sites seems to be down in the suburbs. This is what is being reported in a collar county outside Chicago.

Less money spent on preneed or prepaid funerals means a downward trend in Funeral Cost.

People still purchase rights to burial, but not like they once did. Society’s transient nature and the economy are contributing to more cremations and fewer rights to burial purchased in advance, those involved with funerals and cemeteries said.

“It’s not like they used to years ago when a family member buys 16 graves for the whole family,” said Roger Ronzheimer, superintendent for the St. Charles Township cemeteries.

via www.kcchronicle.com

Funeral industry| Funeral News | Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Funeral Industry Decline-Independents-Your Funeral Guy

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The American Funeral Industry profits have been cut in half over the last 20 years, this is a steep log term industry decline.

We are 10 years into the 21st Century and many funeral homes are just moving into effective websites and social media strategies. The rise of cremation and the current economic enviroment is accelerating the decline.

The decline in the funeral industry has been coming for quite a while and it has provided a great opportunity for folks to save on funeral cost.

The Federated Funeral Directors of America, an accounting firm for independently owned funeral homes, found that in the past 20 years, its clients’ profit margins have been cut nearly in half. Yet the $11 billion funeral industry, dominated by family owned & operated funeral homes, commanding 89% of the death care market, has been slow to make the necessary adjustments in order to meet consumer demand and the growing popularity of non-traditional services. Not at all surprising that  it has almost become a cliche that “the funeral industry is the last industry to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century.”

via mylifeindeath.com

Funeral Industry|funeral news|funeral blog by your funeral guy



Tombstone Recession-YourFuneralGuy

The expert agrees that that the rise of cremation has instituted a Funeral Industry decline and and a tombstone recession. People are buying less burial plots and fewer gravestones. Folks trying to sell their own burial spaces  are having a hard time doing just that!

It is no secret that the economy has hurt funeral homes and cemeteries and caused people to turn to cremation.

This is  not good news for the traditional Funeral. It is good news for those folks that offer cremation services and sell cremation goods and services.

After advertising the space for a year,the Lemons have attracted no buyers.

“We’re not trying to get rich,” said Clinton Lemons, 82. “We’re just trying to get rid of the lots. It’s kind of like trying to sell a home.”

The demand for cemetery plots and mausoleums is lower than it has been in years and it’s a buyer’s market, says Robert Fells, attorney for the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association in Sterling, Va. The group represents more than 7,400 cemeteries, funeral homes, crematoriums and other death care service providers in the USA.

Though no industrywide statistics are available about the glut of cemetery plots, Fells says there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence.

“People are buying less burial property,” he said. “There’s a growing surplus.”

via www.usatoday.com

Funeral Industry | Funeral  News|Funeral Blog Funeral News by Your Funeral Guy

Funeral Recession-YourFuneralGuy

In an amazing report in the San Francisco area, it has been revealed that five Funeral Businesses are for sale in one county. For Years now Your Funeral  Guy has been saying there is a Funeral Business Decline In fact he has been removed from Funeral Director websites for making such statements, ie ConnectingDirectors.com.

As said here its a double bind for funeral homes. Most have been forced to raise prices on the traditional funeral while folks are demanding lower funeral cost. That is why it is key for the funeral consumer and funeral home to learn as much as they can about negotiating a funeral. This can be done by Reading :Rest in Peace Insiders Tips to the Low Cost Less Stress Funeral.”

That has been evident recently in San Mateo County, where five funeral homes and a cremation business are up for sale. They include Nauman Lincoln Roos Mortuary in South San Francisco and Chapel by the Sea Coastside Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Pacifica.

And selling the funeral businesses hasn’t been easy.

“It’s kind of been a tough process because money is tight,” said Century 21 Hometown Realty’s Steve Murphy, the real estate agent for the Pacifica and South San Francisco funeralbusinesses.

Via sfexaminer.com

One could say as far as the funeral industry is concerned is that the sky is not falling, it has fallen.It is a full funeral recession.

This is due to the funeral business not reacting quickly enough to the rise in cremation and the proliferation of funeral scandal, through preneed and body desecration!

Funeral industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy