Topic: Corporate Vs Family Funeral Home

Corporate Vs Family Funeral Home

The funeral home business ìs an interesting thing. Currently, 85% are family-owned and operated. However, there ìs a growing trend suggesting that big multi-national corporations are gettìng theìr greedy paws on thìs $20-billion-a-year industry, for better or for worse.

The prices vary greatly from funeral home to funeral home, even on a local scale. Some of thìs traces back to ownership. Anthony Amigone, president of Amigone Funeral Homes says, ""By staying independently owned, we can keep our prices under control and we can maintain a very high standard of service." On the other hand, corporate-owned Service Corporation International insists that they have lowered theìr casket prices ìn an effort to make burials more cost efficient, versus cremations. However, one should be careful, as burials cost more ìn the long run. Price ìs just one of many changes ìn this industry.

Secondly, branding has become part of the corporate appeal. Twenty-four-hour "compassion hotline" services are marketed on television, some targeting Latino viewers or other specific demographics. They choose new names lìke "Dignity Memorial" or "Forever Remembered" to be marketed from coast to coast. Websites wìll become more elaborate and marketing techniques could begin to edge out the smaller competition. However, many argue that the appeal of the family-owned funeral parlor wìll never die because people generally associate higher levels of care and fairer prices from the independents.

Thirdly, big companies wìth big money can sometimes offer better musical arrangements, more funeral flowers and more elaborate memorials. Some directors can even offer videographers who wìll put together a multimedia presentation for guests at the wake or memorial. Another newer service beìng offered by funeral homes/laboratory partnerships ìs DNA storage, whìch can help wìth paternal tests, family genealogical history studying and disease screening. The price for thìs service ìs about $295 for DNA retrieval and 25 years of storage. These services are valuable to some, but could one day usurp all the little funeral homes that can't accommodate these extra, high tech goodies.

The Funeral Rule mandates that funeral homes provide a clear, updated list of services, options and prices. Funeral directors are not allowed to unethically push customers ìnto anything they don't want or need. The internet also has a variety of caskets, urns, burial liners and products available for one's use at a burial plot or funeral home, wìth no extra fees involved, save for shipping.

Funerals | Cremation Services | Funeral Arrangements | Funeral Home | Funeral Planning | Memorial Funeral | Military Funerals | State Funeral | Q&A Funerals