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Article: SURVIVAL FIGHT FUNERAL HOMES HIT HARD BY CHANGE.(MAIN)
- Article from:
- Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)
- Article date:
- May 30, 1993
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Albany Times Union. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: CHRISTOPHER RINGWALD - Staff writer
Like rude and unwelcome guests at a wake, demographic, regulatory and commercial changes are disturbing the sepulchral calm of the funeral industry. Funeral homes are considered one of the economy's least competitive sectors, despite there being 22,000 establishments nationwide, most of them small and independent.
Most people ready to inter a loved one use the same firm that buried their grandparents rather than shop around. "People do not consider funerals to be a consumer purchase," said Lee Norrgard, an attorney for the American Association of Retired Persons. "It appears to be almost tawdry to be ...