Will Aurora Casket Company sell to Bateville or SCI? What about imports, are they going to start getting more material from China or outsourcing to China? What changes can we expect to come for Aurora now that they have been bought by Kohlberg and Company? Discount programs, are they still going to be kept in place?
Ryan Thogmartin interviews Aurora Casket Company president Michael Quinn to ask these hard hitting questions as well as many others.
Originally this was suppose to be a video call but by request we have just posted the audio with a static screenshot background.
Bottom line, they don’t have much time to get their strategy message detailed and communicated to customers. Independent owners will not wait long to see how this plays out. They will start shifting their purchasing patterns almost immediately. (Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know and all that.)
It won’t be a tidal wave of change but whatever momentum they had will subside and that will not help the private equity group make their numbers. Distribution efficiencies won’t cut it in a marketplace flooded with capacity and alternatives.
Why did Kohlberg buy Aurora? This gentleman says he’s going to travel and talk to funeral director’s to understand funeral service. Don’t you do that before you make a significant investment in a manufacturer that sells merchandise to the death care industry?? I’m certainly not impress with what he has to say. Perhaps he’s playing possum but I’d have some serious concerns if I was either employed by or doing business with Aurora.
Ryan, you should have asked these folks about buying Genesis Casket. I don’ think it’s a secret that both of these casket co’s are struggling just like Batesville who laid off their second shift earlier this year due to declining sales. I have my doubts about what Aurora/Kohlberg will do to right their ship.
Ryan, I was a little kid when National Casket Company sold to Gulf-Western. This is not a new occurance. Others also have come and gone..Boyertown, Elgin., Belmont…ect. I would not read too much into the sale…as sometimes it just happens that ownership is ready to move on to something else…and the family who wants to keep it is unable to to purchase the others interests. As to whether the overall outcome will be positive for Aurora’s customers…that is the story to follow!