History
DURING THE 1990s, the funeral industry had been evolving toward a higher awareness of customer service and satisfaction. The York Group, Inc. – the second-largest casket and funerary product manufacturer in the United States – adapted to these changes by tapping into consumers’ desires for a more personal touch in their casket buys. One example was York’s introduction of caskets that buyers could personalize with handwritten messages. (Examples of other popular casket offerings of the time included custom-designed vinyl casket art, novelty caskets, and themed-caskets.) New product lines were emerging at trade shows annually, even though historically casket models lasted 10 to 15 years on the market. With York’s new write-on casket and the earlier purchase of cremation container manufacturer Elder Davis, the company started to gain a foothold in the growing custom casket and cremation markets. However, the real boon for York came in 1997 with a concept that overhauled the funeral business itself.
As the choices in the death-care industry became more abundant, and consumers’ changing attitudes threatened traditional funeral practices, the need for change became apparent in the funerary sales business. York decided to bring in extra help to meet that need.
The York Merchandising Systems™ (commonly known as YMS) was the brainchild of Alton F. Doody, who based the practice on systems he’d seen in Europe. Up to this point, traditional funeral homes and casket makers had displayed full coffins in stark rooms; the first move Doody made was to create a showcase system that featured partial caskets, drawers of lining material, and displays of hardware. By using this system, casket sellers could remove the harsh reality of a full coffin from the buyer while maximizing their space for more options. The prevailing theory behind it was that consumers, when given a wide range of choices, would gravitate toward goods in a certain price bracket when merchandised correctly.
After unsuccessfully presenting the idea to Batesville, Doody turned to York, who bought Doody’s consulting company. They gave the concept a name and pitched it to morticians. It was a hard sell at first. Morticians were used to full caskets and traditional setups. The costs of overhauling a funeral home were substantial. And morticians did not like that they could not sell other casket brands. The concept had a slow start.
But once funeral directors took a chance on the system, favorable results were apparent. Those who employed the systems lauded them. Extensive inventories of full caskets were gone. Personalization was easier as casket delivery became on-demand. One funeral director called it the “first new innovation in caskets in 75 years,” in a Wall Street Journal article. York’s first 50 displays showed an average gain of $438 per sale under the new system. The next batch followed suit. Some funeral directors also found they could create a more-friendly atmosphere with additions such as coffee bars, bookstores, greeting cards, and memorial items for their funeral customers. By 2000 more than 500 funeral homes were using the York system.
YMS™ and Artco
Matthews International Corporation acquired The York Group, Inc. in 2001. The York Merchandising Systems™ funerary retail display remains the industry standard in a sea of knockoff and copycat merchandising concepts. Artco Casket and its sister company, Milwaukee Casket, have over 300 YMS™ installs in their eight-state territory alone. We continue to aid funeral homes to realize their retail potential as the industry landscape shifts in new and exciting ways.