Funeral monument business seeing delays due to supply chain issues

PERRYVILLE, Mo. (KFVS) - Supply chain issues have impacted almost every part of our lives, and now they’re leading to delays in the afterlife.

A sales associate at Brewer Monument in Perryville said the industry is having a hard time getting rubber stencils used to engrave tombstones.

Holly Berhle said one of their leading vendors, 3M, shutdown production of rubber stencils in October due to rising costs and a lack of access to raw materials.

She said what used to be a three or four-month wait, is now a year-long delay.

“It’s the toughest part of my job, having to tell families that we just can’t produce their monument, and we don’t know how long it’s going to be,” she said. “We’re a family business here as well, and a lot of the customers that come in here I know personally, and it’s very difficult telling them that ‘I’m sorry, I just don’t know when it’s going to be done.’”

According to the Monument Builders of North America, the group is working with memorial businesses to inform customers of the challenges.

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