Is the Permanent Records Company of Memphis Tennessee still in business?

Question

Is the Permanent Records Company of Memphis Tennessee still in business?

Answer 1

No.  They have been out of business since April, 2001.  Here's the article that was in the Memphis Daily News on April 18, 2001:

By: JENNIFER MURLEY Midtown service writes own memorial By JENNIFER MURLEY The Daily News Owners of the first memorial obituary service in the nation, Permanent Records Co., have closed their doors after more than 45 years in business. Citing outdated equipment and increased overhead as contributing factors, owners Larry McCulley and Kenneth Brown shut down the business located at 2152-2158 Young Ave. in March. They intend to be out of the building by the end of April. Permanent Records Co. was the brainchild of Robert Gross, who opened the business in 1954. In the wake of his fathers death, Gross wrote a poem in his honor. He then put it on paper and laminated it. The idea caught on among friends and relatives, quickly escalating from a garage operation to the current storefront business located in the heart of Midtowns Cooper-Young business district. McCulley came on board in 1961, working in the companys printing and photography department. He and Brown bought the business in 1980. "We were the second largest user of postage besides Sears," McCulley said. "We used about half a million dollars worth of postage a year." Permanent Records Co. had subscriptions to almost every paper across the country. Workers would cut obituaries from the newspapers and paste them onto three-by-six inch pieces of archival acid-free paper with printed borders. Stamped across the top of the memorial obituary would be the name of the paper in which it appeared and the date it appeared. Also included were a photograph of the decedent, the date of death and text such as "Footprints" or Psalms 23. The memorial, which was usually about the size of a bookmark, would then be laminated. Workers mailed complimentary memorials to families of decedents across the nation, as an advertisement for their product. The price for each labor-intensive memorial was $1.50. During the peak of business in the early 80s, McCulley said Permanent Records Co. employed about 50 workers to literally cut and paste the memorials together. Per parcel, the postage cost about 15 cents. Newspapers were affordable. The post office was efficient. Now, 20 years later, postage has more than doubled to 34 cents per parcel. Newspapers have doubled in price as well. And the post office, McCulley said it is just not as efficient as it once was. Additionally, the price for the plastic used in lamination substantially increased. Newspapers quit printing the addresses of family members. Funeral homes began offering laminated memorials. McCulley tried to offset the increased overhead by raising the price of the memorials to $2, and eventually $3, which it was when the business closed. But that wasnt enough. "Inflation just ate us up," he said. By the time Permanent Records closed, McCulley had only 10 employees. Now, as he prepares to empty the 12,000-square-foot building, which he owns, McCulley is excited about the future. As his business has slowly downsized, McCulley has leased the unused space. The formerly unnoticed strip of Young Avenue is gradually coming to life as new tenants, including a metal smith artist, a photographer and a toy store, rip plywood off the boarded up windows, trading in the current drab gray storefronts for bright colorful advertisements. "I think us getting out of there will make the business district more diversified," McCulley said. "The more, the merrier." With three remaining bays available for lease, McCulley said artists and retailers alike have expressed interest in the space, but he has yet to set a lease price. After more than four decades in the print and laminating business, McCulley said hes ready to call it quits. In a word, he summed up his plans for the future. "Retirement."