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Bogati Urn Co. has made another growth move.
The Sarasota-based company, founded in 2004, imports and wholesales cremation urns to the funeral industry. Bogati has been on a growth trajectory for years, and again the firm has found itself needing a larger space to accommodate new products, new customers and increasing sales.
Bogati Urn Co. President Andrea Bogard LeBlanc tells Coffee Talk sales increased more than she expected over the previous year. “I planned for 15% growth and 20% if I was lucky,” she says. “We have been consistently at 50% or more since November 2019.”
The new building it purchased in the Northgate business park in Sarasota is more than 30,000 square feet compared to the company’s previous 14,400-square-foot space. It has an air-conditioned warehouse, two showrooms and 15 offices that allow for social distancing. “In this industry, we’re not really able to work from home because we’re actually handling product and running labels,” says Bogard LeBlanc. “The large office really accommodates our needs.”
The space also accommodates a staff increase: to handle the growth, Bogati hired four people within the last two months.
Bogard LeBlanc was no stranger to Bogati’s new home. She used to drive by the building and think about the possibilities. “I thought, ‘Someday, I wish I could have business in there,’” she says. “It was a far-off, distant dream that became a reality.”
The move is the latest in a string of expansions for the company, with $2.52 million in gross revenue in 2019. Bogati’s first location was a roughly 900-square-foot rental unit that quickly turned into two units and then two more. After that, it moved into about 6,500 square feet before its recent 14,400-square-foot space.
The new location will give the company additional space for inventory. Like many businesses, Bogati has faced supply challenges related to the pandemic, including receiving orders from companies in India. “When COVID-19 hit, everything in India came to a standstill,” says Bogard LeBlanc. “Any shipments we’ve been receiving are pre-sold. We have a lot of containers coming in that are already spoken for.”
That demand is likely to hold and even increase in the future. “The cremation rate keeps rising,” she says. “With COVID-19, we’ve seen an increase in deaths, and a lot of people are choosing cremation. We’re hearing from funeral directors they’re overwhelmed with death. This is a reality.”
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