Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the best-known fundamental investors in the world as a result of his immense investment success possessing a net worth of $104 billion as of March 2023, making him the fifth-richest person in the world.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Its main business and source of capital is insurance, from which it invests the float in a broad portfolio of subsidiaries, equity positions and other securities. The company has been overseen since 1965 by its chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger, who are known for their advocacy of value investing principles. Under their direction, the company's book value has grown at an average rate of 20%, compared to about 10% from the S&P 500 index with dividends included over the same period, while employing large amounts of capital and minimal debt.
See's Candies is an American manufacturer and distributor of candy, particularly chocolates. It was founded by Charles See, his wife Florence, and his mother Mary in Los Angeles, California in 1921. The company is now headquartered in South San Francisco, California. See's kitchens are located at its headquarters and maintained at its original factory in Los Angeles, where there are also retail shops. It also has an office in Carson, California. The company has been owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Corporation since 1972.
Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) is a home furnishing store in North America that sells furniture, flooring, appliances and electronics. It is the largest of its kind in North America. NFM was founded in 1937 by Belarus-born Rose Blumkin, who was known as Mrs. B., in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Under the motto "sell cheap and tell the truth," she worked in the business until age 103. In 1983, Mrs. B. sold a majority interest to Berkshire Hathaway on of a handshake deal with Warren Buffett for $60 million.
Wesco Financial Corporation was a diversified financial corporation headquartered in Pasadena, California.
James Franklin McIngvale, also known as "Mattress Mack", is an American businessman. He is known for owning and operating the Gallery Furniture retail chain, based in Houston, Texas.
Jordan's Furniture is an American furniture retailer in New England. There are currently seven retail locations—three in Massachusetts and four in other New England states —plus a warehouse in Taunton, Massachusetts. Since 1999, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.
Blue Chip Stamps started as a trading stamps company called "Blue Chip Stamp Company." They were a competitor of S&H Green Stamps. Blue Chip stamps were a loyalty program for customers, similar to discount cards issued by pharmacies and grocery stores in the digital era. A customer making a purchase at a participating store would be given stamps in proportion to the dollar amount of the purchase. The stamps were dispensed by machines adjacent to the cash register. The customer would paste the stamps into books. The books could then be taken to a redemption center and redeemed for merchandise, such as lawn furniture, dining tables, tableware, and many other items. The redemption centers did not maintain a full inventory of items but would order from a catalog on behalf of the customer.
RC Willey Home Furnishings is an American home furnishings company in Utah, Idaho, Nevada and California. It was founded in 1932 by Rufus Call Willey in Syracuse, Utah, RC, as he was known to friends, began selling Hotpoint-brand appliances door-to-door out of the back of his pickup truck. RC Willey has 10 locations across the Western United States and specializes in furniture, electronics, home appliances, mattresses, and flooring. In 1995, the holding company Berkshire Hathaway bought RC Willey in a deal with Warren Buffett.
Randalls operates 32 supermarkets in Texas under the Randalls and Flagship Randalls banners. The chain consists of 13 stores located around the Houston area and 15 stores located around the Austin area as of May 2020. Randalls today forms the nucleus of the current Houston division of Albertsons and is headquartered in the Westchase district of Houston. The office served as the headquarters of the independent Randalls company before its takeover and later the Texas division of Safeway. The Randalls distribution center was near Cypress, Texas, and now is serviced by the Tom Thumb distribution in Roanoke, Texas, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
Rose Blumkin was an American businesswoman who founded the Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1937. Businessman Warren Buffett said of her, "One question I always ask myself in appraising a business is how I would like, assuming I had ample capital and skilled personnel, to compete with it. I’d rather wrestle grizzlies than compete with Mrs. B and her progeny. They buy brilliantly, they operate at expense ratios competitors don’t even dream about, and they then pass on to their customers much of the savings.
Helzberg Diamonds is a jewelry retailer founded in 1915 by Morris Helzberg that has 210 stores in 36 US states.
Clayton Homes is the largest builder of manufactured housing and modular homes in the United States. It is owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
HomeServices of America is the United States's largest residential real estate services company, based on closed transactions. The company provides real estate brokerage services, mortgage loan origination, franchising, title insurance/escrow and closing services, home warranties, property insurance, casualty insurance, and relocation services.
Sleepy's was a retail mattress chain with over 1,000 stores, primarily situated in the northeastern United States. The company was founded in New York City in 1931. Sleepy's was acquired by Mattress Firm in December 2015 and all stores were rebranded under the Mattress Firm name on January 1, 2017, but the website continued as an online retailer until 2018. Mattress Firm now uses the Sleepy's name for their private label mattresses.
Levin Furniture is a furniture and mattress retailer with 28 stores in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Mattress World, Inc. orMattress World of Michigan was a mattress retail chain in Michigan and Indiana in the Midwestern United States. Its headquarters were in Genoa Township, Michigan. Stores were usually freestanding and located in bedroom communities instead of big box store corridors.
Ben Bridge Jeweler is a high-end American jewelry retailer that sells engagement rings, diamonds and watches, including Rolex, among other luxury product and is currently owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. It was established in Seattle, Washington, in 1912 and currently operates over 80 stores in the United States.
American Freight Furniture, Mattress, Appliance, or American Freight, is an American retail company that sells furniture, mattresses and home appliances. The company's history dates to 1968, when Sears established a surplus store in Kansas City, Missouri, which later became Sears Outlet; and 1994 when Steve Belford established American Freight Furniture & Mattress in Lima, Ohio.
