> In 1989, at age 95, Mrs. B's family forced her into retirement. Unhappy with this and realizing that Buffett had not made her sign a non-compete agreement, Mrs. B started "Mrs. B’s Clearance and Factory Outlet" across the street from Nebraska Furniture Mart three months later.
> Two years later, "Mrs. B’s Clearance and Factory Outlet" was profitable and the third largest carpet outlet in Omaha.
And when she decided to rejoin, Buffett made her sign a non-compete agreement...at the age of 97 (I think)...which is surely a first. Iirc, it was a five year non-compete.
It is worth checking out the relevant chapter in Alice Schroder's Buffett bio. Amazing story.
Iirc, it took her six months just to get out of the USSR, across Russia, through China, then went on a cargo ship. It also covers how she got started which is just as interesting (she got sued for selling too cheap, she can't read, she can't write, etc.).
The stores are also unbelievably large. They seem to be 25-50% bigger than Ikea stores, which is incredible. Only in America (and possibly China in 2030).
Rose Blumkin is the classic American-immigrant-rags-to-riches-by-hard-work story. I love this story from Warren Buffett in his 1983 letter to shareholders:
"Omaha retailers began to recognize that Mrs. B would offer customers far better deals than they had been giving, and they pressured furniture and carpet manufacturers not to sell to her. But by various strategies she obtained merchandise and cut prices sharply. Mrs. B was then hauled into court for violation of Fair Trade laws. She not only won all the cases, but received invaluable publicity. At the end of one case, after demonstrating to the court that she could profitably sell carpet at a huge discount from the prevailing price, she sold the judge $1400 worth of carpet."
I have no idea why this is on the front page of Hacker News but I'm not hating it.
I moved from Omaha to the Denver/Boulder area two years ago and besides the Henry Doorly Zoo, I miss Nebraska Furniture Mart the most.
NFM is a great place to buy pretty much anything you want to put in your house. Mrs. B really knew how to make a business work. The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's amazing they are so profitable with 70's era technology running the business.
> It's amazing they are so profitable with 70's era technology running the business.
Without knowing any details, I would say that there are people who would argue that this attitude may be one of the reasons they are profitable. Why change a perfectly working system your customer does have no direct interaction with?
> The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's amazing they are so profitable with 70's era technology running the business.
I live near and have shopped at the largest of their locations many times and all of their associates carry tablets to close sales right there on the floor. Hardly 70s technology (though the UI they use isn't modern necessarily). Their online presence isn't anything scoff at either.
I grew up in Omaha and there was a time when most of my parents' furniture came from NFM. I remember walking through as a kid, testing out bunk beds and dining room sets. When my dad told me about the other Omaha legend, Warren Buffett, he made it relatable by explaining he had so much money he could afford to buy NFM. That was my introduction to Warren Buffett.
The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's amazing they are so profitable with 70's era technology running the business.
That's what I always think whenever I'm in a Starbucks and see the drive-through orders appearing on an IBM PC-era 80x25 text display. But hey, if it works, and if it's reliable, and if it doesn't have to talk to too many other systems, why not?
I'm guessing that Mrs. B. was smart to stay out of the Denver/Boulder area. The Furniture Wars were fought in those foothills. You can still see the corpses of Weberg and Levits stores all down the interstate. Jake Jabbs took no prisoners.
Now, in addition to Jake's American Furniture Warehouse, there's the whole Furniture Row business holding the territory. Now IKEA is trying to find a way in.
Whole books have been written about the Furniture Wars! It's kind of crazy.
If you've never hiked through one, they are quintessential American excess. I know for many of you, their locations are Flyover Country. But actually embark from your stopover next time and spend a full weekend experiencing it. I've lived all over Middle America and the SF Bay Area for several years, and I live in Tulsa now. Nebraska Furniture Mart makes IKEA look like a Mission bodega that ran out of American Spirits and artisan beer.
I will have to give NFM another chance. The Clive IA store was a sleepy, underwhelming selection, and staff either missing or unable to help. We kept trying to buy blinds. After the 3rd try stopping by to talk to an expert we just ended up ordering online from justblinds.
They have moved to a new location in Clive or Urbandale. I haven't stopped in, but it feels like the parking lot is never too full.
Fun fact, Nebraska Furniture Mart holds 0x0004 on the list of Linux Manufacturer USB Ids [1]. At my last job we built a product with a custom OpenWRT fork, and I needed to identify an Atmel D21 behind a usb hub on a custom board we built, and I figured I'd never have a collision with any NFM hardware, so I just used that since no one outside our company would never see the device either.
Those aren't Linux IDs, those are USB-IF issued vendor IDs. That list is merely maintained by a Linux dev. That number is so low I wonder why NFM registered it. They have retailed electronics and accessories. Possibly some USB peripheral in the 90s?
I love how the founder sold her company to Warren Buffet, and then opened up pretty much the same store right across the street, forcing Buffet to buy that one as well(with an added non-compete clause)
the story is more of business drive than competition (imo):
> She bitterly ''retired'' in 1989 at the age of 95, but after three months returned with characteristic combativeness, setting up a rival store called Mrs. B's Clearance and Factory Outlet across the street from the Furniture Mart.
It's an amazing place. At least when I visited, you walk through the door to see some bland looking furniture (some maybe even the cheap MDF self-assembled type that you buy in a cardboard box), but then you walk through a doorway that opens up into a gigantic space of every sort of electronic game, device, accessory, geegaw, tchotchke, peripheral, plaything, and delight you could imagine. The staff were highly trained, happy to be there, knowledgeable, helpful, and made me want to come back and buy more.
Just to clarify "largest home furnishing store" the article literally means by sq ft within a single structure. Obviously the Ikeas of the world have much more total sq ft.
The traffic at the Kansas City location ironically lead to the opening of the Ikea here. Ikea used NFM's gaffs as a playbook to ensure their opening went smooth; everything from choosing location to paying for traffic signal upgrades (and hiring local law enforcement to trigger them manually) was thought out.
Another interesting one is Hickory (NC) Furniture Mart. It started as a drive-in restaurant and pivoted over time into a mall with over 100 furniture stores.
> NFM and Borsheim's follow precisely the same formula for
success: (1) unparalleled depth and breadth of merchandise at one
location; (2) the lowest operating costs in the business; (3) the
shrewdest of buying, made possible in part by the huge volumes
purchased; (4) gross margins, and therefore prices, far below
competitors'; and (5) friendly personalized service with family
members on hand at all times.
We purchased couches and a desk chair from them. There tends to be three grades: entry, mid, affluent. Their entry are 2X Ikea and maybe 3X the quality of most of what I've seen from Ikea. Mid prices tend to be better than smaller furniture stores, and I can't really comment on affluent.
Personally, all of the above. Most of my furnishings and appliances have been purchased there, the sheer volume of choice coupled with reasonable pricing and ease of purchase/delivery sets them apart from niche stores and/or difficult purchasing processes. It's much easier spending an afternoon walking around dozens of couches than traveling store to store (knowing evaluation must be in person for such an item).
[+] [-] lqet|6 years ago|reply
> Two years later, "Mrs. B’s Clearance and Factory Outlet" was profitable and the third largest carpet outlet in Omaha.
[+] [-] hogFeast|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hogFeast|6 years ago|reply
Iirc, it took her six months just to get out of the USSR, across Russia, through China, then went on a cargo ship. It also covers how she got started which is just as interesting (she got sued for selling too cheap, she can't read, she can't write, etc.).
The stores are also unbelievably large. They seem to be 25-50% bigger than Ikea stores, which is incredible. Only in America (and possibly China in 2030).
[+] [-] AmVess|6 years ago|reply
Yes, you drive through it in your car and look at housing doors of all types.
[+] [-] MarkMc|6 years ago|reply
"Omaha retailers began to recognize that Mrs. B would offer customers far better deals than they had been giving, and they pressured furniture and carpet manufacturers not to sell to her. But by various strategies she obtained merchandise and cut prices sharply. Mrs. B was then hauled into court for violation of Fair Trade laws. She not only won all the cases, but received invaluable publicity. At the end of one case, after demonstrating to the court that she could profitably sell carpet at a huge discount from the prevailing price, she sold the judge $1400 worth of carpet."
[+] [-] c0achmcguirk|6 years ago|reply
I moved from Omaha to the Denver/Boulder area two years ago and besides the Henry Doorly Zoo, I miss Nebraska Furniture Mart the most.
NFM is a great place to buy pretty much anything you want to put in your house. Mrs. B really knew how to make a business work. The only weird thing is how antiquated their computer systems are, it's amazing they are so profitable with 70's era technology running the business.
[+] [-] lqet|6 years ago|reply
Without knowing any details, I would say that there are people who would argue that this attitude may be one of the reasons they are profitable. Why change a perfectly working system your customer does have no direct interaction with?
[+] [-] kodablah|6 years ago|reply
I live near and have shopped at the largest of their locations many times and all of their associates carry tablets to close sales right there on the floor. Hardly 70s technology (though the UI they use isn't modern necessarily). Their online presence isn't anything scoff at either.
[+] [-] jfk13|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] killjoywashere|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] CamperBob2|6 years ago|reply
That's what I always think whenever I'm in a Starbucks and see the drive-through orders appearing on an IBM PC-era 80x25 text display. But hey, if it works, and if it's reliable, and if it doesn't have to talk to too many other systems, why not?
[+] [-] dwyerm|6 years ago|reply
Now, in addition to Jake's American Furniture Warehouse, there's the whole Furniture Row business holding the territory. Now IKEA is trying to find a way in.
Whole books have been written about the Furniture Wars! It's kind of crazy.
[+] [-] unknown|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] GWSchulz|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sswaner|6 years ago|reply
They have moved to a new location in Clive or Urbandale. I haven't stopped in, but it feels like the parking lot is never too full.
[+] [-] auto|6 years ago|reply
[1] http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids
[+] [-] braindeath|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tim333|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oh_sigh|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rileytg|6 years ago|reply
> She bitterly ''retired'' in 1989 at the age of 95, but after three months returned with characteristic combativeness, setting up a rival store called Mrs. B's Clearance and Factory Outlet across the street from the Furniture Mart.
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/13/business/rose-blumkin-ret...
my understanding from primary sources is she started the second to carry on her ideals when the original iced her out
[+] [-] YourGrace|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gbacon|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] wozniacki|6 years ago|reply
[1] Testing Mattresses with Warren Buffett
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XFwlNVRD5M
[+] [-] sabujp|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kodablah|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] exabrial|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nhebb|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] victor106|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tim333|6 years ago|reply
> NFM and Borsheim's follow precisely the same formula for success: (1) unparalleled depth and breadth of merchandise at one location; (2) the lowest operating costs in the business; (3) the shrewdest of buying, made possible in part by the huge volumes purchased; (4) gross margins, and therefore prices, far below competitors'; and (5) friendly personalized service with family members on hand at all times.
the rest of that is a good read. (http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1989.html)
[+] [-] tomrod|6 years ago|reply
We purchased couches and a desk chair from them. There tends to be three grades: entry, mid, affluent. Their entry are 2X Ikea and maybe 3X the quality of most of what I've seen from Ikea. Mid prices tend to be better than smaller furniture stores, and I can't really comment on affluent.
[+] [-] kodablah|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] solotronics|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] puranjay|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mike00632|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] WalterBright|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] IntricateJake|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sajeeve|6 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] dawsmik|6 years ago|reply