Warren Buffett and Retail

July 17, 2014  by in Furniture Retailing, Industry   

To Warren Buffett, it is the one area where he says his investing track record is "awful," "pretty bad" or "really bad."

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s tiny gaggle of retail businesses—from See's Candies to Ben Bridge Jeweler and Nebraska Furniture Mart—gets little attention from investors and analysts, but the companies are profitable.

However, the retail sector continues to confound the billionaire investor and his partner Charlie Munger. They have bemoaned their bad luck in retail investing for years, speaking about their retail "failures" at annual meetings and in interviews. More recently, the duo—famously averse to technology bets—have lamented how the Internet is rapidly reshaping shopping habits and affecting Berkshire-owned retailers in ways they didn't expect.

Read Entire Story Source: The Wall Street Journal