Mrs. B (Rose Blumkin)
Founder, Nebraska Furniture Mart
One of Buffett's most admired entrepreneurs; sold Nebraska Furniture Mart to Berkshire in 1983.
Biography
Rose Blumkin (1893–1998), universally known as "Mrs. B," founded Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha in 1937 with $500 in savings she had accumulated over years of running a small secondhand shop. She built it into the largest home furnishings store in North America.
Buffett purchased 80% of Nebraska Furniture Mart from Mrs. B in 1983 for $60 million. The transaction was done on a handshake with no audit of the books. Buffett has said: "We gave her a check for $60 million and she gave us her word — and that was that." Mrs. B continued working at the store until she was 103 years old.
Mrs. B arrived in America from Russia as a young woman speaking no English with virtually nothing. Her story — building a retail empire through relentless focus on low prices, high volume, and treating customers right — is one of the great American entrepreneurial narratives. Buffett considered her one of the finest businesspeople he had ever known.
Key Stories
The $500 Start — In 1937, Mrs. B opened Nebraska Furniture Mart with $500 saved from her secondhand store. Her philosophy was simple: buy cheap, sell cheap, and tell the truth. For decades she outcompeted every furniture retailer in the region by cutting out the middleman and passing the savings to customers.
The Handshake Deal — When Buffett approached Mrs. B in 1983, he offered $60 million for 80% of the business. There was no audit, no lawyers examining every clause. Buffett trusted her completely. She gave her word and kept it. This became one of Buffett's favorite examples of how business should work — and how Berkshire tries to operate every acquisition.
Working at 103 — Mrs. B retired briefly in her late 80s after a dispute with family members, then immediately opened a competing store across the street. She outworked people half her age. Berkshire eventually purchased her new store and brought her back into the fold. She worked at Nebraska Furniture Mart until she was 103.
Low Prices as Moat — Mrs. B understood instinctively what Buffett would later formalize as competitive advantage: if you have the lowest prices in town, and you're honest with customers, competitors cannot touch you. Her store's gross margins were a fraction of competitors', but volume and loyalty made it a machine.
Impact on Berkshire
Mrs. B exemplifies the type of business owner-operator Berkshire seeks — and the qualities Buffett most admires in anyone running a business.
The NFM Model: Nebraska Furniture Mart remains one of Berkshire's most economically productive subsidiaries. Under Mrs. B's founding philosophy — lowest prices, massive selection, volume over margin — the Omaha store is thought to generate more revenue per square foot than almost any furniture store in America.
The Acquisition Template: The NFM deal became Buffett's ideal template for acquisitions: find an exceptional business, find an exceptional owner who built it, agree on a fair price, give them a handshake, and let them run it. No integration, no corporate meddling, no MBA consultants. This is now Berkshire's standard approach.
Character as Asset: Mrs. B's story reinforced Buffett's deep belief that character — honesty, frugality, relentless focus on the customer — is the most durable competitive advantage of all. In his letters, she appears not just as a business success but as a moral exemplar.
Key Passages from Buffett's Letters
Nebraska Furniture Mart Last year I introduced you to Mrs. B (Rose Blumkin) and her family. I told you they were terrific, and I understated the case. After another year of observing their remarkable talents and character, I can honestly say that I never have seen a managerial group that either functions or behaves better than the Blumkin family. Mrs. B, Chairman of the Board, is now 91, and recently was quoted in the local newspaper as saying, “I come home to e
Out-of-towners should schedule a stop at Nebraska Furniture Mart. If you make some purchases, you’ll save far more than enough to pay for your trip, and you’ll enjoy the experience. Warren E. Buffett February 25, 1985 Chairman of the Board Subsequent Event: On March 18, a week after copy for this report went to the typographer but shortly before production, we agreed to purchase three million shares o
*And, at the Mart, we have the amazing Blumkins - Mrs. B, Louie, Ron, Irv, and Steve - a three-generation miracle of management. I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to be able to work with managers such as these. I like them personally as much as I admire them professionally. Insurance Operations Shown below is an updated version of our usual table, listing two key figures for the insurance industry: Yearly Change Combined Ratio *
Nebraska Furniture Mart. Competitors come and go (mostly go), but Mrs. B. and her progeny roll on. In 1986 net sales increased 10.2% to $132 million. Ten years ago sales were $44 million and, even then, NFM appeared to be doing just about all of the business available in the Greater Omaha Area. Given NFM’s remarkable dominance, Omaha’s slow growth in population and the modest inflation rates that have applied to the goods NFM sells, how can this operation continue to rack
Mrs. B (Rose Blumkin), the 94-year-old chairman of Nebraska Furniture Mart. Fifty years ago Mrs. B started the business with $500, and today NFM is far and away the largest home furnishings store in the country. Mrs. B continues to work seven days a week at the job from the opening of each business day until the close. She buys, she sells, she manages - and she runs rings around the competition. It's clear to me that she's gathering speed and may well reach her full p