In 1984 After He Bought Her Company, Warren Buffett Said He’d “Rather Wrestle Grizzlies Than Compete With Mrs. B And Her Progeny.” Five Years Later Rose Blumkin Opened A Rival Store Across The Street. In 1992 Buffett Bought It Too
Rose Blumkin arrived in America penniless, spoke no English, and built a retail empire that Warren Buffett paid millions to own. Then she walked away angry, and Buffett learned what happens when you forget to lock down a legend.
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Warren Buffett has a favorite test for sizing up a business, and he spelled it out in the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A | BRK-A Price Prediction) (NYSE:BRK-B) 1983 shareholder letter, dated March 14, 1984: “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.” Berkshire had closed its purchase of Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1983, and the letter’s earnings table shows the store only from October through December. Five years later, Rose Blumkin ran that test herself.
From Used Clothing to a Retail Giant
Warren Buffett wrote that about 67 years earlier, Mrs. Blumkin, then 23, “talked her way past a border guard to leave Russia for America.” She “had no formal education, not even at the grammar school level, and knew no English.” Warren Buffett told that after years of selling used clothing, she had saved $500 by 1937 to open a furniture store. By the time of the letter, Warren Buffett wrote, Nebraska Furniture Mart generated over $100 million in annual sales from one store.
Her discounting once landed her in court over Fair Trade pricing. Buffett’s account of the verdict: “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.”
Berkshire Buys In While Mrs. B Keeps Selling
Warren Buffett wrote in 1983 that Berkshire bought 90% of the business, leaving 10% with family members involved in management. His 1992 letter says the family sold 80% in 1983, so the two letters give different figures. Warren Buffett added that Mrs. B, “now 90,” “remains Chairman and is on the sales floor seven days a week.”
She kept going. In the 1986 letter, Warren Buffett wrote that Mrs. B “continues at age 93 to outsell and out-hustle any manager I’ve ever seen.” He added: “Competing with her represents a triumph of courage over judgment.” Mrs. B soon tested that line herself.
A Carpet Dispute Sends Mrs. B Next Door
Buffett’s 1989 letter, dated March 2, 1990, reported that Mrs. B quit in May after a disagreement with the family over the carpet department. Buffett wrote: “At age 96 she has started a new business selling (what else?) carpet and furniture.” He also wrote: “Mrs. B probably has made more smart business decisions than any living American.”
Wikipedia, citing the New York Times, reports that she came out of retirement within three months to open Mrs. B’s Warehouse directly across the street, and that it turned profitable by 1991. Buffett’s 1992 letter places it next door, in a building she owned. The accounts differ on exact position. Either way, she had never signed a non-compete.
How Berkshire Brought Her Back in 1992
Buffett’s 1992 letter, dated March 1, 1993, says that at the end of 1992 Mrs. B decided to sell her building and land to Nebraska Furniture Mart, which set up shop alongside her in that building. “I am delighted that Mrs. B has again linked up with us,” he wrote. The buyer was Berkshire’s Nebraska Furniture Mart, and the deal covered her building and land, plus a non-compete she “graciously offered to sign.”
Owner-Operator Businesses Still Drive Berkshire’s Results
The division that houses Nebraska Furniture Mart remains a profit engine. In Q2 2026, manufacturing, service and retailing operating earnings grew to $4.47B from $3.60B a year earlier, while total operating earnings rose to $12.98B from $11.16B, per Berkshire’s August 8-K filing. Greg Abel now runs the company as CEO. Class B shares have gained 14.18% year to date and trade at a P/E of about 12. Investors watching the third-quarter earnings report should keep an eye on whether that segment’s momentum holds.
A Founder Buffett Never Wanted to Face
Buffett’s 1992 letter closed the story with his own comment: “Mrs. B belongs in the Guinness Book of World Records on many counts. Signing a non-compete at 99 merely adds one more.” According to J. Weekly, Rose Blumkin died in 1998 at 104. She was the immigrant who started with savings from selling used clothes, outsold every manager Buffett knew, and was the only competitor he ever said he would rather wrestle grizzlies than face.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.
