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Shopping: retail empires and where to actually buy

Two genuinely different stories — the commercial giants building retail empires, and the real, current best places to spend your own money online.

Shopping — what this page is for

Where the retail money flows, and where to actually buy

Pick a tab below to see the retail giants and where to shop. The Industry angle covers the companies behind what we buy. Some links are affiliate links, which is explained at the bottom of the page. This is information, not investment advice.

Commercial & Retail Giants Personal Shopping Secret Savings

Investment angle: Nebraska Furniture Mart — the largest home furnishings retailer in North America — is Berkshire Hathaway's quiet retail giant, and its story is genuinely remarkable. Warren Buffett bought 90% of it in 1983 for $60 million with a 1¼-page contract and a handshake, no audit, trusting founder Rose Blumkin's word alone. Blumkin ("Mrs. B"), a Belarusian immigrant who started the business with a $500 loan in 1937 under the motto "sell cheap and tell the truth," worked in the store until age 103. Today NFM's Omaha flagship typically generates about $9 million in sales weekly — and once hit $44 million in a single promotional week, a figure Buffett himself called unbelievable to any other retailer. NFM plus sister brands R.C. Willey, Star Furniture, and Jordan's Furniture make up roughly 17% of Berkshire's retail revenue, while Berkshire Hathaway Automotive alone contributes about 69% — showing just how large the auto retail side of Buffett's empire actually is relative to furniture. The real current story: NFM is opening a store in Austin in spring 2027, encroaching for the first time on sister brand Star Furniture's home territory, breaking a four-decade no-overlap strategy.

How the Biggest Players Actually Match Up

CompanyRevenue (2026)Market CapEmployeesWhat Sets Them Apart Walmart$713.16B~$1.01T~~2.1MFirst brick-and-mortar retailer to cross $1T market cap (Feb 2026); 10 straight years of revenue growth Amazon~~$717B~$2.6-2.8T~~1.56MNear-identical top-line to Walmart now, but revenue mix leans on cloud & advertising, not physical retail Costco~~$270B*~~$400-480B~~340,000Gaining US grocery share from Walmart (8.2% vs Walmart's 20.4%, and closing) Target$104.78B~$58.5B~415,000Smallest of the four by far — Walmart's revenue is roughly 6x Target's

*Approximate, less precisely reported than the other three in available 2026 sources. Figures are as reported at time of writing and subject to revision — verify current numbers directly before making any investment decision.

Updated October 22, 2026. Holiday outlook (context, published Sept 10): Deloitte forecasts US holiday retail sales of about $1.70-1.71 trillion (up 4.0-4.8%), with online sales of about $316-319 billion (up 7.5-8.4%). Financial signal: online is expected to keep outgrowing stores. Forecasts are not results. Source: Deloitte press release, Sept 10, 2026

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