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OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett’s annual shopping event, the pregame to Berkshire Hathaway‘s annual meeting, is wowing shareholders flocking here this weekend.
With over 20,000 square feet of showroom space and more than 50,000 items of inventory, the exhibit hall at the CHI Health Center features goodies from various Berkshire’s holding companies, from Brooks Running to See’s Candies to Jazwares.
Only shareholders can participate at the event and they can buy items at a special discount.
The annual meeting will be exclusively broadcast on CNBC and livestreamed on CNBC.com. The special coverage will begin Saturday at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Jazwares
Jazwares, the American toymaker best known for its Squishmallows plushie line, was a hit last year when it first displayed its wares at Berkshire Hathaway’s conference, including the debut of a Warren Buffett plushie. This year, the company expanded its exhibit in the convention hall, making it three times larger.
Some highlights include the latest Squishmallows toys in the images of Buffett and his longtime Berkshire partner, Charlie Munger, a splashy Squishmallows pit, as well as other displays.
‘Poor Charlie’s Almanack’
The Bookworm only had one book to sell this year: “Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger.” That was at the request of Buffett in honor of his business partner of more than 60 years, who passed away in November at the age of 99.
FlightSafety
Berkshire acquired pilot training company FlightSafety in 1996. At Friday’s shopping event, the firm brought a taste of what its training program looks like for professional pilots. Shareholders lined up to put on virtual reality glasses and experience the flight simulation training.
Pilot Travel Centers
Truck-stop giant Pilot Travel Centers put up a big display with a real-sized red truck. The firm is largest operator of travel centers in North America, with more than 750 locations. Berkshire now fully owns Pilot Travel after buying the remaining 20% ownership interest from the Haslam family. The deal was not without drama as the Haslams last year sued Berkshire in a complaint that accused the conglomerate of using so-called pushdown accounting without authorization from the family.
Borsheims
About 14 miles away from the main convention center, there’s a separate shareholder-only shopping event at Berkshire-owned Jewelry store Borsheims.
Shareholders browsed through one-of-a-kind jewelry, engagement rings and watches available for purchase at a discount. This 40-carat diamond bracelet from Ruchi New York was selling for $110,000 (picture above, on the left).
In 2016, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway bought Duracell from Procter & Gamble, offering the consumer giant $4.7 billion of the shares it owned in P&G in exchange for the battery maker.
Brooks Running
Brooks Running attracted a long line of shareholders snapping up the 2024 special edition of its running shoes with “brk” on the side and a cartoon of a running Buffett on the insoles. Many shareholders are also set to participate in the Brooks “Invest in Yourself” 5K fun run and walk on Sunday, the morning following the annual meeting.
Dairy Queen
Warren Buffett bought Dairy Queen in 1998 in a roughly $600 million transaction, and has made trips to the Omaha locations with his great-grandchildren. According to The Wall Street Journal, the billionaire investor has said in the past that his favorite DQ order is a vanilla soft serve topped with chocolate syrup and malted milk power.
Correction: Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting is held in Nebraska. Captions in an earlier version didn’t cite that state.
