“Warren and I raised the prices of See’s Candies a little faster than others might have. There are actually people out there who don’t price everything as high as the market will easily stand. And once you figure that out, it’s like finding money in the street.”
[...] During the same period, the Retail Clerk’s Union attempted to organize the sales force in the stores. See’s since
has triumphed in four attempts to organize by the Retail Clerk’s Union, mainly by paying higher than union-scale
wages.
[...] At one time, See’s came under attack by a major candy producer from the Midwest. [...] They duplicated our identity and tried to grab out market. Of course, I informed Charlie and Warren about that fact.” Munger said, “If they are infringing on our trade mark in any way, we can go after them.” Stover’s eventually backed off.
Part of See’s competitive advantage is that it is a leader in its market. “In some businesses, the very nature of
things is a sort of cascade toward the overwhelming dominance of one firm,” said Munger.
[...] Thus our first lesson: businesses logically are worth far more than net tangible assets when they can be expected to produce earnings on such assets considerably in excess of market rates of return.
[...] “Jack was a life-time friend of mine and an excellent, but somewhat eccentric, businessman... When we were due
to close the purchase at Charlie’s office, Jack was late. Finally arriving, he explained that he had been driving
around looking for a parking meter with unexpired time.”
Far from being annoyed at the delay, says Buffett, he was delighted: “That was a magic moment for me. I knew then that Jack was going to be my kind of manager.”
“Warren and I raised the prices of See’s Candies a little faster than others might have. There are actually people out there who don’t price everything as high as the market will easily stand. And once you figure that out, it’s like finding money in the street.”
[...] During the same period, the Retail Clerk’s Union attempted to organize the sales force in the stores. See’s since has triumphed in four attempts to organize by the Retail Clerk’s Union, mainly by paying higher than union-scale wages.
[...] At one time, See’s came under attack by a major candy producer from the Midwest. [...] They duplicated our identity and tried to grab out market. Of course, I informed Charlie and Warren about that fact.” Munger said, “If they are infringing on our trade mark in any way, we can go after them.” Stover’s eventually backed off.
Part of See’s competitive advantage is that it is a leader in its market. “In some businesses, the very nature of things is a sort of cascade toward the overwhelming dominance of one firm,” said Munger.
[...] Thus our first lesson: businesses logically are worth far more than net tangible assets when they can be expected to produce earnings on such assets considerably in excess of market rates of return.
[...] “Jack was a life-time friend of mine and an excellent, but somewhat eccentric, businessman... When we were due to close the purchase at Charlie’s office, Jack was late. Finally arriving, he explained that he had been driving around looking for a parking meter with unexpired time.” Far from being annoyed at the delay, says Buffett, he was delighted: “That was a magic moment for me. I knew then that Jack was going to be my kind of manager.”