巴菲特致股东的信（1984年）②内布拉斯加家具店

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.

内布拉斯加家具店

去年我曾介绍过 B 夫人跟她的家族的优异表现，不过事实上我还低估他们的管理才能与人格特质，老实说，我从未见过一个管理团队的运作或行为比 Blumkin 家族更好。

Mrs. B, Chairman of the Board, is now 91, and recently was quoted in the local newspaper as saying, “I come home to eat and sleep, and that’s about it. I can’t wait until it gets daylight so I can get back to the business”. Mrs. B is at the store seven days a week, from opening to close, and probably makes more decisions in a day than most CEOs do in a year (better ones, too).

董事长 B 夫人现年 91 岁，最近当地报纸援引她的话说：“我回家只是吃饭睡觉，仅此而已。我迫不及待地想等到天亮，这样我才能重新开始工作。”B 夫人每周七天都在店里，从开店到关店，她一天做出的决定可能比大多数 CEO 一年做的决定还多(更好的决策也是如此)。

In May Mrs. B was granted an Honorary Doctorate in Commercial Science by New York University. (She’s a “fast track” student: not one day in her life was spent in a school room prior to her receipt of the doctorate.) Previous recipients of honorary degrees in business from NYU include Clifton Garvin, Jr., CEO of Exxon Corp.; Walter Wriston, then CEO of Citicorp; Frank Cary, then CEO of IBM; Tom Murphy, then CEO of General Motors; and, most recently, Paul Volcker. (They are in good company.)

5 月，B 夫人荣获纽约大学颁赠商科荣誉博士学位，(她是个跳级生，在她获得这个学位之前，从来没有到学校上过一天课)，纽约大学之前获颁商业荣誉学位殊荣的有：埃克森石油总裁 Clifton Garvin、花旗银行总裁Walter Wriston、IBM 总裁 Frank Cary、通用汽车总裁 Thomas Murphy、美联储主席 Paul Volcker。

The Blumkin blood did not run thin. Louie, Mrs. B’s son, and his three boys, Ron, Irv, and Steve, all contribute in full measure to NFM’s amazing success. The younger generation has attended the best business school of them all - that conducted by Mrs. B and Louie - and their training is evident in their performance.

Blumkin 家族有其母必有其子，B 夫人的儿子 Louie 跟他三个小孩 Ron、Irv 和 Steve，都为 NFM 的惊人成功做出了全面的贡献。年轻一代就读于他们中最好的商学院——由 B 夫人和 Louie 教授——他们的训练从他们的表现中可见一斑。

Last year NFM’s net sales increased by $14.3 million, bringing the total to $115 million, all from the one store in Omaha. That is by far the largest volume produced by a single home furnishings store in the United States. In fact, the gain in sales last year was itself greater than the annual volume of many good-sized successful stores. The business achieves this success because it deserves this success. A few figures will tell you why.

去年 NFM 总销售额达到 1.15 亿美元，净增加 1430 万美金，全部来自奥马哈的一家商店，这是迄今为止美国一家家居用品店销售的最大规模。事实上，仅去年的销售增长额就超过了许多规模较大的成功门店的一整年销量。它的成功不是没有道理的，以下数字说明一切。

In its fiscal 1984 10-K, the largest independent specialty retailer of home furnishings in the country, Levitz Furniture, described its prices as “generally lower than the prices charged by conventional furniture stores in its trading area”. Levitz, in that year, operated at a gross margin of 44.4% (that is, on average, customers paid it $100 for merchandise that had cost it $55.60 to buy). The gross margin at NFM is not much more than half of that. NFM’s low mark-ups are possible because of its exceptional efficiency: operating expenses (payroll, occupancy, advertising, etc.) are about 16.5% of sales versus 35.6% at Levitz.

全美最大的独立家居用品专业零售商莱维茨家具(Levitz Furniture)在 1984 年的财报自夸其所卖价格要比当地所有传统家具店要便宜的多，但 Levitz 的毛利率却高达 44.4%，亦即消费者每付 100 元所买的货品，公司的成本只要 55.6 元。而 NFM 的毛利却不到 Levitz 的一半，其低加成所凭借的是极高的效率：运营费用(工资、租金、广告费等)约占销售额的 16.5%，而 Levitz 则为 35.6%。

None of this is in criticism of Levitz, which has a well-managed operation. But the NFM operation is simply extraordinary (and, remember, it all comes from a $500 investment by Mrs. B in 1937). By unparalleled efficiency and astute volume purchasing, NFM is able to earn excellent returns on capital while saving its customers at least $30 million annually from what, on average, it would cost them to buy the same merchandise at stores maintaining typical mark-ups. Such savings enable NFM to constantly widen its geographical reach and thus to enjoy growth well beyond the natural growth of the Omaha market.

我们不是要批评 Levitz，事实上该公司经营亦颇出色，只是 NFM 的表现实在是过于出色了，而且这一切的一切都是从 B 夫人 1937 年的 500 块投资开始的，靠着无与伦比的效率，成本的精打细算以及精明的大规模采购的成本优势，NFM 赚取丰厚的资本回报的同时，平均每年为客户节省至少 3000 万美元，而在保持典型加价的商店购买相同商品这些成本是要支付的。这使 NFM 能够不断扩大其市场范围，从而享受远超奥马哈市场自然增长之外的增长。

I have been asked by a number of people just what secrets the Blumkins bring to their business. These are not very esoteric. All members of the family: (1) apply themselves with an enthusiasm and energy that would make Ben Franklin and Horatio Alger look like dropouts; (2) define with extraordinary realism their area of special competence and act decisively on all matters within it; (3) ignore even the most enticing propositions failing outside of that area of special competence; and, (4) unfailingly behave in a high-grade manner with everyone they deal with. (Mrs. B boils it down to “sell cheap and tell the truth”.)

人们常常问我 Blumkins 家族到底有什么经营诀窍，而其实说穿了也不是什么深奥的道理，他们整个家族：(1)对事业充满热情与活力，踏实肯干，其程度让 Ben Franklin 与儿童小说家 Horatio Alger Jr.看起来像半途而废，(2)脚踏实地的确定他们专业的能力圈，并对其中的事项采取非常果断的决定，(3)而在专业能力圈之外，对任何最具诱惑力的提议也不予理会，(4)对待所有人皆能保持高尚的人格。B 夫人将其归结为“便宜卖，讲实话”。

Our evaluation of the integrity of Mrs. B and her family was demonstrated when we purchased 90% of the business: NFM had never had an audit and we did not request one; we did not take an inventory nor verify the receivables; we did not check property titles. We gave Mrs. B a check for $55 million and she gave us her word. That made for an even exchange.

我们购买公司 90%股份的过程可以看出我们对 B 夫人家族人格的信任：NFM 从未进行过审计，我们也没有要求进行审计；我们没有盘点存货或核实应收账款以及固定资产。我们给了 B 夫人一张 5500 万美元的支票，而她给了我们一句口头的承诺。

You and I are fortunate to be in partnership with the Blumkin family.

与 Blumkin 家族合作是你我的荣幸。