Berkshire Hathaway 1998 Annual Report Download - page 19

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The doors will open at both locations at 7 a.m. on Monday, and at 8:30 we will premier the 1999 Berkshire
movie epic, produced by Marc Hamburg, our CFO. The meeting will last from 9:30 until 3:30, interrupted only
by the short lunch break.
An attachment to the proxy material that is enclosed with this report explains how you can obtain the badge
you will need for admission to the meeting and other events. As for plane, hotel and car reservations, we have
again signed up American Express (800-799-6634) to give you special help. In our normal fashion, we will run
buses from the larger hotels to the meeting. After the meeting, these will make trips back to the hotels and to
Nebraska Furniture Mart, Borsheim’s and the airport. Even so, you are likely to find a car useful.
The full line of Berkshire products will be available at Aksarben, and the more popular items will also be
at Holiday. Last year we set sales records across-the-board, moving 3,700 pounds of See’s candy, 1,635 pairs of
Dexter shoes, 1,150 sets of Quikut knives and 3,104 Berkshire shirts and hats. Additionally, $26,944 of World
Book products were purchased as well as more than 2,000 golf balls with the Berkshire Hathaway logo. Charlie
and I are pleased but not satisfied with these numbers and confidently predict new records in all categories this
year. Our 1999 apparel line will be unveiled at the meeting, so please defer your designer purchases until you
view our collection.
Dairy Queen will also be on hand and will again donate all proceeds to the Children’s Miracle Network.
Last year we sold about 4,000 Dilly bars, fudge bars and vanilla/orange bars. Additionally, GEICO will have
®
a booth that will be manned by a number of our top counselors from around the country, all of them ready to
supply you with auto insurance quotes. In almost all cases, GEICO will be able to offer you a special
shareholder’s discount. Check out whether we can save you some money.
The piece de resistance of our one-company trade show will be a 79-foot-long, nearly 12-foot-wide, fully-
outfitted cabin of a 737 Boeing Business Jet (“BBJ”), which is NetJets’ newest product. This plane has a 14-hour
range; is designed to carry 19 passengers; and offers a bedroom, an office, and two showers. Deliveries to
fractional owners will begin in the first quarter of 2000.
The BBJ will be available for your inspection on May 1-3 near the entrance to the Aksarben hall. You
should be able to minimize your wait by making your visit on Saturday or Sunday. Bring along your checkbook
in case you decide to make an impulse purchase.
NFM's multi-stored complex, located on a 75-acre site about a mile from Aksarben, is open from 10 a.m.
to 9 p.m. on weekdays, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. This operation did $300 million in
business during 1998 and offers an unrivaled breadth of merchandise — furniture, electronics, appliances, carpets
and computers — all at can’t-be-beat prices. During the April 30th to May 4th period, shareholders presenting
their meeting badge will receive a discount that is customarily given only to its employees.
Borsheim's normally is closed on Sunday but will be open for shareholders from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on May
2nd. On annual meeting weekend last year, the store did an incredible amount of business. Sales were double
those of the previous year, and the store’s volume on Sunday greatly exceeded volume for any day in Borsheim’s
history. Charlie attributes this record to the fact that he autographed sales tickets that day and, while I have my
doubts about this proposition, we are not about to mess with a winning formula. Please give him writer’s cramp.
On last year’s Sunday, Borsheim’s wrote 2,50 1 tickets during the eight hours it was open. For those of you who
are mathematically challenged, that is one ticket every 11½ seconds.
Shareholders who wish to avoid Sunday’s crowd can visit Borsheim’s on Saturday (10 a.m.-5:30 p.m.) or
on Monday (10 a.m.-8 p.m.). Be sure to identify yourself as a Berkshire owner so that Susan Jacques, Borsheim’s
CEO, can quote you a ”shareholder-weekend” price. Susan joined us in 1983 as a $4-per-hour salesperson and
was made CEO in 1994. This move ranks as one of my best managerial decisions.
Bridge players can look forward to a thrill on Sunday, when Bob Hamman — the best the game has ever
seen — will turn up to play with our shareholders in the mall outside of Borsheim’s. Bob plays without sorting
his cards — hey, maybe that’s what’s wrong with my game. We will also have a couple of other tables at which
another expert or two will be playing.