I want to officially welcome you to the kick-off of Berkshire Hathaway shareholder weekend 2011. The fun begins tonight with our shareholder only cocktail party at Borsheims. We are hard at work here getting everything ready for you. Our main work? Cramming carefully displaying as much jewelry as we can in our cases so you’ll have the biggest selection at the lowest price (Berkshire price!!!).
We also have hundreds of shareholders already shopping. So join the fun early. You don’t have to wait for the cocktails to be poured to start perusing the selection!
We do (@borsheimsbrk). And we’d love to tweet with you. Last year, after some back and forth discussion, the hashtag #brk2010 seemed to take over as the favorite. So this year, how about #brk2011?
Several of us are already using #brk2011 to mark our Berkshire Hathaway weekend-related tweets. Join the discussion by clicking the “follow in twitter” button on the right side of this page.
Record Sales Anticipated from Buffett, Borsheims Booth
The addition of Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett to Borsheims’ expert sales staff is expected to be a highlight of this year’s Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders’ weekend. Mr. Buffett, who sold shoes at J.C. Penney’s 63 years ago, expects to prove himself as a “hotshot salesman” and is encouraging shareholders to come, buy and “make me look good.”
Buffett’s sales won’t be the only boost to Borsheims sales during this year’s shareholder weekend. For the first time, Borsheims is taking jewelry to its booth at the Qwest Center exhibition hall to sell during the annual meeting Saturday. The jewelry is available at a steep discount and only at the Qwest Center during the April 30 meeting. The jewelry includes diamond earrings, pearl necklaces, watches and more. An example of the discount? A diamond anniversary band valued at $825 will sell at the Qwest Center for $405.
Borsheims is excited to host the large crowds both at Borsheims and the Qwest Center. Here are a few guidelines to help shareholders navigate the crowds:
Any Berkshire Hathaway shareholder will have the opportunity to purchase from Mr. Buffett, but time and space constraints will dictate how many shareholders will get in.
Berkshire Hathaway shareholders hoping to purchase from Mr. Buffett should be in the store and shopping around 1pm on Sunday, May 1.
The Borsheims Booth Deals will be available ONLY at the Qwest Center and ONLY on Saturday.
A complete list of the Borsheims Booth Deals is available at borsheimsbrk.com.
As in the past, Borsheims shareholder pricing begins in store today and runs through Saturday, May 7. Shareholders can take advantage of the discounts on jewelry, watches and gifts at any time over the next two weeks.
Since becoming a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary 21 years ago, Borsheims has been proud to host shareholders during the annual meeting. This year, shareholders will be welcomed to Borsheims for an exclusive cocktail reception on Friday, April 29, from 6 pm – 9 pm. They’ll also be treated to a shareholder-only shopping day on Sunday, May 1, from 9 am to 4 pm.
For more information about Borsheims or Berkshire Hathaway shareholders’ weekend, contact Trisha Meuret at tmeuret1@gmail or (402)658-0017 or Adrienne Fay at (402)341-0900 or adriennefay@borsheims.com..com
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NOTES FOR MEDIA:
Media members will be allowed to document Mr. Buffett’s sales from a distance.
Pool cameras (both still and video) will provide images from up close.
For more information, contact Trisha Meuret at tmeuret1@gmail.com or (402)658-0017.
For the first time, Borsheims will be selling jewelry from its booth at the Qwest Center during the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders’ meeting. Borsheims has always joined other Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries in the exhibition hall during the meeting, but has sold Berkshire Hathaway memorabilia. This year, in addition to the memorabilia, Borsheims is offering amazing deals on several jewelry box staples.
Here’s a list of what you can find at the Qwest Center Saturday. Bring your wallets and plan accordingly!
The Omaha World Herald had a wonderful article today about Warren Buffett’s security chief, Dan Clark. It’s a must-read if you ever wondered what it would be like to protect a man known for driving himself around Omaha, eating burgers at the local bar and grill and for being the third wealthiest man in the world.
Every year, we bring in thousands of extra pieces of amazing jewelry just for our Berkshire Hathaway shareholders’ weekend.
Check out what I got to spend some time with today:
64.84 carat diamond necklace available at Borsheims. Retail price is $730,000.
I have such a difficult job, don’t I?
But wait… then I was forced to photograph this!
46.82 carats of Fancy Colored Diamonds make up this necklace, available now at Borsheims.
If only my lovely camera could better showcase the fanciness of those diamonds! All 35 and 1/2 inches of diamonds were quite, quite fancy.
What’s that? You need earrings to match?
Okay.
These flower earrings have 15.56 carats of Fancy Colored Diamonds. Retail price is $990,000.
And there’s great news! Even though the retail price of those earrings is close to $1 million, the Borsheims price is $875,000. And more great news… Berkshire Hathaway shareholders get an even better (but undisclosed in a public forum like this) discount.
So go ahead. Start making your wish list. And if you’re not in the position to buy these major pieces, don’t worry! We have thousands of pieces of jewelry that will fit EVERY budget.
It happens every year. Berkshire Hathaway shareholders come to Omaha to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders’ meeting, visit the exhibition hall at the Qwest Center and end up buying more than they can carry home with them.
Well fret no more, people. Borsheims has the solution right inside its booth at the Qwest Center. It’s called the RuMe bag:
The bag rolls up into a tiny size to fit in your pocket, purse or briefcase. Then, when you need it (like after you’ve purchased armloads of Berkshire Hathaway-related products), just unroll it and go. You can fit a lot of goodies into the 15.5″ bag. But don’t try to take the Dilly bars home in the bag. They melt and MUST be eaten immediately!
If perusing this website on a large computer screen isn’t your thing, you can now get all your Berkshire Hathaway shareholder weekend related updates on the go. We’re mobile-ready. And so are you.
So keep checking in with borsheimsbrk.com from your phone in the airport, cab, restaurant, coffee shop, etc. Just not while you’re driving, okay?
Just a reminder of how the question and answer session at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders’ meeting works. Here is the section straight from Warren Buffett and the folks at Berkshire Hathaway headquarters:
Financial journalists from organizations representing newspapers, magazines and television will participate in the question-and-answer period, asking Charlie and me questions that shareholders have submitted by email. The journalists and their email addresses are: Carol Loomis, of Fortune, who may be emailed at cloomis@fortunemail.com; Becky Quick, of CNBC, at BerkshireQuestions@cnbc.com; and Andrew Ross Sorkin, of the New York Times, at arsorkin@nytimes.com. From the questions submitted, each journalist will choose the dozen or so he or she decides are the most interesting and important. (In your email, let the journalist know if you would like your name mentioned if your question is selected.)
So, if you want to submit a question via email, go right ahead. There will also be 13 microphones set up at the Qwest Center for shareholders to ask questions, but there is always quite a line so be prepared to wait!