Warren Buffett's Big Bet on North Texas

When Warren Buffett's 1.9M SF Nebraska Furniture Mart opens next spring, it'll be the largest home furnishing store in America. (Between having a movie named after it and now this home furnishing megastore, Nebraska's stock is rising fast.) In terms Texans can understand: it’s bigger than 22 football fields. Bisnow got an up close look for you.

The 500k SF showroom is part of Berkshire Hathaway’s first real estate development in Texas, says Nebraska Furniture Mart chief strategy and development officer Jeff Lind. The store will have $7.5B in inventory, which allows about 40% of customers to take their purchases home same day. The furniture retailer is expected to generate $1B in annual sales. ($1B worth of area rugs could carpet the whole country.)

Nebraska Furniture Mart is part of the $1.5B 433-acre mixed-use Grandscape, which will include 560k SF of retail, says Jeff (pictured here Thursday an ICSC event; he's also the Grandscape prez). Jeff says the retail outlet could be called the “anti-developer” because—under Warren Buffett’s guidance—there’s no hurry to get the project done immediately. The goal is not the immediate impact, but what the project will be 10 to 20 years later. Jeff says the idea is to have all the infrastructure in place and proceed when the time is right.

The 4,900-space parking garage allows customers to walk right into the showroom.

The 1M SF distribution center will have 100 aisles measuring about 6.5 miles (photobombing bus mirror, not included). Employees (who are being hired now) will start stocking the store shelves next month and won’t wrap up until the opening, sometime in the spring, Jeff says. You can read even more details in our special report about Nebraska Furniture Mart here.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's Dallas-Fort Worth Newsletters
Related Stories

Carrier To Invest $600M In Fort Worth Advanced Manufacturing Facility

Venu Closes $60M Sale-Leaseback Deal For McKinney Concert Venue Land

Trammell Crow Breaks Ground On Office-To-Resi Conversion In Dallas: The DFW Deal Sheet

Food Hall Planned Near Broncos' Burnham Yard Stadium Site

Next Phase Of Amsterdamse Poort Redevelopment Kicks Off

Site Centers To Stop Trading As It Winds Up Operations

DFW Industrial Thrives As Tenants Seek Quality, Flexibility And Power

Los Angeles Trials Its Own Vacant To Vibrant Program

Plano Voters To Decide On New Taxes Tied To Dallas Stars' $3B Sports And Entertainment District

Why Boston Has One Of The Nation's Hottest Retail Markets

Paramount Pictures To Reopen Bay Theater In Palisades Village

Ground-Floor Activation Presents A Challenge And Opportunity For Denver's Recovery