It may come as a surprise to investors to hear that Berkshire Hathaway is the largest furniture retailer in the U.S., ahead of second-place Ikea.

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company, and it owns about 70 subsidiary companies in addition to its equity positions in publicly traded stocks. It owns four furniture retailers: Nebraska Furniture Mart, R.C. Willey Home Furnishings, Star Furniture Company, and Jordan's Furniture. It also owns CORT, a business-to-business furniture rental service.

These companies share several features that Buffett finds compelling, and they're the opposite of the core operating qualities of digital furniture retailer Wayfair (NYSE: W). Wayfair has been posting dramatically declining sales and net losses, but its stock is up 111% in 2023.

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Source Fool.com