nickshanagher

We can read lots into Warren Buffett telling CNBC that he made a mistake in investing in Tesco. “I am going to make mistakes,” he said. “But not because I buy businesses that I like as they go down in price but I am just going to be wrong sometimes on the facts.” The interview that we can see does not go on to examine what these facts might be. What I would suggest is that Buffett is saying that Tesco is a well-run business for the world of shopping that used to exist when he bought into Tesco in 2007. The supermarket retail world has changed beyond recognition since then. Morrisons under Dalton Philips claims it will be the first retailer in the world to price match Aldi and Lidl with its Match & More initiative (based on its mid-range own brands, not its value range). If he reads Dieter Brandes' BareEssentials Philips will see this is not the case. History is littered with retailers who have tried to beat Aldi on price and failed. But is the Aldi UK model ...

In 2004 Dieter Brandes leaked the secrets of Aldi’s success in his book, Bare Essentials , that is now available on Amazon for an amazing £196.90 a copy (it goes up and down) or maybe in an e-book format for a fraction of that price. (There is talk of a new English edition soon.) Don’t buy the book because you want to emulate Aldi as it is too late for that. But do make sure you read it if you want to be a better retailer. This is every bit as good as Sam Walton’s Made in America. Brandes was a top manager with Aldi for 14 years and marvels at how this secretive company’s simple formula was so widely misunderstood by competitors. The formula for success was a surprise for its founders, too. But Karl and Theo Albecht were astute business people who quickly recognised how the money was made and then kept the discipline. Put simply, the secret to making money is to stock a tight core range and sell lots of every product. While Walmart sells 100,000 items, its average turnover per ...