Andrew Bary

OMAHA, Neb. -- Berkshire Hathaway watchers are assuming that this year's annual meeting will have lower attendance than in 2025 without Warren Buffett on stage to answer questions from shareholders.

But the crowds were large at Berkshire's annual shareholder shopping day on Friday, when thousands of shareholders descended on the CHI Health Arena in Omaha to purchase products from Berkshire subsidiaries.

This year's event, in the same venue as the annual meeting, featured big crowds, the long lines, and bulging shopping bags. The shopping keeps going on Saturday. Berkshire investors are generally wealthy -- and love the company and the products linked to it.

At the Brooks booth, the high-end Glycerin running shoe was being offered for $180 in both a men's and women's style. Brooks was hoping to sell 2,000 pairs before the weekend was over.

Other Berkshire units with streams of visitors included See's Candies, International Dairy Queen, Jazwares, Pilot Cos., Fruit of the Loom, Pampered Chef, and Justin Industries.

Brooks is the leader in performance running shoes that cost more than $100 a pair, with a 20% U.S. market share -- and is one of the best of Berkshire's smaller businesses. It grew sales 16% in 2025, 23% in the first quarter, and would like to double revenues over the next five years. Current annual revenues are estimated at close to $2 billion; Brooks financial results aren't reported by Berkshire.

CEO Dan Sheridan is upbeat on Berkshire CEO Greg Abel, who replaced Buffett as CEO at the start of 2026, and he likes working for Adam Johnson, a Berkshire executive overseeing the company's consumer businesses. Sheridan admires the Berkshire culture, which he describes as one of "decentralization, empowerment, and trust."

See's is always one of the booths with the heaviest traffic. This year, the company is hoping to sell about 25,000 pounds of chocolate and other treats. Quality is paramount at See's, and shareholders could buy packaged boxes of chocolate -- or select their own for $45 for a roughly one-pound box.

Abel's favorite is what See's calls a milk pecan bud, while Buffett is partial to peanut brittle and chocolate fudge. Insurance chief Ajit Jain likes rum nougat. Look for boxes of candy on stage Saturday, when Abel and Jain field shareholder questions.

When Berkshire bought the insurer Alleghany in 2022, it also got Jazwares, a toy company that was part of Alleghany's group of non-insurance businesses. Jazwares has been a winner thanks to its hit Squishmallows -- a kind of plush pillow doll. Jazwares was showcasing its Warren Buffett squishmallow and its first one for Greg Abel, both of which are only available at the Berkshire annual meeting.

Jazwares is selling about 2,000 of the squishmallows an hour, with the 8-inch Buffett and Abel dolls selling for $14.99 each.

Berkshire shareholders also enjoy the $1 Dilly ice-cream bars from International Dairy Queen.

One of the nice things about the event: Shareholders can make use of an on-site shipping service that enable them to travel home light.

Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

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May 01, 2026 19:44 ET (23:44 GMT)

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