what private company you wish was...

[rayray]

What private company you wish was on an exchange? I would invest in these companies tomorrow if I could--for get about Lyft!

I'll name three


Swagelok      https://www.swagelok.com/en


WaWa         https://www.wawa.com/


Chick-fil-a     https://www.chick-fil-a.com/

[thomasc]

Hey Ray,

What is so special about those three companies? 2 of those look like a typical Subway or McDonalds and the third a manufacturing company that makes simple products that any other manufacturing company could.

[crimsonghost747]

Easy:
Space X.

I would sure love to be a part of humanity's next steps, profitable or not.

[rayray]

(04-02-2019, 02:24 AM)thomasc Wrote: Hey Ray,

What is so special about those three companies? 2 of those look like a typical Subway or McDonalds and the third a manufacturing company that makes simple products that any other manufacturing company could.

Granted, we don't know their financials but WaWa and Chick Fil a have been growth machines. Personally, I either know someone or know someone  who knows someone who works at all three companies, all different someone's of course lol. They all seem to treat their employee's fairly well at least from what  I'm told by those "someone's"--sure-- it's not concrete info but it's something and it's a good start. During the recession Swagelok made sure their employee's kept working, if I remember correctly, they cut hours instead of laying people off,  it hurt but it kept people employed. All three have decade long employee's.

WaWa buys a section of land, one plot of land for the truck-stop-like gas station with deli, and sometime's one or more other plots connected where it builds small strip malls for rental income. According to my friends brother sometimes the land is purchased, developed and all paid for within one year from "Opening for Business." WaWa also has it's own brand of coffee. Like D&D and McDonald's they are always updating/remodeling their store's and embrace new technology. Customer service, I notice at WaWa and Chick Fil a are really really good to outstanding from a personal experience.

Chick Fil a has some quirks but they do have some strong "beliefs" that they follow and expect to have from their owner-managers. When I checked into a franchise with them about ten years ago it was a simple application and if accepted as a owner-manager the cost is 5k, yes, 5000 dollars. The owner-manager averages between 150k to 600k plus from each location, owners usually own more then one location. The bad part is when the owner-manager(s) passes away the franchise goes back to the parent company. It's also easier to become an owner-manager if a relative already is one or if you personally work as a employee.

I have some more but I have to get ready for work

[fenders53]

Chick Fila, Hobby Lobby, Levis until recently.  And definitely Menard's.  Menard's absolutely crushes it wherever they exist.  I deal with that everyday at my job at HD. They are the king of cheap stuff people want, that I can't compete with that crowd. 

As far as "quirky".  I happen to share the values of some of these quirky companies.  Appears to me they are proving you can work around being closed on Sunday.  If nothing else, it helps manage the overtime problem retailers face with the fulltime part of their staff.  They are proving there are plenty of people OK with that plan.

[Otter]

Airbnb. Should be available to purchase this year if the IPO goes through as planned. If the revenue/profit figures they have been reporting are accurate, they already clear as much revenue as Hyatt, half as much as Hilton, and have been profitable for more than two years now.

[thomasc]

(04-02-2019, 05:20 AM)rayray Wrote:

(04-02-2019, 02:24 AM)thomasc Wrote: Hey Ray,

What is so special about those three companies? 2 of those look like a typical Subway or McDonalds and the third a manufacturing company that makes simple products that any other manufacturing company could.

Granted, we don't know their financials but WaWa and Chick Fil a have been growth machines. Personally, I either know someone or know someone  who knows someone who works at all three companies, all different someone's of course lol. They all seem to treat their employee's fairly well at least from what  I'm told by those "someone's"--sure-- it's not concrete info but it's something and it's a good start. During the recession Swagelok made sure their employee's kept working, if I remember correctly, they cut hours instead of laying people off,  it hurt but it kept people employed. All three have decade long employee's.

WaWa buys a section of land, one plot of land for the truck-stop-like gas station with deli, and sometime's one or more other plots connected where it builds small strip malls for rental income. According to my friends brother sometimes the land is purchased, developed and all paid for within one year from "Opening for Business." WaWa also has it's own brand of coffee. Like D&D and McDonald's they are always updating/remodeling their store's and embrace new technology. Customer service, I notice at WaWa and Chick Fil a are really really good to outstanding from a personal experience.

Chick Fil a has some quirks but they do have some strong "beliefs" that they follow and expect to have from their owner-managers. When I checked into a franchise with them about ten years ago it was a simple application and if accepted as a owner-manager the cost is 5k, yes, 5000 dollars. The owner-manager averages between 150k to 600k plus from each location, owners usually own more then one location. The bad part is when the owner-manager(s) passes away the franchise goes back to the parent company. It's also easier to become an owner-manager if a relative already is one or if you personally work as a employee.

I have some more but I have to get ready for work

Makes a lot of sense now. Good write up.

[rayray]

(04-02-2019, 06:54 AM)fenders53 Wrote: Chick Fila, Hobby Lobby, Levis until recently.  And definitely Menard's.  Menard's absolutely crushes it wherever they exist.  I deal with that everyday at my job at HD. They are the king of cheap stuff people want, that I can't compete with that crowd. 

As far as "quirky".  I happen to share the values of some of these quirky companies.  Appears to me they are proving you can work around being closed on Sunday.  If nothing else, it helps manage the overtime problem retailers face with the fulltime part of their staff.  They are proving there are plenty of people OK with that plan.

Looked at Menard's because I never heard of them before--reminds me of cheapo Harbor Freight Tools--so damn cheap and WILL BREAK but who cares in our throw away society. It does bother me--one of my weaknesses is I hate cheap shit.

It's like a basin wrench--I have an old good one made in u.s.a but since I only use it once every 10 to 12 years who cares lol....a cheap one would last just as long how I use it...

[ChadR]

I would say Chick-Fil-A and Koch.

With Koch you're getting a mini Berkshire. It seems like they are invested in nearly everything.

[fenders53]

(04-06-2019, 01:36 PM)rayray Wrote:

(04-02-2019, 06:54 AM)fenders53 Wrote: Chick Fila, Hobby Lobby, Levis until recently.  And definitely Menard's.  Menard's absolutely crushes it wherever they exist.  I deal with that everyday at my job at HD. They are the king of cheap stuff people want, that I can't compete with that crowd. 

As far as "quirky".  I happen to share the values of some of these quirky companies.  Appears to me they are proving you can work around being closed on Sunday.  If nothing else, it helps manage the overtime problem retailers face with the fulltime part of their staff.  They are proving there are plenty of people OK with that plan.

Looked at Menard's because I never heard of them before--reminds me of cheapo Harbor Freight Tools--so damn cheap and WILL BREAK but who cares in our throw away society. It does bother me--one of my weaknesses is I hate cheap shit.

It's like a basin wrench--I have an old good one made in u.s.a but since I only use it once every 10 to 12 years who cares lol....a cheap one would last just as long how I use it...

I have a selection of tools.  From high end if I ever made a living with them, to Harbor Freight stuff for one off jobs.  Around here HD has good, better and best, at a slight premium price.  So does Lowes IMO.  Menard's mostly sells probably good enough, and really cheap junk.  If I need ten good boards I can go sort through 50 at Menard's if I want to save 20%.  Pros have no time for that foolishness, and neither do more discerning DIYers.  That said, Menards is very dominant wherever they exist in the upper Midwest.  They aren't putting HD out of business, but I have no doubt my HD store would do another $20M annual sales if they weren't here.  (We do $30M now).  We'll beat their prices on identical items , but mostly they don't carry them.