Omaha Exploration

Warren Buffett, the richest man in the world according to Forbes Magazine in 2008, comes from a long line of entrepreneurs starting with George Washington Homan in 1856. He was Warren’s great-great-grandfather.

Prior to his arrival in Omaha, which had just been established two years earlier, Homan moved from New York City where he operated a bus line on Broadway and Bleecker. Once here, he established a livery business. He was likely joined in the business by his grandson Sidney Buffett, who moved to Omaha a decade later in 1867 during the post-Civil War migration to the west.

Sidney first worked at a livery when he arrived, which I suspect was the same one his grandfather operated. During his first two years, Sidney also traveled often between Omaha and Nebraska City while operating a courier station. He saw greater potential in Omaha and opted to settle in the city and open a small grocery store. In 1869, the store was located at the corner of 14th and Howard Street. His grandfather constructed six buildings on the same corner, so it seems likely one of these buildings served as Sidney’s store.

When the doors to Sidney H. Buffett’s grocery first opened, it was just months after the railroads connected the east and the west. Omaha had its share of colorful characters including land speculators, veterans, drifters, railroad workers, settlers, and not to mention ex-convicts and prostitutes, for which the city earned the reputation as a “A Dirty, Wicked Town,” as documented in the 2000 book by David L. Bristow.

At that time, Sidney had to rely on a steamboat to stock the shelves with many of the goods he sold. This was at a time when the bridge connecting Omaha to Council Bluffs had not yet been built. Among other things, the store sold quail, wild ducks, and prairie chickens over the counter.

Operating under the guiding principles of “quality service and fair prices,” he operated a wagon delivery service to bring purchases to his customers. Just five years later, Sidney moved his store to 486 S. 14th Street. From there he moved to the familiar location across from the Paxton Hotel at 315 S. 14th Street.

The hours were long as Sidney and his clerks operated the store until 11 PM each night. Sidney was joined by his son Ernest in the family business in 1894. At that point, he proudly renamed the store S. H. Buffett and Son. By 1902 he was joined by his other son, Frank.

In 1915, Ernest left the downtown store to open his own shop at 50th Street and Underwood Avenue in Dundee. Frank, meanwhile, stuck around the original location where he continued to work alongside his father until Sidney passed away in 1927. The downtown store closed in 1936 when Frank opted to retire from the grocery business and instead focus on his real estate and investments. The investments, perhaps, were a bit of foreshadowing.

Frank passed away in 1949, but the Dundee store that carried the Buffett name continued to operate and even included a young Warren Buffett as one of its employees for a time before it closed in 1969, 100 years after Sidney first opened. The downtown location was demolished by 1980 to make way for the Peter Kiewit Conference Center, which has recently been put up for sale.

As for the man who brought the Buffett family to Omaha, George Washington Homan, he served two terms on the city council before passing away as a very wealthy man in 1886. It was a sign of things to come for a family that brought Omaha its most successful businessman ever and perhaps the world’s greatest investor.

This is the first of a series in which we explore the businesses of he Buffett family.

Content written by Omaha Exploration. Feel free to leave a comment or a suggestion. Until then, keep exploring!

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More pictures

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• Foods You Will Enjoy, Bill Buffettt, 2008.
• The Making of an American Capitalist, Roger Lowenstein, 2008.
• George Washington Homan Sr. (1807-1886) – Find a Grave Memorial
• Warren Buffett – Wikipedia
• Howard Buffett – Wikipedia
• Ernest P. Buffett – Wikipedia