Parsad Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Fairfax bought Williams Ashley China, a family business. Yeahah! Cheers! http://www.fairfax.ca/news/press-releases/press-release-details/2011/Fairfax-Announces-Acquisition-of-William-Ashley1126350/default.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grenville Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Very cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairfaxnut Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 My wedding gift purchases have now drastically changed ;). My wife may finally take an interest in Fairfax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 Yup, any family wedding, etc, is now going to get William Ashley china! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valuebo Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Nice! Just like you predicted Sanjeev. ;) Prem is on fire. First non-insurance business acquired, substantial investments in BoI, shipping and India. Keep it coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedevil Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Anyone have any approximate idea of the size of this acquisition? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubuy2wron Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 This is Prems version of Borshoms is my guess. Any idea of how big a purchase this was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairfaxnut Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Wife told me she wants to go to next years ASM ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 Wife told me she wants to go to next years ASM ;D I suspect they'll have a William Ashley booth so shareholders can see the product and get more information. The number of booths have increased dramatically in the last couple of years, and I can't see them getting less anytime soon! Hopefully, we see another couple of acquisitions this year. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RolfGunderson Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Wow. I last remember seeing the William Ashley name in the '80s as a kid delivering the Toronto Star. They used to have a weekly ad on the back page of the Starweek TV guide. I would be interested in knowing more about this acquisition too (size of business, purchase price, etc.). DP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdev Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Such a fun company to own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyska Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I thought china was sort of a dead business. I know we had to dispose of some estate china a few years ago and had a hard time as no one wanted the bother of the special care for them. Not dishwasher safe and all that. Is china the only product of this company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berkshiremystery Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Wife told me she wants to go to next years ASM ;D I suspect they'll have a William Ashley booth so shareholders can see the product and get more information. The number of booths have increased dramatically in the last couple of years, and I can't see them getting less anytime soon! Hopefully, we see another couple of acquisitions this year. Cheers! Amazing how Prem builds Fairfax with his first non-insurance investment, this resembles so much Buffetts Borsheims ownership. But I guess most forum members here aren't yet aware of William Ashley's crazy marketing campaign in front of their Toront store. ;) They put sports cars on top of 4 China tea cups to show how strong their products are. :o They had Lamborghinis in the past, and in 2008 a white Tesla Roadster. Lamborghini Superleggera On Teacups Takes “Bull In China Shop” To Literal Extreme 2008-09-09 http://jalopnik.com/5047458/lamborghini-superleggera-on-teacups-takes-bull-in-china-shop-to-literal-extreme http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/12/2008/09/medium_Lamborghini-Tea.jpg ----- http://megawattpr.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/shocking-visuals-win.jpg ----- Lamborghini on Teacups 2006-09-21 http://www.bagofnothing.com/2006/09/lamborghini-on-teacups/ http://www.bagofnothing.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/teacups.jpeg ----- Tesla Roadster on four teacups, plus... Jonas Brothers 2009-09-12 http://green.autoblog.com/2009/09/12/tesla-roadster-on-four-teacups-plus-jonas-brothers/ http://www.blogcdn.com/green.autoblog.com/media/2009/09/tesla-roadster-on-teacups.jpg Tesla Tea Party: Cups Hold Up Heaping Helping Of Tesla 2009-12-11 http://jalopnik.com/5357422/tesla-tea-party-cups-hold-up-heaping-helping-of-tesla http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/12/2009/09/500x_Tesla-On-China-Toronto-TOP_2.jpg http://www.ohgizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/teacup_tesla.jpg Maybe Prem let us all drive the cars at the next AGM ::) and let's hope that Fairfax is good insured ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berkshiremystery Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 William Ashley also had a sort of Mrs. B, her name was Tillie Abrams. She unfortunately died last year at the old age of 98. Abrams was born in Poland and came to Canada as an infant. The retail business was in her blood. Her father owned a paint and wallpaper business, where she worked after school starting at the age of 13. Her son, Alan Stark, is still active in William Ashley China, and her grandson, Dean Stark, is the CEO. The eldest son, Brian Stark, 73, is a Toronto lawyer. read the full article: Tillie Abrams was the woman behind William Ashley 2010-05-20 http://www.thestar.com/living/article/811832--tillie-abrams-was-the-woman-behind-william-ashley?bn=1 http://media.thestar.topscms.com/images/df/23/a890b7e442c495f85dcb39f1bc00.jpeg ---------------------- William Ashley China web site @ ----> http://www.williamashley.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berkshiremystery Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 An even longer article from the Globe & Mail about Tillie Abrams and William Ashley China: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.obituaries/browse_thread/thread/016b0bffce58b574 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berkshiremystery Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 I also played a little the sleuth dog again. :D It seems that last February Loudon McLean Owen, through his company, McLean Watson Investments Ltd., bought a controlling stake in William Ashley Ltd. So they are probably the sellers of this controlling stake to Fairfax. Cheers ! the February 2011 article from newswire: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/February2011/15/c3121.html article from the Globe & Mail: Iconic Toronto retailer William Ashley acquired by McLean Watson 2011-02-15 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/iconic-toronto-retailer-william-ashley-acquired-by-mclean-watson/article1909070/ McLean Watson Investments Ltd http://www.mcleanwatson.com/index.html Loudon McLean Owen http://www.mcleanwatson.com/t_owen_loudon.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liberty Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Very interesting. Thanks for posting, Parsad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parsad Posted August 17, 2011 Author Share Posted August 17, 2011 Good stuff Berkshiremystery! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Graham Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 William Ashley China Store's windows cool video clips display A cool video display at Ashley store's windows. They used one single projector to display three or two independent video clips on a circular glasses pinned on the windows. Ashley is located between at Young/bloor and Bloor/Bay in Toronto,Canada. If you live in toronto or u happen to be here, go and check it out. It is really a cool technology called Vikuiti Rear Projection Film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berkshiremystery Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Here's a YouTube viceo clip with Jackie Chiesa, the general manager of the Toronto store. She talks about their sponsorship of the race cars and the strength of bone china teacups. NewCa.com: 2011 IndyCar Parked on Bone China Teacups 2011-06-16 ------- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmPK1lkOINU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3X8wPMvns0 ---------------------- Some web site estimates the revenues of $18,563,120 for William Ashley and with an estimated 150 employees. I would treat these numbers with real caution, because we don't have a real view inside their balance and income sheets. ::) Anyway its a neat small acquisition for Prem and his folks. http://www.manta.com/coms2/dnbcompany_lsgml6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grenville Posted August 17, 2011 Share Posted August 17, 2011 Berkshiremystery, Great reporting, much appreciated! It helps to get a better feel for the brand and the history of William Ashley. Looks like a nice acquisition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beerbaron Posted August 18, 2011 Share Posted August 18, 2011 Some web site estimates the revenues of $18,563,120 for William Ashley and with an estimated 150 employees. I love how accurate those "estimates" are... anybody estimating M$ to the single digit is either an IRS agent or a complete idiot. BeerBaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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