Forget Costco -- This Stock Has Made Far More Millionaires
The retail industry's landscape has certainly changed over the past four decades. Then every category of consumer goods supported several different store chains. Brick-and-mortar shopping was something of an entertainment experience as well. Now the advent of online shopping has helped narrow the total number of retailers to only a handful of category-dominant names.
That's not necessarily been a bad thing for investors, though. Shares of these select retail survivors have logged enormous gains. Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) comes to mind. The club-based retailer's stock is up more than 7,000% from its 1985 public offering price, as consumers have fallen in love with the idea of saving money by buying in bulk. The company's future still looks pretty bright, too.
But that gain doesn't hold a candle to the gains of another retailer that went public around that same time. Home Depot (NYSE: HD) stock is up an incredible 1,700,000% since its 1981 IPO. A $1,000 investment in the company then would be worth more than $17 million today. And that's not counting dividends. While that investment success will be a tough act to follow, Home Depot is still a powerhouse player within its sliver of the retailing world.
Source Fool.com
