Company Background Founder of Wal-Mart, Sam Walton graduated in 1940 with a degree in economics and started his career as a management trainee with J.C Penney Company. Three years later Sam used all of his savings to open a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. After he lost the lease of the Newport location, Sam and his brother J.L Walton opened up another store in Bentonville. By the early 1960’s Sam felt that he had enough experience and knowledge from studying mass-merchandising techniques to start a new journey in the retail industry. From traveling around the country managing the Ben Franklin stores, Sam learned that small-town populations would have many uses for large discount shopping stores and therefore make them …show more content…
The following year the company had incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.. The success of Wal-Mart was quite unheard of during this time and this success helped them to stay ahead of the competition for many years to come. In order to cut costs Mr. Walton decided to build Wal-Marts own warehouses so it could buy in volume and store the merchandise. In 1970 Wal-Mart went public and by 1975 there were 125 stores in operation with sales of $340.3 million and 7,500 associates. This success earned Wal-Marts number one spot in Forbes in 1977, based on return on equity, capital, sales growth, and earnings. In 1978 Wal-Mart opened its own pharmacy, auto service center and jewelry divisions. By 1979, not only were there 276 stores in 11 states but they also became the fastest company to reach the $1 billion mark. In the 1980’s the company opened up its first three Sam’s Wholesale Clubs, and by 1987 they had opened 18 Sam’s Clubs. In 1988 the Walton’s had opened up the first Supercenter in Washington, Missouri which featured a large selection of merchandise and a wide variety of grocery sections. Not only did Wal-Mart excel within the business aspect of things but they also made sure they did right by the community as well. The company awarded $1,000 scholarships to high school students in each community Wal-Mart served. By 1990 Wal-Mart was the number one retailer in the United
In 1950, Sam Walton purchased a store and opened Walton’s 5 & 10 in Bentonville, Arkansas. This later became the home office of the now multi-billion dollar company. As business became more successful, Walton opened more stores and renamed the chain “Wal-mart.” Now, Walmart has stores all around the globe, with 5,229 stores in the US alone. It is considered the largest retail company in the world.
Wal-Mart Corporation is one of the largest retail stores in the world. They serve customers in meeting their needs with low cost saving items. On October 31, 1962, Wal-Mart was founded and incorporated by Sam Walton in Bentonville, Arkansas. Mr. Walton went into business because he felt that items sold were too high for the average customer to afford. His focus was to sell products at low prices to get higher volume sales at a lower profit margin. He bought bulk products from different suppliers so he could incorporate savings into his pricing to lower cost for customers. Under the savings cost concept, Wal-Mart grew rapidly and surpassed its competitors in sales and generating profits.
Wal-Mart evolved from Sam Walton’s purpose for great price and great consumer service. “Mr. Sam,” as he was known, believed in management through service. The principle that true leadership depends on willing service was the standard on which Wal-Mart was built, and drove the choices the business has made for the past 50 years. So much of Wal-Mart’s past is attached to the story of Sam Walton himself, and so much of our future will be deep-rooted in Mr. Sam’s principles. Sam's rivals thought his plan for a thriving business couldn’t be built around low prices and great service. As it happened, the company's achievement went beyond even Sam's hopes. The company went public in 1970, and the profits funded a steady growth of the business. Sam recognized the rapid increase of Wal-Mart not just to the low prices that fascinated consumers, but also to his staff of workers. He depended on them to give customers the great buying experience that would
The Wal-Mart company was established on July 2, 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas (History Timeline). The company was based on the vision of Sam Walton, who believed in giving his customers the lowest prices, anytime, anywhere. By 1967 the Walton family owned 27 different stores, and in 1969 they officially incorporated, becoming Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Just a year later in 1970 Wal-Mart went National, proving the wide spread appeal of Sam Walton's beliefs (History). This same year Wal-Mart became a publicly traded company, with its first shares priced at 16.50. A short year later the company was listed in The New York Stock Exchange (History Timeline). The 80's were a major success for this company. In 1983 the first Sams Club opened, this was and still is a store that sells product in bulk to small businesses and individuals. In 1988 the first Wal-Mart Super center opened. The Super center combined a full scale supermarket with general merchandise to create one stop shopping convenience (History). In 1992 the company suffered a hard hit when Sam Walton passed away at the age of 74. Although they lost the man at the heart of the company they were determined to carry on with his vision, and so they did. In 1996 they opened their first stores in China (History Timeline). By 2002 they reach the top of the Fortune 500 ranking of Americas largest companies. In 2012 Wal-Mart celebrated 50 successful years of business. Today the company employs 2.2 million associates worldwide and serves
Sam Walton made a decision to sell high volumes of the products he would carry, and keep the sale prices lower than his competitors to reduce his profit margin. He was inspired by the success of other discount department stores and hired an assistant Bob Bogle, who came up with the name Wal-Mart (Dutton, 1990). By 1967, the company had grew to a total of 24 stores across Arkansas. Shortly after, Walton moved the stores to different states in Missouri, and Oklahoma. Once the 70s hit, Wal-Mart boomed into 5 more states and had over 10,000 employees. This was also when Wal-Mart started to branch into different niche segments of the market. Some examples of these are the auto care center, pharmacy, and jewelry selections. By 1982, Walmart had expanded into Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Nebraska. This was also when Sam Walton implemented the “people greeters” in all of their stores, which was a huge hit in the public 's eye. Because of their extreme expansion and all inclusiveness about their stores, Wal-Mart in 1988, became the most profitable retailer in the United States. Although it did not surpass Kmart, and Sears in terms of items purchased until late 1990. By 1991, Wal-Mart had expanded to all 50 states and would go international with its first store outside
A man named Sam Walton opened up the first walmart in 1962. His mission statement for the first Walmart was "The lowest prices anytime, anywhere." which worked because His family owned a total of 24 stores which made about 12.7 million dollars. Only two years later the business made walmart “Wal-mart stores, inc”. His stores went public in 1970 and he had a total of 276 stores by the year of 1983 with 1 billion in annual sales.
Sam Walton 's retailing career began when he accepted a job offer at a JCPenney store in Des Moines, Iowa on June 3, 1940 where he remained for 18 months. In 1945, he met with Butler Brothers, a regional retailer that owned a chain of variety stores called Ben Franklin. Butler Brothers offered him a Ben Franklin store in Newport, Arkansas.
Wal-Mart is one of the most successful retailers in the world (Wal-Mart corporate 2012). Currently, there
Wal-Mart is a general merchandise discount retailer, which was incorporated in 1962. Wal-Mart’s history is based on one man, Sam Walton, who changed the course of retailing forever. Sam Walton first entered retailing when he was a management trainee at J.C. Penny Co. in 1940 in Des Moines, Iowa. After serving in the Army in World War II, Walton acquired a Ben Franklin variety store franchise with his brother James Walton in Newport Arkansas, until they lost the lease to the store in 1950. By 1962, when the first Wal-Mart Discount City was opened in Rogers Arkansas, both Walton’s were operating fifteen stores under the “Walton 5 & 10” name, and were the largest Ben Franklin franchisee in the
When Sam Walton founded the first Wal-Mart in 1962, the idea of bringing in a discount-shopping store into rural America was almost unheard of, except for the local five and dime stores. When Walton noticed that he had a lot of competition from regional discount chains, him and his wife Helen traveled the country to study other new retailing concepts, and were convinced that it was the wave of the future. With Walton's vision, Wal-Mart grew to be a multi-billion dollar, international company, operating about 4,600 stores around the world.
Wal-Mart was first opened in 1962 by Sam Walter as a retail store. It started out a five and dime store in Rogers, Arkansas and was called Walton’s. He opened this store with one goal in mind, to sale at the lowest prices possible, quality leadership and great customer services. He thought that his idea could change the retail industrial. Wal-Mart was built on a solid foundation that remains stable even after the death of Mr. Walton. Wal-Mart became the largest multinational retail store in America, with a grocery store and a pharmacy. There is a Wal-Mart in all fifty states and seventeen international states and has more than 2.3 million employees. This store
Walmart’s history dates back in 1945 when Sam Walton bought an outlet of the Ben Franklin retail stores with the aim of selling products at a relatively low cost, so as to generate huge sale volumes and make profits at a low margin. Although this portrayed the purchased outlet as a crusade for most consumers,
Before proceeding onward to Wal-Mart, Walton opened 14 five and dime stores somewhere between 1951 and 1962. Walton 's model rested in the conviction that rebate stores could flourish in residential communities, with populaces of 5,000 or less, and on the off chance that you sold items at the least expensive value conceivable, thus, profits would rise. He suggested to the Butler brothers of Ben Franklins that they cut their prices down the middle, and the siblings declined. Sam chose to go on alone, and that is the way Wal-Mart was conceived.
Walmart’s first store was opened up in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 by Sam Walton. Walton had owned a retail store in the previous store and decided to utilize a unique concept to achieve high sales and rise above his competitors in the town and industry. Walton reduced the prices of his products so that they were lower to those that were being offered by the competitors. By 2007, Walmart had over 3,400 retail outlets throughout the country. The store also had 1.3 million employees and had facilitated about 6.49 % of the country’s sales in retail. Walmart deals in the sale of apparel, music, groceries and some household products. In 2005, Walmart’s end of year profits had exceeded those of other retail stores combined such as Target, Costco, Home Depo, and Sears Holding Company.
In his autobiography, Sam said, "… if you think about it from the point of view of the customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; and a pleasant shopping experience. You love it when a store exceeds your expectations, and you hate