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Walmart : The Largest Retail Company

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1. Company Background.
Walmart is one of the largest retail companies in the world, and the largest retail company in the United States of America. It has been ranked number one on the Fortune 500 Index by Fortune Magazine. The founder of Walmart is Sam Walton, who opened the first Walmart store in 1962, in Rogers, Arkansas. As of 2007, Walmart obtains a store counting of about 6,700 units worldwide. Walmart provides general merchandize, such as health and beauty aids, family apparel, electronics, household essentials, toys, jewelry, fabrics, and also includes a pharmacy department. After Sam Walton opened his first store in 1962, he continued to make good profit due to a high sales volume of products. This eventually led to opening of 24 more stores by 1967. Walmart’s main competitor at that point of time was K-mart which had more stores than that of Walmart. However, the main USP of Walmart was to provide goods to consumers at low prices, which worked in their favor even when the economy faced a downturn, in the 1970’s. “Wal-Mart sales growth continued into the 1980s. In 1983 the company opened its first three Sam 's Wholesale Clubs and began its expansion into bigger city markets. Business at the 100,000-square-foot cash-and-carry discount membership warehouses proved to be good. The company had 148 such clubs by 1991, by which time the name had been shortened to Sam 's Clubs.” (International Directory of Company Histories. Ed. Jay P. Pederson. Vol. 141. Detroit: St.

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