Walmart: Behind the Scenes Walmart is known throughout the entire world as one of the most popular chain department stores. Actually, most have probably visited a Walmart store in the past week. Though Walmart stores seem to be a normal part of life the average person more than likely has little knowledge that pertains to Walmart’s success and business culture. This paper will guide one through the history of the organization, why Walmart is successful, what could threaten or open new opportunities, and how might they hold a competitive advantage.
History
To fully understand Walmart’s business one should first study the history of Walmart’s retail company. Born in 1918, Sam Walton married his wife Helen Robson while serving in the military. After Sam’s military term ended Sam and Helen moved around until they finally settled in the small town of Bentonville, Arkansas. Bentonville is when Sam’s Walton’s 5&10 store led him to open the first Walmart in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas (Founder of Walmart). It almost seems ridiculous now because Walmart is one of, if not the number one, retail department store, but at one time people could not believe it would be successful at all. Though by 1970 Walmart was expanding and others were beginning to realize the potential Walmart had. Sam himself was shocked that what he had created was now booming. Sam was quick to credit not only himself but his loyal associates who were pleasing and meeting customer expectations. The relationship
Walmart was founded by Sam Walton to bring affordable household products to people in small towns. Sam Walton put the customer first, building a great company with dedicated employees and core values of service to customers, striving for excellence and acting with integrity
Sam Walton is an American business leader who is well known for founding Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, which Wal-Mart has grown to be the world’s largest cooperation. Wal-Mart first opened in 1962 after years of retail management business. The first Wal-Mart was first opened in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is the go-to store, a place that basically has everything. Wal-Mart carries all the necessary things people uses during their everyday life for reasonable prices. Sam Walton is a successful business leader because he started a successful business years ago that is still effective today.
Wal-Mart was founded by Sam Walton; his belief was to provide “leadership through service.” This is the principle on which Wal-Mart was built on; Sam Walton’s intentions were to sell quality products at low prices with an exceptional customer service. Sam Walton was born in 1918, and at 24 years of age he joined the Military. He was married to Helen Thompson in 1943. After
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 is arguably the most dynamic corporation in the last 50 years in the United States, if not the world. Arising from its beginnings in Bentonville, Arkansas, it has grown to over 4,400 discount stores, super centers and corner markets worldwide. Wal-Mart continues to expand despite public criticism of its labor practices as well as complaints about their treatment of competitors. The many strengths of Wal-Mart, like their low cost production and marketing practices, will aid Wal-Mart as it continues to grow in the retail
Mr. Sam gains a lot of experience of retail profession. His method of thinking was to exercise leadership through service. Eventually, He pursued to operate his own discount store. Mr. and Mrs. Walton decided to relocate in Bentonville AK, because Mrs. Walton wanted to live the small town lifestyle, also Mr. Walton want to take advantage of the four hunting seasons. With little investment, He started with a 20,000 dollar loan, and 5,000 personal dollars to fire off his business aspirations. Mr. Sam opened on his first store named Walter 5&10. With the outstanding results of his store, he decided to start organizing a more effective project. In 1962, Mr. Sam opened up Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas. Mr. Sam used the method of Risk and Reward to elevate his impression of his business.
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.
Walmart, founded by Sam Walton in 1962 in Bentonville, Arkansas, United States, is a well-known multinational retail company which manages a chain of department stores and warehouse stores. It has over 11,000 stores in 28 countries and is the largest company in the world in terms of revenue.
Before he started Wal-Mart Stores in 1962, Sam Walton owned a successful chain of stores under the Ben Franklin Stores banner, a franchisor of variety stores in the United States. Although he was under contract to purchase most of his merchandise requirements from Ben Franklin Stores, Walton was able to selectively purchase merchandise in bulk from new suppliers and then transport these goods to his stores directly. When Walton realized that a new trend, discount retailing — based on driving high volumes of product through low-cost retail outlets — was sweeping the nation, he decided to open up large, warehouse-style stores in order to compete. To stock his new warehouse-style stores, initially named “Wal-Mart Discount City,” Walton needed to step up his merchandise procurement efforts. As none of the suppliers were willing to send their trucks to his stores, which were located in rural Arkansas, self-distribution was necessary.
Sam Walton was born in 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Sam opened the first Walmart in 1962 at the age of 44 in Rogers, Arkansas. The company was officially incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in 1969 and sold its first stock in 1970 for $16.50 per share. By 1972 Walmart had 51 stores and recorded sales of $78 million dollars. The company continued to broaden and in 1980 they opened the first Sam’s Club and the first Walmart Supercenter. They united supermarkets with merchandise, making everything more accessible and more affordable. By 1990 Walmart was the nation’s number one retailer offering the lowest prices. In the mid 90’s Walmart had expanded to Canada and China. Walmart started the new millennium dedicated to offering customers a smoother shopping experience, even if they are online, in a store or on a mobile device. In the 2000’s Walmart employed more than 1.1 million employees in about 4,000 stores worldwide (Walmart Store Inc., 2015).
Before opening Wal-Mart, Sam traveled the country studying everything he could about discount retailing. He became convinced American
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.
Before opening Wal-Mart, Sam traveled the country studying everything he could about discount retailing. He became convinced American consumers
Founded by Sam Walton, Walmart is an American multinational retail chain, incorporated in the year 1969, has fully transformed the landscape of retail organized business with it’s innovative business strategies.