Walmart Essay, Research Paper

On July 2, 1962 Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. At the time, the discount industry was fairy young and nobody wanted to take the risk and invest in the first Wal-Mart. However, Sam Walton was convinced that consumers would flock to a discount store with a wide variety of merchandise and friendly customer service. (1a) Therefore, Sam Walton invested about 95 percent of money needed to start the company and placed everything he owned on the line.

By 1969 Wal-Mart became incorporated and expanded to 18 stores in four states, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Ten years later, Sam Walton had established 276 Wal-Mart stores in 11 states. A key to Wal-Mart s success with consumers is its hometown identity. An example is shoppers are personally welcomed at the entrance by People Greeters. (1b) Because of this, despite being a huge retailer, many Wal-Mart stores are located in small towns with a population count less than 25,000.

By the 1980 s, Wal-Mart was on top of the retail market growing at a rapid pace. In 1988 Wal-Mart expanded its product line with the opening of its first Supercenter, which incorporated a full-line grocery store into Wal-Mart s regular merchandise. Towards the end of that year, David Glass was appointed to succeed Sam Walton as Chief Executive Officer. (1c) In 1991 Wal-Mart entered the international market for the first time through a joint venture partnership. In March of 1992, Wal-Mart received its highest recognition when President George Bush presented the Medal of Freedom to Sam Walton at a special ceremony. In 1994 Wal-Mart created 85,000 new jobs and now employs more than 600,000 workers in the United States. During the last four years, Wal-Mart has expanded into South America and Canada.

Today Wal-Mart is still the world s number one retailer because of the strategies that Sam Walton implemented. Wal-Mart is a store that emphasizes low prices and great customer service. To maintain low prices one of the things Wal-Mart does is carefully control it s expenses. The company also works hard to find great deals which it can pass on to the customer. Because of these tactics customers can expect every day low prices and never have to wait for a sale to get their money’s worth.