History Of Wal-Mart

The first Wal-Mart opened 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, but the story starts before that. Sam Walton started out as a normal retail man. In the mid forties he ran a Ben Franklin store in Newport Arkansas, but was later moved to Benton Ville Arkansas. Walton then renamed the store to Walton's Five and Dime under the Ben Franklin "umbrella", during the fifties. During this time there where many competitive discount retailers, despite what people believe. Most people see Kmart, Target and Wal-Mart as the founders of discount retail. As most discount retailers wanted, Sam wanted to give the customs merchandise for cheaper, so before he opened Wal-Mart Walton traveled the country absorbing everything about competitive retail he had not already acquired from experience. Seeing as Target and Kmart opened in 62 also, Walton’s research was the perfect antebellum in the retail world. His preparation paid off in the end.The company started out slow. Wal-Mart had fifteen stores by 1972, but by the end of the seventies expanded to 276 stories in eleven states. This lead to the opening of Sam's Club in 83 and the first super center in 88. The super center contained thirty-six general merchandise departments, including a full grocery section. Sales sky rocketed from 1 million in 1980 to 32 billion dollars.
The acumen Sam had for the corporation world truly paid off, giving him the largest corporation, and constant income. Walton wanted his business to revolve around the customers.
"… 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 it when a store inconveniences you, gives you a hard time, or pretends you're invisible." Said by Sam himself in his autobiography.
Because of this Sam Walton has had major success. Wal-Mart has survived for over forty years and seems to continue growing.