Sam Walton

Sam Walton a small-town merchant who had operated a variety of stores in Arkansas and Missouri, Walton was convinced that consumers would flock to a discount store with a wide array of merchandise and friendly service. When Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart Store in 1962, it marked the beginning of an American success story that no one could have predicted. Wal-Mart is a place where prices are low and value and customer service are high every day. Because Wal-Mart carefully controls expenses to maintain its low price structure, customers do not have to wait for a sale to realize savings.

Sam Walton had no idea his business would take off like it has. Today, years after his death, the company is still growing steadily. He never thought that his little $25,000 investment in a retail store would be a huge success, but Walton had an idea that no one had ever thought of. This would be the thought that would not only change his life, but the lives of millions of customers as well. The creator of K-mart Said he fabricated up the idea that if he offered well-know brands and sold them around 15% cheaper than other retailers, then this would make them a powerful source in the retail business, and little did the creator of K-mart knew Walton was right. Regarded by many as the entrepreneur of the century, Walton had a reputation for caring about his customers, his employees and the community.

Walton proved to be a visionary leader and was known for his ability to quickly learn from his competitors' successes and failures. In fact, the creator of Kmart once claimed that Walton "not only copied our concepts, he strengthened them. Sam just took the ball and ran with it". In the 70's and 80's K-mart wasn't going into towns that had a population lower than 50,000 people, so Walton decided that he would put his stores in small towns that all the major retailers were ignoring. As Walton stated, "When people want to simplify the Wal-Mart story that's usually how they sum up the secret of our success, "Oh, they went into small towns when nobody else would."" Walton realized early on that he couldn't build stores in just large cities like his competitors. So realizing this, he built his stores around his distribution centers and warehouses, in which each store was no more than a days drive away. With this he just flooded the market area with stores, and with the distribution centers and warehouses so close Wal-Mart was able to stock up their shelves 4 times faster than their competitors. Backing the hometown flavor of a Wal-Mart store is the industry's most efficient and sophisticated distribution system. The system allows each store to customize the merchandise assortment to match the community's needs. Sam Walton believed that each Wal-Mart store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community. As a result, Wal-Mart's community outreach programs are steered by local associates who grew up in the area and understand its needs. In addition, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., has launched several national efforts to help the larger, U.S. community.

In 1988 Walton decided to try a new manufacturing technique that would either make him or break him. Walton decided to add to his already huge