Walmart Case Study

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A Closer Look at Walmart

Walmart serves about 14 million customers each day. When Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1962 I’m sure he didn’t expect it to become as big of a retail store as it is now. 42 years after being founded, Walmart now has 4,253 stores across the world, and brings in $405 billion dollars a year. This kind of success doesn’t just happen overnight.
First, let’s take a look back at how the company got started. Sam Walton opened up the very first Walmart on July 2, 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. By 1967 the Walton family owned 24 stores ringing up $12.7 million in sales. In 1983 the first Sam’s Club was opened in Oklahoma. If you fast-forward to 1990 then Walmart becomes the world’s number one retailer. Sadly in 1992 Sam Walton passed away at the age of 74, but his legacy lives on as one of the greatest entrepreneurs to ever live.
How does Walmart impact our economy? Does Walmart even help our economy? These are both very interesting questions. Many could say that Walmart hurts the economy by pushing other small retail stores out of business. This statement could be true, but those people aren’t looking at all of the good that Walmart does for the economy. As of December 11, 2013 Walmart employed 2,000,000 people. This is more than 5 times the number of employees that Target has, one of Walmart’s biggest competitors. If Walmart were its own country then it would be the 19th wealthiest country. As of December of 2013 there were about 85 Walmarts in each state. This means more revenue generated for cities and states with Walmarts in them. Although competing against Walmart makes it far more difficult for smaller retail stores, the good that Walmart does for this nation far outweighs the bad.
So what role will Wa...

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...ny is perfect, opening a Walmart in a city does have one downfall. Walmart tends to run smaller retail stores out of business. This happens because smaller, family owned stores can’t compete with the fierce competition of having a Walmart in the same city. Walmart sells everything, and is known across the world for having hot deals and low prices. So if a Walmart opens up in a city then any smaller retail stores in that city will most likely go out of business. Although, this is a minor problem when you think about all of the good that Walmart does.
Walmart is a great store that everyone loves to shop at. Sam Walton did a great job in starting and operating the business. Walmart should remain the number one retailer in the United States and in the world for many more years to come. Next time you shop at Walmart just remember save money, live better, Walmart.

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