Sam Walton Research Paper

Sam Walton A Retail Legend

March 29th, 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma the future of retail was born; Sam Walton. He was a business leader and a visionary of an empire. I am Identifying Sam Walton as an entrepreneurial legend due to his revolutionizing of the big box retailer store. Working for Target a big box retailer in itself, I deal a lot with ideas and theories that Mr. Walton himself created.

In Waltons early career he started his journey with the J.C Penney Company. He then went on to serve as an Army Captain during World War II. Shortly after he was able to return to his private life, Walton borrowed a loan of money from his father-in-law to acquire his first store. Which was a Ben Franklin franchise in Newport, Arkansas.

In less than two decades while working with his younger brother. Walton and James successfully owned 15 Ben Franklin stores. Frustration with

management within the chain pushed Walton out of the company as he pursued trials on his own.

As an entrepreneur he wanted to expand stores into the rural communities which was something the management chain at Ben Franklin wasn't keen on. Upon leaving the company it did not take Walton long. In 1962 Walton opened his first Wal-mart Store in Rogers Arkansas. Which ironically has a city motto of “Where Possible Lives”

In 1970 Walton decided to take the company public, which is one of the key economic decisions that turned him into the legend he is.

Going public allowed the family to retain 61 percent ownership of the stock and brought in nearly $5 million dollars! The proceeds allowed him to pay off the company's debts and move forward with his expansion plans.

Within the first year of making Wal-Mart public, Walton added six stores and an additional 13 in the next two years. The numbers just kept climbing, by 1980 Walton has 276 stores! In 1983 Walton launched the first of his “Sam's Wholesale Clubs” Which was marketed directly towards small businesses. The chain of Sam's sold things to customers in bulk quantities which was another gold mine for Walton.

Forbes magazine in 1985 pronounced him the richest man in America, but that didn't concern Walton. Walton continually said all this talk about net worth just made his life harder. Walton was always a down to earth person, even after being diagnosed with Bone cancer in 1990 his favorite car was still an old red 85 chevy pickup that he used for

hunting.

Sam Walton had wonderful ethics and millions of formidable quotes. "There is only one boss-the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.” Being one of them he was always about the customer, and giving back to the community one of his ten commandments is to; “Share your profits with your associates and treat them like your partners”