The Success of Wal-Mart: Sam Walton's Dream

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There is a lot that goes into being a successful company, and making the Fortune 500 list is most every business owner’s dream. Sam Walton is credited with being the founder and first Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Wal-Mart. Walton and other CEO’s of the company were able to shape the success of Wal-Mart by implementing strategies that would revolutionize the way retail stores do business, all while pushing Wal-Mart to the top spot on the Fortune 500 list. This paper looks at a few different strategies Walton implemented that ultimately benefitted the company to increase revenue. How did Wal-Mart become the retail giant that it is today? T.A. Frank of Washington Monthly gives a brief history of Wal-Mart in his article Everyday Low Vices.
Wal-Mart was not always the superstore that it is today. In the late 1940’s, Sam Walton took up the ownership of a Ben Franklin’s store in Newport, Arkansas. Even during the time before Wal-Mart, Walton was all about keeping prices low. It is every business’s objective to find the right balance between the prices of an item to meet the demands of the consumer in order to maximize revenue. How could Walton still make a profit while keeping the prices low for the consumer? Even while still operating the Ben Franklin’s store, he would purchase products from wholesalers and minimally markup the price. Where most retailers would rely on markup prices to gain profit, Walton would rely on pure volume in order to make up for the low prices (Frank, 2006). This was a smart decision on his part because it makes sense that if a consumer can get the same product for a lower price then they will purchase the cheaper product. It was not until 1962 that Sam Walton opened the first Wal-Mart store, also in Arkan...

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...Mart attempts 'made in America' push. USA Today. Retrieved December 8, 2013, from http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/08/25/wal-mart-pushes-made-in-america-at-summit/2689235/
Edemariam, A. (2009, March 14). It all began in a small store in Arkansas.... The Guardian. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from http://www.theguardian.com/business/2009/mar/14/wal-mart-us-economy
Frank, T. (2006, April 6). Everyday Low Vices. "Everyday Low Vices" by T.A. Frank. Retrieved December 8, 2013, from http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/20
Wilbert, C. (n.d.). How Wal-Mart Works.HowStuffWorks. Retrieved December 7, 2013, from http://money.howstuffworks.com/wal-mart.htm
Wohl, J., & Kelleher, J. B. (2013, September 25). Nbc News Business. NBC News. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from http://www.nbcnews.com/business/wal-mart-rides-wave-made-america-polish-its-image-8C11252582

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