Preview

Sam Walton Entrepreneur

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
693 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Sam Walton Entrepreneur
Sam Walton – the founder of the world’s largest retailer, Walmart. From Midwest origins, Sam Walton began his retail career as a sales trainee at a J.C. Penny in Des Moines, Iowa (Sam Walton). His boss once threatened to fire him, because his books were always a mess. But Mr. Walton cared more about customer service than organized books, but was not fired because he was such a good salesman, he “added about $25 per month in commissions to his beginner's salary (Sam Walton).” After being released from military service at the end of World War II, Walton moved to Newport, Arkansas and bought a Ben Franklin variety store. By 1950, he “owned the leading Ben Franklin store in a six-state region (Sam Walton).” His initial success with the Ben Franklin variety store was due to his policy of hard work and pricing products much lower than other retailers. His landlord eventually refused to renew the lease on Walton’s variety store because of the success – the landlord wanted his son to inherit the business (Sam Walton). Walton remained undefeated, however. His wife wanted to raise their children in a smaller …show more content…
According to Entrepreneur, Walton's dogged pursuit of discounting revolutionized America's service economy. Walton didn't merely alter the way America shopped-he changed the philosophy of the American retail business establishment, instigating the shift of power from manufacturer to consumer that has become prevalent in industry after industry. His pioneering concepts paved the way for a new breed of "category killer" retailer-the Home Depots, Barnes & Nobles and Blockbusters of the world-and forever changed the face of retailing (Sam Walton).
In other words, Sam Walton changed the face of retail in America and was a pioneer in the field of

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Walmart vs Target

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The founder of Wal-Mart Sam Walton major competition during the time was K-Mart and Target. Before opening Wal-Mart, Sam traveled the country studying everything he could about discount retailing. He became convinced American consumers wanted a new type of store. With his vision in mind Sam and his wife front loaded 95% of the initial cost to start the chain while many of the chains were expanded nationally. They opened their first store in Rogers, Arkansas. The chain was able to expand by 15 stores in the 1960’s. The company hit the stock market in 1972 and went viral with a current inventory of 1,402 stores and 123 Sam’s Club locations. Wal-Mart stores provide a wide variety of discount merchandise, groceries and prescription medication. Sam stated in his autobiography which attributed to his success “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."…

    • 1078 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sam Walton: a Biography

    • 3032 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Fitzgerald, K. (n.d.). Sam Walton: The Model Manager of Wal-Mart. University of St. Francis Online. Retrieved November 13, 2006, from http://www.stfrancis.edu/ba/ghkickul/stuwebs/bbios/biograph/walton1.htm…

    • 3032 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sam Walton was an American businessman best known for founding the retail chain Wal-Mart, which grew to be the world’s largest corporation. Sam Walton was born in Kingfisher Oklahoma in 1918. From his humble beginnings, he rose and founded the largest retail empire in the world. He attended the University of Missouri at Columbia, graduating in 1940 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He served as a Captain in the Army Intelligence Corps from 1942 to 1945. He married his wife Helen in 1943, and they had four children over their 49 years together. Walton opened the first Wal-Mart in 1962, after years in the retail management business. The discount chain expanded internationally over the next 30 years, growing into the world’s largest company by 2010. Walton stepped down as CEO in 1988, at the age of 70, but remained active in the company until his death in 1992.…

    • 693 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wal-Mart was founded by Sam Walton in 1962. Sam Walton business strategy was to supply products for customers at low prices. Sam Walton began the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Ark. While Wal-Mart was at their beginning stage their competitor Kmart was growing rapidly. During that time Walton was only able to invest in 15 stores. In the 1970s Wal-Mart offered stock which helped to expand the company with 276 stores in 11 states. By the 1980s Sam Walton was labeled one of the richest individuals in the United States. In 1983, Sam’s club Warehouse was opened. In 1988 the first Supercenter was open offering grocery and 36 departments of merchandise. In 1989 there were 1,402 Wal-Mart stores and 123 Sam Club. As of to date there are 10, 185 Wal-Mart and Clubs location in 27 countries with 2.2 million employees. Walton theory is quoted in autobiography by stating “… if you think about…

    • 2969 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sam Walton

    • 1769 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Dedication, risk-taking, empire-building, and world shaking; words that describe a man that changed this world. This man is not any ordinary man, but a man of vision and hope; a man that started from nothing, and if alive today would be worth more then Bill Gates. Sam Walton, creator and founder of Wal-Mart Incorporations, shaped this world. “From his birth on March 29, 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma to his death in April 6, 1992 at Little Rock, Arizona” (“Sam Walton” NNDB), Sam Walton changed this world both for the better and the worse by providing such cheep goods to people around the world.…

    • 1769 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lb160 - Tma02

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sam Walton the founder of Wal-Mart a significant pioneer, as mentioned in the case study he innovated the concept of self-service and…

    • 824 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sam Walton Research Paper

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Samuel Moore Walton (better known as Sam Walton) was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma on March 29, 1918. He lived until April 5, 1992. After being voted the most versatile boy in high school, he went on to the University of Missouri. After some years in the retail business including working at a J.C. Penney in Des Moines, and after serving in the army from 1942-1945, he bought a Ben Franklin store. He used a $25,000 loan from his father in law to buy the store. He worked with his brother James and they were successful but Sam was not happy at the management of the chain and was mad that they were not expanding to the rural communities, so he quit and opened Walmart. Walmart was a soon a very successful store. Opened in 1962 it skyrocketed, by 1976…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sam Walton

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Today, only a small number of people know by whom and where Wal-Mart, the world’s most famous shopping center, was founded. Sam Walton, a young man who lived in Arkansas worked daily with his mother and father to keep the family financially stable. He did this by delivering milk, selling magazines, pigeons and rabbits. Sam Walton is the founder of Wal-Mart which opened in the summer of 1962.…

    • 1145 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sam Walton was founder and chairman of Walmart Stores Inc,. Sam Walton was born on March 29, 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He was the first son of Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy Lee. Walton's father was a farmer. In 1923, his father determined farming did not provide enough money to raise a family and later decided entered farm mortgaging. The family moved frequently during Sam’s early childhood.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Diversity In Workplace

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Walmart founder, Sam Walton, knew what it took to build and run a successful company. He was a transformational leader who knew the value in positive encouragement, motivation, and challenging your team to think outside the box. Sam Walton was an influential leader who like many others, followed a path to build the largest retailer in the world.…

    • 866 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Walton was the founder of the World’s number one biggest company, according to Fortune 500. In 1950, along with his wife Helen, Sam Walton owned his first store. In 1962 Sam opened the very first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is one of the largest companies in the United States, but internally touching base in countries just as Japan, China, Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and India. Wal-Mart supercenters locate worldwide and make billions of dollars in profit wish is hard for other retail stores to compete with them. Wal-Mart is consider the largest retailer and largest company in the history of the world because…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Walmart Case Study Analysis

    • 3214 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Wal-Mart Stores is an American public corporation that runs a chain of large, discount department stores. It is the world 's largest public corporation by revenue and is founded by Sam Walton in 1962. It is the largest private employer in the world and the fourth largest utility or commercial employer. Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States, with an estimated 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business, as well as the largest toy seller in the U.S. It also owns and operates the North American Company, Sam 's Club.…

    • 3214 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sam Walton

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages

    There were several characteristics of Sam Walton that enabled him to be successful in his life and business dealings. Sam Walton could do anything he put his mind to. This can be witnessed in his ability to transform a small town store into a 25 billion-dollar industry at the time of his death. Walton did not want to be poor, and this helped to push him when the going got tough because he knew what the possible outcome would be. For example, when Walton first started producing more Wal-marts, he was in great debt. In fact the only way he could get out was to make more stores and continue to set lower prices than the competition. Walton grew up into a poor environment as a child, so he knew what it was like to be at the short end of the stick. Perhaps his difficult childhood gave him something to strive towards later on in his life. Walton learned several things from others as well. For instance, he learned to economize from his job at J.C. Penney. And while he was developing his first general store, Walton saw what the competition was doing wrong, and did the complete opposite, such as selling more quantity in order to make a bigger profit in the long run. It can probably be stated that Sam Walton would not have been as successful if his devoted wife had not been there along his side. Always there for him, Mrs. Walton was able to keep the entire family together during the hard and difficult times. While Sam was out doing the dirty work trying to make something of his business, Mrs. Walton was playing the role of mother and father back at home. Sam Walton had to create and develop his business in a very difficult environment. Competition was all around, and most people saw Walton's store as a dead-end flop when it first began. Before the founding of Wal-mart, all of the businesses were the same, trying to set prices in hopes of large gains from not so large quantities. Walton saw what was going on and took advantage of what he saw. Thinking in terms of volume,…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Wal-Mart opened its first store in 1962 in Arkansas. Since the opening of the first store they have been one of the largest retail store. Much of their success is owned to the founder, Sam Walton. Walton believed in low prices and great service. He had great success with this vision over the span of his career. Sam died at the age of 74 in 1992. Little did he know that in the future his visions of providing great service and low prices, would come at a cost. The cost being several discrimination cases filed against them since 2001.…

    • 1636 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sam Walton Essay

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, Sam Walton was raised in Missouri where he had his first retailing experience in his father's store while attending school. Growing up during the Great Depression, Sam Walton knew that hard work and thrift were a way of life. He milked the family cow, bottled surplus and drove it customers. Afterwards, he would deliver newspapers on a paper route. He enjoyed working in his father's store so much, after graduating from the University of Missouri in 1940 where he majored in Economics, he began his own career as a retail merchant when he opened the first of several franchises of the Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchises in Arkansas.…

    • 443 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays