Walmart | Success Story Of The Biggest Retail Company In The World

Walmart is an American multinational retail company founded by Sam Walton in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. The company runs a chain of discount department stores, hypermarkets, and grocery stores. Walmart is the world’s largest revenue-making company, with annual revenue of $570 billion. The company has stores in more than 24 countries across the globe. The headquarters are located in Bentonville, Arkansas.

About the Founder

Sam Walton

Sam Walton is an American businessman, entrepreneur, and Walmart founder. He was born on 29 March 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, to Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy Lee. Sam Walton decided to serve the nation by joining the US Army Intelligence Corps. He served at Salt Lake City, Utah, and was in the position of Captain. Sam worked in the military for three years.

After returning from the military, Sam Walton decided to open a store of cheap goods. He made sure that fresh goods were always available on the shelves. He opened the store with the help of a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law and $5000 that he had saved while in the military.

Sam Walton passed away on 5 April 1992, after Walmart completed its thirty years. At that time, the annual sales were $5 billion, and there were 1735 stores across the world. In 1998, Sam got a feature in Time’s list of 100 Most Influential People. 

Early Years of Walmart

In 1945, Sam Walton bought a branch of the Ben Franklin store on a lease. His goal was to sell products at a cheap cost to get more sales and a low-profit margin. The store was a success when it first opened up. It generated a revenue of $105,000 in the first year. By the fifth year, the revenue reached $250,000.

Unfortunately, the lease ended, and Sam could not renew it. So he opened a new store in Bentonville and named it Walton’s Five and Dime. This store has now been converted into Walmart Museum.

Within the company’s first five years, it opened 18 stores in Arkansas and made an annual sale of $9 million.

Walmart’s Growth

On 31 October 1969, the company incorporated the name Wal-Mart Inc. and then changed it to Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 1970. In the same year, Walmart began to trade stocks and went on the list on the New York Stock Exchange. During the first stock split in May 1971, the price per share was $47.

In 1973, the stores entered Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky in 1974. As the company started entering Texas, it had 125 stores, 7500 employees, and sales of $340.3 million.

In the 1980s, Walmart completed 25 years and was rapidly growing in business. The company had 1198 stores with over 200,000 employees and an annual sale of $15.9 billion. 

In the 2020s, the world was suffering from the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic; Walmart introduced some new employee benefits. Employees can now stay at home and take unpaid leave if they are not feeling well or are uncomfortable coming to work. If the workers contract the Covid-19 virus, they will receive up to two weeks of pay. Walmart is the world’s largest private employer with 2.2 million employees currently working.

Charity Work

Sam Walton was a big believer of charity service and did a lot of it in his lifetime. After his death, the Walmart foundation rapidly increased there charity work. In 2005, they donated $20 million for the people affected by hurricane Katrina.

In 2020, the foundation donated $25 million to the Covid-19 to the organisations for the frontline workers. Walmart donated approximately $1 billion every year.

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