_sam walton(1918-)
_contrary to popular belief, sam walton (the founder of wal-mart) was not from arkansas. he was actually born in kingfish, oklahoma on march 29, 1918. he was raised in missouri where he worked in his father's store while attending school. this was his first retailing experience and he really enjoyed it. after graduating from the university of missouri in 1940, he began his own career as a retail merchant when he opened the first of s*ral franchises of the ben franklin five-and-dime franchises in arkansas.
_this would lead to *gger and better things and he soon opened his first wal-mart store in 1962 in rogers, arkansas. wal-mart specialized in name-brands at low prices and sam walton was surprised at the success. soon a chain of wal-mart stores sprang up across rural america. walton's ma*ment style was popular with employees and he founded some of the basic concepts of ma*ment that are still in use today. after taking the company public in 1970, walton introduced his "profit sharing plan". the profit sharing plan was a plan for wal-mart employees to improve their income dependent on the profita*lity of the store. sam walton beli*d that "inspaniduals don't win, teams do". employees at wal-mart stores were offered stock options and store discounts. these benefits are commonplace today, but walton was among the first to implement them. walton beli*d that a happy employee meant happy customers and * sales.
_walton beli*d that by giving employees a part of the company and * their success dependent on the company's success, they would care about the company.
_by the 1980s, wal-mart had sales of over one *llion dollars and over three hundred stores across north america. wal-mart's unique decentralized distribution *, also walton's idea, *d the edge needed to further spur growth in the 1980s amidst growing complaints that the "superstore" was squelching smaller, traditional mom and pop stores. by 1991, wal-mart was the largest u.s. retailer with 1,700 stores. walton remained active in managing the company, as president and ceo until 1988 and chairman until his death. he was awarded the medal of * shortly before his death.
_walton died in 1992, being the world's second richest man, behind *ll gates. he passed his company down to his three sons, daughter and wife. wal-mart stores incorporated (located in bentonville, arkansas) is also in charge of "sams club". wal-mart stores now operate in mexico, canada, argentina, brazil, south korea, china and puerto rico. sam walton's visions were indeed succes*ul.
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