Sam walton

Mohammad Osman Ali Sajid 2009-IME-73

Presenter

Sam Walton

Successful Entrepreneur

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.

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Samuel Moore "Sam" Walton Born at March 29, 1918 Born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma U.S. Walton died on Sunday, April 5, 1992, of multiple

myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in Little Rock, Arkansas

Founder of Wal-Mart

Introduction

While attending eighth grade in Shelbina, Sam became the youngest Eagle Scout in the state's history

Upon graduating from David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri, he was voted "Most Versatile Boy".

High school life achievements

He milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and drove it to customers.

Afterwards, he would deliver newspapers on a paper route. In addition, he also sold magazine subscriptions

Supporting the family during High school life

Upon graduating from University of Missouri in 1940 with a B.A. in business administration, he was voted "permanent president" of the class.

During this time, he worked various odd jobs, including waiting tables in exchange for meals.

University life

Walton joined JC Penney as a management trainee in Des Moines, Iowa three days after graduating from college.

This position paid him $75 a month. He resigned in 1942 in anticipation of being inducted

into the military for service in World War II. In the meantime, he worked at a DuPont munitions

plant near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Jobs after graduation

Walton joined the military in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps, supervising security at aircraft plants and prisoner of war camps.

In this position he served at Fort Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah.

He eventually reached the rank of captain.

Life as a soldier

In 1945, after leaving the military, Walton took over management of his first variety store at the age of 26.

With the help of a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law, plus $5,000 he had saved from his time in the Army, Walton purchased a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. The store was a franchise of the Butler Brothers chain.

Ben Franklin variety store

It was here that Walton pioneered many concepts that would prove to be crucial to his success.

Walton made sure the shelves were consistently stocked with a wide range of goods.

Concepts generation

His second store, the tiny "Eagle" department store, was down the street from his first Ben Franklin and next door to its main (Newport) competitor.

Walton leased the space mainly to prevent his competitor from expanding. It held its own, but didn't fare as well

Tiny eagle store

Despite forcing Walton out, Holmes bought the store's inventory and fixtures for $50,000, which Walton called "a fair price".

Selling the Ben Franklin variety store

Walton negotiated the purchase of a small store in Bentonville, Arkansas and the title to the building, on the condition that he get a 99 year lease to expand into the shop next door. The owner of the shop next door refused 6 times, and Walton had thus given up on Bentonville when his father in law, without Sam's knowledge, paid the shop owner a final visit, and $20,000 to secure the lease.

Purchasing Bentonville store

Before he bought the Bentonville store, it was doing $72,000 in sales. After the expansion, and 5 years under Walton, it was doing $250,000 in sales annually.

Bentonville store sales

Walton went on to open more Ben Franklin Stores with the help of his brother, father-in-law, and brother-in-law.

In 1954, he opened a store with his brother James "Bud" Walton in a shopping center in Ruskin Heights, a suburb of Kansas City.

He opened another in Arkansas, but it failed to be as successful as his other stores.

A chain of Ben Franklin stores

Walton offered managers the opportunity to become limited partners if they would invest in the store they oversaw and then invest a maximum of $1,000 in new outlets as they opened.

This motivated the managers to always try to maximize profits and improve their managerial skills.

Motivation to managers

Walton decided to concentrate on the retail business instead of the shopping centers and opened larger stores which were called "Walton's Family Center."

By 1962, Walton and his brother Bud owned sixteen variety stores in Arkansas, Missouri, and Kansas (fifteen Ben Franklin and the one independent Fayetteville store).

Walton's Family Center

The first true Wal-Mart opened on July 2, 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas.

It was called the Wal-Mart Discount City store and located at 719 West Walnut Street. Soon after, the Walton brothers teamed up with the business-savvy Stefan Dasbach, leading to the first of many stores to come.

The first Wal-Mart

He launched a determined effort to market American-made products. Included in the effort was a willingness to find American manufacturers who could supply merchandise for the entire Wal-Mart chain at a price low enough to meet the foreign competition.

American-made products

Walton supported various charitable causes, including those of his church, the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The Sam and Helen R. Walton Award was created in 1991 when the Waltons made a gift of $6 million which included an endowment in the amount of $3 million to provide annual awards to new church developments that are working in creative ways to share the Christian faith in local communities.

The Sam and Helen R. Walton Award

In 1998, Walton was included in Time's list of 100 most influential people of the 20th Century

Walton was honored for all his pioneering efforts in retail in March 1992, when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George H. W. Bush.

Achievements

Forbes ranked Sam Walton as the richest man in the United States from 1982 to 1988.

Wal-Mart operates in the U.S. and in 15 international markets, including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.

Achievements

At the University of Arkansas, the Business College (Sam M. Walton College of Business) is named in his honor.

Walton was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1992.

Achievements

Capital isn't scarce; vision is.

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