Wal-Mart Super Store

Wal-Mart has been in business in some form since 1945. In the years following its' creation Wal-Mart has transformed from a simple specialty shop to the super store it is known to be today. Wal-Mart has grown and adapted to meet the needs of all the general public.

Wal-Mart is the true American success story. Since it started in the 1940's the small business has turned into a giant super store and has seen nothing but success in all endeavors. To put into perspective how successful Wal-Mart is on a yearly basis, Wal-Mart will sell more products than Target, Kmart, Sears, and Kroger in just over half a year. As of 2010 there are more than 1,000 stores in the nation and across the globe.

The History of Walmart starts with one man, Samuel Moore Walton. Walton was born in 1918 and with his family he survived the Great Depression and the World Wars. To add to the trama of being born during the depression he was born in the dust-belt of Missouri. With this he developed a “pack-rat” kind of personality. He joined the army after America had been attacked and became a captain in Army Intelligence. After the war he went to college and earned a bachelor's degree in business from the University of Missouri.

The place that the father of Wal-Mart actually began working was in fact a JC Penny, working as a trainee manager. During this time he learned to love the retail business. During this time he also learned that all customers are searching to buy things for low amounts of money. In the communities he came to live in he became well known for haggling with real estate agents, salesmen, manufacturers, wholesalers, and employees alike. He would often say, “every dollar spent came out of his customers pocket.”

Sam Walton opened his first store on September 1, 1945 at the age of 27. The store was located in Newport, Arkansas with a population of 7,000. In his first three years Walton made around $105,000, $140,000, and $175,000 in profits. After he closed his first shop, due to his lease ending, he made $50,000 for himself and learned very important lessons and details in the business. By the time he was 32 he had opened the third self-service variety store in the whole country called Walton Five and Dime. By 1962 Walton owned 15 stores and finally in 1962 opened his first Wal-Mart.

In the first year of Wal-Mart's existence the sales were $975,000, using the low price concept to win over customers. By 1972, and mere ten years later there were 51 Wal-Mart stores and on October 1, 1970 went public and would grow in numbers to 276 stores by 1980. The 80's saw a huge growth for Wal-mart as more than a thousand stores were opened. The 1980's also saw a small glimpse of the future Wal-Mart as Walton felt that they were competing with other stores well enough to start experimenting. He began personally picking what kinds of foods would be sold in his store beginning what would later be known as a Super-Store.

By 1990 Wal-Mart had officially passed both Sears and K-Mart to become the number one retail store in America. Sales alone in 1994 went beyond that of $67 billon. Soon enough Walton decided that Wal-Mart should try it's hand at selling groceries as well as the original merchandise. The addition of the groceries was so successful that Walton developed the new Super-Center idea. Soon enough Wal-Mart had added bakeries, seafood departments, pharmacies and many other things that truly turned Wal-Mart into a one-stop shopping store. 

Wal-mart's products and services are almost unending. Wal-mart truly embodies the very meaning of one stop shopping. The store first began by adding groceries. Then over the years they have expanded by adding the likes of pharmacies, automotive shops, gas stations, vision centers, beauty salons, and even small arcades. The most recent thing that Wal-mart has unveiled is the Wal-mart credit card, the Wal-Mart Discover. Wal-Mart has been rank fourth as of 2006 as the best pharmacy store in the country, while nation wide Wal-Mart has more than 800 gas stations and auto shops to further reach in the automotive market. 

In 2001 the TD Bank Financial Group of Toronto tried to expand it's business into the United States by offering banking products and services in Wal-Mart Stores. While this is obviously did not fully happen since there are no Banks of Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart has stepped into the business of banking with simple gestured like ATMs.

Wal-Mart is without argument the most successful store in the United States and possibly the world. With over a thousand stores world wide the sky may not be the limit for this super store juggernaut. Perhaps by the year 2020 Wal-Mart will begin a campaign to build the first lunar-store to cater to astronauts.