BIOGRAPHY:

Samuel Moore “Sam” Walton (1918-1992) is one of the outstanding American businessmen, the founder of the Walmart chain of department stores and the Sam’s Club small wholesale warehouse club. In 1985-1988 (according to Forbes) he was the richest person in the United States. The entrepreneur was not only a practitioner, but also a theorist – he developed his own “Walton’s laws”: purchasing directly from suppliers, complete customer focus, constant discounts and sales. He formed the corporate culture of Walmart, including the famous “3 steps” rule: once within 10 meters of the visitor, the seller must approach him and offer his help.

Young years: childhood and adolescence:

Sam comes from an ordinary family: his parents, Thomas Gibson and Nan Walton, were ordinary farmers. The boy was born in Kingfisher (Ohklahoma) on March 29, 1918. Five years later, his family moved to Springfield, a town in Missouri. Childhood occurs during the era of the Great Depression, therefore, as a boy, our hero begins to work to help his dad and mom. He is trusted with milking cows and delivering milk to customers. As a seven-year-old schoolboy, he sold magazine subscriptions to those who wanted it, and from the 7th grade (until the end of his studies in college) he worked as a postman. But this is not enough for the enterprising teenager: he begins to breed rabbits and pigeons for sale.

Already in his young years, Sam exhibits a striking feature – he wants to declare himself as loudly as possible, to achieve the right to be called the best. As an adult, the businessman admitted that he dreamed of becoming the President of the United States, so he did everything possible to ensure that as many people as possible knew about his personality. At the new school in Marshall he holds the status of head boy for several years in a row. Then the boy becomes a Boy Scout and says to his friends: “You bet I’ll be the first to receive the Eagle (the highest award)?” As one might expect, the argument is won: at 13 years old, he turns out to be the youngest Eaglet in the history of Missouri.

Then the family will move to Salbin, and from there to Colombia. The change of place of residence does not in any way affect the boy’s abilities: he is included in the lists of the best students everywhere, is on the school’s self-government councils, is a member of various clubs and deserves the title of “The Most Versatile Boy.”

Student years: “I will be the best of the best and become President!”
But this is all just the beginning! The excellent student and activist easily enters the University of Missouri – his desire to become the head of the United States only intensifies. The plan to become “the most recognizable person in the area” consisted of participating in as many youth groups as possible:

• Member of the top student fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, which often became a leader in athletic competitions. In his second year of membership, Walton is elected as a foreman, responsible for recruiting new members.
• Member of the board of the student union of self-government.
  President of the Senior Honor Society.
• Senior President.
• Captain and president of Scabbard and Blade, an organization that trains American Army Reserve officers.
  But Sam’s activist life did not make him a president or even a mayor. In 1940, he received an offer from the J.C. Penney chain to start working as a trainee manager in a retail store in Des Moines (Iowa). The star is given a salary of $75, but, seeing no prospects for development, he quits and moves to Tulsa. It was there that Samuel met his future wife, Helena Robson. But fate does not allow the young man to enjoy personal happiness – in 1942 he was drafted into the army. The guy is found to have heart problems, so he is not allowed to go to the front. As a lieutenant, Walton oversees safety at an aircraft factory and at a Nazi prison camp in California. The service does not prevent Sam and Helena from getting married in Claremore (Oklahoma) on a significant date for lovers – February 14, 1943.

A businessman’s first experience: opening a franchise store:

The victorious year of 1945 comes, Walton is demobilized and decides: “Since I haven’t become President, I will be a businessman that the whole world will talk about!” The desire to start his own business took hold of him after college, while working in a store. But here’s a new problem: renting a retail outlet costs $25,000, but you only have $5,000 in your pocket. Resourceful and not used to losing, he does not fall into despair. He turns to his wife’s father, a very wealthy man, for help, and colorfully describes the plight of living with his daughter. The plan works, the father-in-law gives a loan for $20,000 – a kind of dowry.

The Waltons decide to rent a store in the town of Newport (Arkansas) – Helena absolutely did not tolerate big cities. Sam begins working on the Ben Franklin franchise from Butler Brothers. And the “first pancake” does not come out smoothly – if under the previous owner the supermarket brought in $72,000 a year, then Samuel has a completely different profit:

• first year: $105 thousand.
• second year: $140 thousand.
• third year: $175 thousand.
• But despite the success. Walton was unhappy with the franchise:

Rent is too high;
intense competition with neighboring department stores;
the need to order up to 80% of the goods from Butler Brothers (otherwise you could lose the discount);
standardized prices;
constant unexpected checks.
It’s no wonder that the self-confident and enterprising Sam ran out of patience and carefully began to play by his own rules:

I came up with a new, non-trivial way to attract customers – I installed popcorn and ice cream machines near the entrance. Both adults and children could not pass by the delicacies and paid attention to the unusual store. Only this simple trick helped Walton quickly earn and give his father-in-law that same $20,000.
He got the premises in which the supermarket was located to go to him. Thus, the entrepreneur ended up with two decounts on the same street, which increased both profit and staff.
In its fifth year, the store becomes the best of all Ben Franklin markets in six states at once. Alas, success played against the lucky one – the owner refuses to renew the lease, and gives the now popular market to his own son. The Waltons (by that time there were four children in the family) with $50,000 in their pockets were forced to leave for Bentonville.

His own business: how the first Walmart appeared:

Sam was not sad for a long time: in Arkansas he immediately opened a store called Walton’s Five and Dime. The main feature of the department store is self-service. If in megacities it was commonplace, then in the provinces the unusual format created a real sensation. Revenue is still far from what it used to be – in the first year they managed to earn no more than $32,000. But now the main thing is different: to gather your own experience and begin to expand.

So, in 1952, a discount store was launched in neighboring Fayetteville, and ten years later, Samuel, together with his brother Bud, managed to open 16 stores in Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas. The chain brought in a total profit of $1.5 million. The department stores were united by a familiar concept: large retail spaces, a rich assortment, low prices and self-service. Despite his past dissatisfaction, the entrepreneur continues to collaborate with Butler Brothers, developing the Ben Franklin direction.

But Sam still doesn’t want to stop there. Since the early fifties, he has been dreaming of a new format – a large department store for the whole family, in the concept of which all his ideas and developments could be embodied. The innovator turns to Butler Brothers for support and cooperation, but is refused. The corporation finds his proposal too risky.

Walton realizes that he will now have to act alone and begins to look for a good place for a future endeavor. The choice falls on the town of Rogers in Arkansas. With Ben Franklin, Sam could not establish himself in the area due to regional restrictions, and the franchise department store owner already operating there is cooperating. Samuel has only one thing left to do – start the business from scratch, taking out a large loan from the bank. As a result, on July 2, 1962, the businessman opened the first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas. It was not just a supermarket, but a discounter – a center for low prices.

From a provincial store to Walmart:

Representatives of Ben Franklin came to the opening of the first Walmart: they really didn’t like the undertaking – serious businessmen forbade Walton from launching such supermarkets in Rogers. He didn’t do this – he opened two stores in a neighboring town. And by 1967 the chain consisted of 20 department stores with a total sales volume of $20 million.

But by 1970, it became clear that Wal-mart was not one company: the stores, in fact, were united only by a common name. It was then that the founder began to build a truly unified corporation, collecting supermarkets under his wing. In 1972, a landmark event occurred – a public offering of shares, and in 1977 the network reached new speeds – opening up to 50 markets annually. At the same time, Walmart made its first acquisition – it acquired the Mohr-Value chain, distributed in Illinois and Missouri.

Then events develop as follows:

1983 – The first Sam’s Club opens. A kind of analogue of “Metro” is a center for medium- and small-scale wholesale trade specifically for small businesses. You could become a member of the club for $40.
1985 – expansion to 900 stores with 10,000 employees.
1988 – Wal-Mart launches in Washington.
Also in 1988, Sam Walton resigned as CEO and David Glass became CEO. However, until his death, the founder continues to work for the benefit of the brainchild. Thus, thanks to him, a private satellite system is being built that connects all 1,500 supermarkets of the network via video communication.

Smile and hospitality: Walton’s secret weapon:

Opening his first stores, Sam challenged the world of extremely serious, prim and gloomy millionaires. He immediately realized that his main weapon was to be different. Sociable, hospitable and welcoming. To start, you just need to… smile. Walton personally greeted customers at the door with a kind, sincere smile. He could chat with clients for hours about everything in the world, discuss the latest gossip, or tell how his own son amused him today.

While still a student, Walton came up with the concept for his stores: “the hospitality of a family store + a huge assortment of a supermarket.” Each Walmart had the atmosphere of a small store, where the salesperson knew the customers by name and was sincerely happy to see everyone. The entrepreneur took into account the attitude of the inhabitants of the provinces, who liked this approach more than the impersonal self-service in big cities. In the future, when Sam is physically unable to be present at every discount in his chain, he will introduce a special position: an employee whose duties are to greet guests at the store’s threshold, smile and sincerely say “Welcome!”

8 unconventional decisions that led to victory:

1. Starting from the very first days of Walmart, Sam Walton introduced solutions into the work of retail outlets that were unexpected for modern commerce:
2. Sales at the lowest possible prices. So, according to the rules of “Uncle Sam”, the maximum markup should have been no more than 20%. While competitors thought that such an innovation could simply ruin them, customers were sweeping goods off Walmart shelves.
3. Purchasing products not from suppliers and warehouses, but directly from manufacturers.
4. The opening of department stores not in big cities, but in small towns. There were no significant competitors, and new players were afraid to enter a market where a giant already reigned.
5. Extending store opening hours on holidays. In the 21st century this is obvious, but at that time small family shops closed early in honor of the occasion.
6. Inviting store directors to invest in a discount of up to $1000 taught managers to become more responsible and really try for the good of the common cause.
7. Each supermarket is different from the previous one. Here it was believed that the discount should be focused on the characteristics of the population of a particular city.
8. Personal choice of the CEO of location and premises for each store. Sam believed that there was no “universal formula” in this matter—you need to take into account the characteristics of a particular city.

Without active promotion of the store. In the early years, people here relied only on word of mouth: after reading in the newspaper about the opening of a supermarket with low goals, residents of the province rushed to share the news with family, neighbors and friends.

Another interesting feature is that Sam allowed his subordinates to come up with promotion strategies on their own. So, one of the directors purchased too much washing powder. Walton, instead of a fine and reprimand, asked: “How will you sell this?” The manager came up with a strategy – to organize an unusual exhibition and sale. He built a giant pyramid out of boxes of household chemicals. The unusual object immediately attracted buyers – many became interested in the powder and soon there was nothing left of the pyramid.

Personal life:

All his life, the billionaire was married to one woman – Helen Walton. Children of Sam Walton and his wife:

Rob – Samuel Robson (1944-…);
John Thomas (1946-2005);
Jim – James Carr (1948-…);
Alice Louise (1949-…)
Both Sam and Helen were involved in charity work together. In Bentonville they were members of the Presbyterian Church. The businessman was both an elder and a Sunday school teacher. Since childhood, he was an ardent activist and “cover guy”: an excellent student and scout, Missouri state champion in American football, a participant in various school and university circles.