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Table of Contents
Sam Walton was an American businessman and entrepreneur that is most popular for establishing the retail chain Wal-Mart, which developed to be the world’s largest corporation. For a period of time, Walton was the richest man in America.
See the fact file below for more information on the Sam Walton or alternatively, you can download our 19-page Sam Walton worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information
EARLY LIFE
- On March 29, 1918, Samuel Moore Walton was born to Thomas Gibson and Nancy Lee in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. His father was a farmer but went to work in the farm mortgage business when the Great Depression hit.
- While Walton was still young, their family moved to Missouri. Walton grew up in Missouri with his younger brother James.
- Growing up during the Great Depression, Walton worked all sorts of jobs, including a paper route to help make financial ends meet for his family.
- After high school, Sam attended the University of Missouri. Through this time, he worked various odd jobs, including tending to tables in exchange for meals.
- Walton was also a member of the ROTC and was voted president of his senior class. In 1940, he graduated with a degree in economics. In the year 1942, he resigned in anticipation of being drafted into the military for service in World War II.
- Walton joined the military in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps, administering security at aircraft plants and prisoner of war camps.
- Eventually, he reached the rank of captain.
FIRST STORES
- On February 14, 1943, while Walton was still in the army, he married Helen Robson. After two years, he and Helen moved to Newport, Arkansas after the war.
- At the age 26, he purchased a Ben Franklin five-and-dime establishment and opened his first retail location. The store was a franchise of the Butler Brothers chain.
- He only had a five year lease so at the end of the lease, the proprietor of the building took control of his business. Walton had learned his lesson.
- He opened another store in Bentonville called Walton’s. This time he purchased the building.
- Walton started to open new stores in other communities, he boosted his supervisors by offering them a share in the store. He keep his eye on his stores through checking in regularly.
FIRST WALMART
- Walton had the dream of opening a huge discount store. These stores would be located in smaller towns. His idea was that the item’s profits would be little in order to offer the customer a good cost. However, he expected to make this up with huge volumes.
- Walton’s model offered two focal points. First, existing competition was limited, and secondly, if a store was huge enough to control business in a town and its encompassing zones, different dealers would be discouraged from entering the market.
- To make his model work, he gave highlight to logistics, especially locating stores within a day’s drive of Walmart’s local warehouses and distributed through its own trucking service. At first, Sam had a hard time selling the idea to investors, but he eventually got a loan and opened his first Walmart.
- On July 2, 1962, the first true Walmart opened in Rogers, Arkansas. Called the Wal-Mart Discount City Store, it was located at 719 West Walnut Street.
- The store was a great success and Walton kept on opening more stores.
- He opened his second store in 1964 and his third in 1966. Over the years, the chain grew and grew. And by 1968, there were 24 Walmart stores and growing.
- In 1975, Walmart had 125 stores and 182 stores in 1985. As of year 2014, there are over 11,000 Walmart stores worldwide.
- The immense development of the Walmart retail store chain made Sam Walton a rich man. Forbes magazine ranked him as the richest man in America in 1985.
DEATH AND LEGACY
- Walton was included in Time’s list of 100 most influential people of the 20th Century in 1998. From 1982-1988, Forbes ranked Sam Walton as the richest person in the United States.
- In March 1992, just one month before his death, he was honored for his work in retail, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President George H. W. Bush.
- On April 5, 1992, Walton died in Little Rock, Arkansas, due to multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer.
- The update of his death was relayed by satellite to all 1,960 Walmart stores. At the point, his company employed 380,000 people. Yearly sales of about $50 billion flowed from 1,735 Walmarts, 212 Sam’s Clubs, and 13 Supercenters.
- His remains were buried at the Bentonville Cemetery. He left his shares in Walmart to his wife and their children: Rob Walton succeeded his father as the Chairman of Walmart, and John Walton was a director until his death in a 2005.
- In 1992, the Business College (Sam M. Walton College of Business) at the University of Arkansas, is named in his respect.
Sam Walton Worksheets
This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Sam Walton across 19 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Sam Walton worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Sam Walton who was an American businessman and entrepreneur that is most popular for establishing the retail chain Wal-Mart, which developed to be the world’s largest corporation. For a period of time, Walton was the richest man in America.
Complete List Of Included Worksheets
- Sam Walton Facts
- Periods of History
- Forbes Magazine
- Icon Info
- Walmart IG
- What’s Next?
- Just the Fact
- Describable Walton
- The Do’s and Don’ts
- Ecommerce
- Business Minded
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Use With Any Curriculum
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