Sam Walton
Author: Sam Walton
How Wal-Mart is Destroying America and The World and W…
Author: Bill Quinn
Sam Walton was the shrewd businessman behind the world’s largest retailer. After working his way through the University of Missouri as a newspaper delivery boy, he got a job in Des Moines, Iowa as a management trainee for J.C. Penny at a salary of $75 a month. Walton borrowed some money from his father-in-law and opened a variety store after serving as an Army captain in World War II (mostly spent in California and Utah because he was declared unfit for service due to a heart problem). A chain of drugstores followed. He went into business with his brother Bud, and by 1960, the Waltons’ 15 stores were taking in $1.4 million a year. But Walton soon saw a challenging new competitor arise – the discount store. The Walton brothers opened their first Wal-Mart in 1962 – in Rogers, Arkansas. Specializing in name brands at low prices, the chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America.
PBS – STORE WARS: Big Stores, History
Sam Walton
Author: Sam Walton
How Wal-Mart is Destroying America and The World and W…
Author: Bill Quinn