Biography: Sam Walton

Scott Harris

3/4

5/3/11

Sam Walton By Scott Harris

“Capital isn’t scarce; vision is.” (www.Brainyquote.com)~Sam Walton. Almost everyone in America has been to a Wal-mart or Sam’s Club at one time or another. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart and Sam’s Club, was born on March 29, 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He died at 74 years of age, in 1992. Sam rose from a small arts-and-crafts store to having one of the most popular superstores in the USA; he started the revolution of “The Customer is Always Right”; but, Wal-mart has been accused of many discrepancies recently.

Sam Walton was not always multi-millionaire. While attending the University of Missouri at Columbia, he delivered papers, waited tables and other small jobs. When the second World War came he joined the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps, where he watched over prisoners of war, he reached the rank of captain. “A man of modest beginnings, Sam Walton built the Wal-Mart empire into the number one retailer in the world on a simple, but groundbreaking rule, cut all excess costs and sell low.” (pbs.com) He saved $5,000 dollars from his military work, and a $20,000 dollar loan from his stepfather, he built a arts-and-crafts store in Arkansas. By the early 60s’ he owned 16 of those stores. But his success didn’t happen until he started Wal-mart. “No stranger to hard work, Sam took the hands-on approach to management.” (Pbs.com)

Imagine, for a moment, when you wanted to buy cheaply manufactured goods for a good price, but you couldn’t. That was a scary little nightmare, wasn’t it? His main motto was “Stack 'em high and sell them cheap.”(Democraticunderground.com) His sales techniques were: to buy cheap and to sell to the consumer cheap, this philosophy lead to him creating one the most widespread superstores in the world. They sell everything imaginable, from fruits to sports gear to flowers. “Wal-Mart stores now populate America, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, China, Germany, Puerto Rico and the UK.”(http://www.investingvalue.com) His great work ethic earned his immediate family their own plots on Forbes.

Almost all of his early business ventures were successful. He opened a store titled “Walton’s Five and Dime” and made more revenue than his competition by marking up the items less. This idea gave way to the “Everyday Low Prices” at Wal-mart. But, in recent years, it has been referenced to as an anti-union organization, “…with more than 1.3 million US workers and close to 4,000 stores nationwide. None of those workers is represented by a union.” (www.hrw.org) It has been accused of using the “Churn and Burn” technique to drive out unions. This, however has been claimed as false by Wal-mart CEO, “[Why is Wal-mart anti union?] Gosh, I don't think of us as being anti-union. I think of us as having a company where we have an open-door policy. In this company, you can talk to your district manger.” (http://www.businessweek.com) He also argues that they are being targeted because they have 1.3 million associates (employees). Wal-mart, following Sam Walton’s death, has changed dramatically, but not for the worst.

Sam Walton was a well-respected member of our society, not by the normal business owner, or manager, but by the consumer. His business advances have been criticized by a few; he started “the Customer is Always Right”; and he rose from the depths of a small chain to the U.S. largest private employer. He worked hard his entire life, going around, being a philanthropist, and increased his own company’s morale, while still having a good time. He was so rich from his work that when he died, his immediate family was on the Forbes richest list, holding the tenth spot with $26.5 Billion!