HISTORY MINUTE

Sam Walton came from a poor farming family in Oklahoma and worked his way to becoming the wealthiest man in Arkansas and the head of what became the largest company in the world. He charmed customers but was very competitive. He realized early in his career that a combination of customer service and underselling competitors would bring in customers and profits where few other retailers would dare. Though already a successful businessman by age 44 in 1962, he put everything he had into an entirely new type of store, creating the first Wal-Mart.

Before long, Wal-Mart stores became a common site across Northwest Arkansas and Northeast Oklahoma. He computerized inventory, scouted the competition, and paid attention to the smallest details at his stores, usually starting his days well before dawn. He started selling Wal-Mart stock in 1970. To make sure his employees were fully vested in the growing store’s success, he gave stock to his workers. In 1971 alone, he opened 15 new stores, including the first stores in Louisiana and Kansas, with the bulk of his locations in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Walton opened 19 more in 1973, bringing the total to 71. By 1977, he had 181 stores in nine states.

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