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Wal-Mart at 50

Jack Stephens

Warren Stephens: Inside the Wal-Mart Culture

Wal-Mart’s corporate culture has kept alive Sam Walton’s style of frugality.

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Wal-Mart’s Future: World’s Largest Retailer Marches Toward $500 Billion in Annual Sales

While domestic sales have flatted out, China is a growth market for Wal-Mart, which already employs more than 100,000 in 370 Chinese stores.

The future looks bright for continued sales growth for the retail chain, which has more than 4,400 stores in the Unites States and more than 5,600 locations scattered across 26 countries.

Wal-Mart at 50: A Not-So-Short History Of the World’s Largest Retailer

The lessons Sam Walton learned during those early, successful years of Wal-Mart allowed him to build the most successful retail chain in history. And just like the times that he took his planes up to search for potential Wal-Mart sites, it was Mr. Sam himself who was behind the stick, deciding which direction to go.

Wal-Mart IPO Set the Stage for Global Expansion

Mike Smith, left, was syndicate manager and J.D. Simpson was a corporate finance executive when they led the initial public offering of Wal-Mart stock by their employer, Stephens Inc. of Little Rock, in 1970.

In preparation for the IPO, a hodge-podge of ownership interests in different stores was consolidated under one corporate banner: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The corporation represented the merger of 78 partners that owned pieces of 32 stores, with the Walton family owning a majority stake in each. The stores also were a mixed bag of Wal-Mart Discount City, Ben Franklin, Walton’s Family Center and Ben Franklin Family Center.

Charles Fishman, author "The Wal-Mart Effect"

Founded by Sam Walton, Modernized by Lee Scott

The man who wrote the book on Wal-Mart says former Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott brought Sam Walton’s mid-20th century idea into the 21st century read more >

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Shelley Green, owner of the Green Corner Store in downtown Little Rock, says her customers are “more value-driven in the way they make decisions, and they want to support local companies and locally owned business.”

In Walmart’s Shadow: How the Other Half Lives

How do modern mom-and-pop shops compete with Wal-Mart? Simple: They don’t. They find a niche, some foothold outside the behemoth’s path. read more >

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Hurricane Katrina Defining Moment In Wal-Mart Giving

Because Wal-Mart is a master of logistics it got those items and more to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters ever to hit this country. And Wal-Mart got those goods to the people of the devastated Gulf Coast faster than did the government of the United States. read more >

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Ironically, the presence of bargain-priced Wal-Mart in northwest Arkansas supercharged population growth and the development of decidedly upscale shopping destinations like Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers.

Influx of Workers Transforms Northwest Arkansas

From highways to airports, from homes to banks, from dining to the arts, the Wal-Mart presence is felt mightily in the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers Metropolitan Statistical Area anchored by the three cities plus Wal-Mart’s home in Bentonville. read more >

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Wal-Mart’s push for environmental sustainability, initiated by then-CEO Lee Scott in 2005, has ranged from small improvements in packaging to ambitious experimentation with building materials and even hybrid-fuel delivery trucks.

Sustainability Efforts Mean Big Environmental Impact at Wal-Mart

In 2005 Wal-Mart launched its sustainability program, designed to encourage corporate environmental responsibility. In attempting to take leadership on the issue and drive the global conversation, Wal-Mart established three broad goals: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, create zero waste and to sell products that sustain people and the environment. read more >

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“Two IBM 370-148 computers record performance of each store daily,” Wal-Mart bragged in its 1979 annual report.
Retail

Wal-Mart Used Technology to Become Supply Chain Leader

In its relentless pursuit of low consumer prices, Wal-Mart embraced technology to become an innovator in the way stores track inventory and restock their shelves, cutting costs and passing the savings along to customers. In the process the company became synonymous with the concept of successful supply chain management. read more >

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Ron Mayer, the first man to have the CEO title at Wal-Mart, now lives in Indiana.

Early Wal-Mart CEO Ron Mayer Remembers Sam Walton

Ron Mayer was Wal-Mart’s chairman and CEO from 1974 to 1976. And although founder Sam Walton had served previously as de facto CEO, Mayer was the first to hold the title. Mayer, now 77, worked for Wal-Mart from July 1, 1969, to June 30, 1976. read more >

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Mike Smith, left, was syndicate manager and J.D. Simpson was a corporate finance executive when they led the initial public offering of Wal-Mart stock by their employer, Stephens Inc. of Little Rock, in 1970.

Wal-Mart IPO Set the Stage for Global Expansion

In preparation for the IPO, a hodge-podge of ownership interests in different stores was consolidated under one corporate banner: Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The corporation represented the merger of 78 partners that owned pieces of 32 stores, with the Walton family owning a majority stake in each. The stores also were a mixed bag of Wal-Mart Discount City, Ben Franklin, Walton’s Family Center and Ben Franklin Family Center. read more >

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Wal-Mart at 50: A Not-So-Short History Of the World’s Largest Retailer

The lessons Sam Walton learned during those early, successful years of Wal-Mart allowed him to build the most successful retail chain in history. And just like the times that he took his planes up to search for potential Wal-Mart sites, it was Mr. Sam himself who was behind the stick, deciding which direction to go. read more >

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Warren Stephens

Wal-Mart Big for Stephens, Bigger for Arkansas

Wal-Mart long ago outgrew any need for the Little Rock investment bank that took it public in 1970, and that initial offering was so small as to be unthinkable today. But Wal-Mart boosted Stephens Inc.’s cachet considerably, and its importance to the state of Arkansas has been immeasurable, according to Stephens CEO Warren Stephens. read more >

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Time Magazine featured a posthumous tribute to Sam Walton, calling the Wal-Mart founder "America's favorite shopkeeper".

After Sam: Did Wal-Mart Lose Its Way After Walton Died?

Some put the blame of stagnant domestic same-store sales on Wal-Mart’s management team, saying it has drifted away from Walton’s essential philosophy of offering the lowest price. read more >

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Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which Sam Walton’s daughter Alice opened in Bentonville on Nov. 11, 2011, represents the single largest philanthropic act made possible by Wal-Mart wealth in Arkansas, but innumerable other gifts have transformed medical, education and athletic institutions across the state.

Wealth Created by Wal-Mart Supports Massive Philanthropic Efforts in Arkansas

Wal-Mart made a number of Arkansans very rich, and that wealth has been manifested in billions of dollars worth of gifts to educational, medical and cultural institutions in the state. read more >

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