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Walmart: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Walmart
In 1945, a former J.C. Penney employee named Sam Walton purchased a small Ben Franklin store branch in Bentonville, Arkansas, for a lease price and purchase cost that were unusually high for the time. This financial burden did not deter him; instead, he focused on a singular crusade to sell products at low prices to generate higher-volume sales with lower profit margins. Within the first year of ownership, his sales increased by 45 percent, and by the fifth year, the store was generating $250,000 in revenue. When the lease expired and he could not reach an agreement for renewal, Walton opened a new store at 105 North Main Street in Bentonville, naming it Walton's Five and Dime. That original location now serves as the Walmart Museum, standing as a testament to the humble beginnings of what would become the world's largest company. On the 2nd of July 1962, Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City store at 719 West Walnut Street in Rogers, Arkansas, a design inspired by a visit to Ann & Hope and the FedMart chain founded by Sol Price. The name Wal-Mart was chosen because Walton really liked Sol's FedMart name, and the building that housed the first store is now occupied by a hardware store and an antiques mall, while the company's Store Number One has since expanded to a Supercenter several blocks west.
The Satellite Empire
By 1987, the company had grown to 1,198 stores with sales of $15.9 billion and 200,000 associates, but its true power lay in a $24 million investment in a satellite network completed that same year. This network linked all stores with two-way voice and data transmissions and one-way video communications with the Bentonville office, making it the largest private satellite network in the world at the time. The system allowed the corporate office to track inventory and sales and to instantly communicate with stores, creating a logistical backbone that competitors could not match. In 1984, Sam Walton had already begun sourcing between 6 percent and 40 percent of his company's products from China, a strategy that would define its global dominance. The company was incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law as Wal-Mart, Inc. on the 31st of October 1969, and changed its name to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in 1970. The same year, the company opened a home office and first distribution center in Bentonville, Arkansas, with 38 stores operating, 1,500 employees, and sales of $44.2 million. It began trading stock as a publicly held company on the 1st of October 1970, and was soon listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with the first stock split occurring in May 1971 for $47 per share. By 1988, it was the most profitable retailer in the United States, and it had become the largest in terms of revenue by October 1989.
When was Walmart founded and where was the first store located?
Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City store on the 2nd of July 1962 at 719 West Walnut Street in Rogers, Arkansas. The company was incorporated as Wal-Mart, Inc. on the 31st of October 1969 and changed its name to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in 1970. The original location of the first store is now occupied by a hardware store and an antiques mall.
Who founded Walmart and what was the original business model?
Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1962 after purchasing a Ben Franklin store branch in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 1945. The business model focused on selling products at low prices to generate higher-volume sales with lower profit margins. The company is currently controlled by the Walton family, who own over 50 percent of Walmart through Walton Enterprises and individual holdings.
What were the major international expansion failures for Walmart?
Walmart failed to establish a foothold in Germany and Indonesia during the 1990s due to market competition and cultural issues. The company withdrew from Germany in July 2006 after estimated losses of around $3 billion, and stores in Indonesia closed due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. These ventures involved significant financial investments that did not yield long-term success.
How did Walmart respond to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic regarding employee benefits?
Walmart changed employee benefits during the pandemic to allow staff to take unpaid leave if they felt unable to work or uncomfortable coming to work. Employees who contracted the virus received up to two weeks of pay, and those unable to return after two weeks were eligible for up to 26 weeks in pay. The company paid pandemic bonuses totaling $428 million, with full-time workers receiving $300 and part-time workers receiving $150.
When did Walmart change its corporate name and what stock exchange did it switch to?
Walmart announced on the 6th of December 2017 that it would change its corporate name to Walmart Inc. from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. effective the 1st of February 2018. The company announced in 2025 that it would switch its stock exchange listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Walmart began trading as a Nasdaq-listed security on the 9th of December 2025 and was included in the Nasdaq-100 on the 20th of January 2026.
What are the current minimum wage and employee count figures for Walmart?
Walmart announced in January 2023 that it would raise its minimum wage for hourly workers from $12 to $14 an hour, effective in March. Approximately 340,000 employees were expected to receive this raise. The company employs 2.1 million people, making it the largest private employer in the world.
Prior to the summer of 1990, Wal-Mart had no presence on the West Coast or in the Northeast, yet by 1995, it had expanded into every state, with Vermont being the last to receive a store. The company expanded internationally, entering Mexico in 1991 and Canada in 1994, and by 1999, it had entered Europe by buying Asda in the United Kingdom for an undisclosed sum. In 1997, Wal-Mart was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, marking its arrival as a major financial force. However, the company's global expansion was not without significant setbacks. In the 1990s, Walmart tried with a large financial investment to get a foothold in both German and Indonesian retail markets, but both ventures failed. Walmart entered Indonesia with the opening of stores in Lippo Supermall and Megamall Pluit, but both stores closed down due to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In Germany, Walmart took over supermarket chain Wertkauf with its 21 stores for DM750 million in 1997, but the German market was an oligopoly with high competition, and Walmart's corporate culture was not viewed positively among employees and customers. The statement of ethics attempted to restrict relationships between employees, a violation of articles 1 and 2 of the German constitution, leading to a public discussion in the media and a bad reputation among customers. In July 2006, Walmart announced its withdrawal from Germany due to sustained losses, with the stores sold to the German company Metro, and the losses estimated to be around $3 billion.
The Cost of Growth
As Wal-Mart expanded rapidly into the world's largest corporation, many critics worried about its effect on local communities, particularly small towns with many mom and pop stores. Kenneth Stone, a professor of economics, found that some small towns can lose almost half of their retail trade within ten years of a Wal-Mart store opening. However, another study compared the changes to what small-town shops had faced in the past, including the development of the railroads and the advent of the Sears Roebuck catalog, concluding that shop owners who adapt to changes in the retail market can thrive after Wal-Mart arrives. In 2006, Charles Fishman published The Wal-Mart Effect, examining the operation of Wal-Mart's supply chain, which caught the attention of the press and the public. Fishman's case studies illustrate Wal-Mart's drive to lower costs and achieve greater efficiency and suggest that it may have significant upstream effects. The company also faced corruption charges, with an April 2012 investigation by The New York Times reporting allegations that the company had paid bribes via local fixers to officials throughout Mexico in exchange for construction permits and other favors. A follow-up investigation revealed evidence that regulatory permission for siting, construction, and operation of nineteen stores had been obtained through bribery, including a bribe of $240,000 paid to change a zoning map. In 2012, there was an incident with CJ's Seafood, a crawfish processing firm in Louisiana that was partnered with Walmart, where 40 H-2B visa workers from Mexico experienced harsh living conditions, physical threats, and verbal abuse. Eight of the workers confronted management, and after a protest, Walmart announced its final decision to no longer work with CJ's Seafood.
The Digital Pivot
In 2016, Walmart purchased e-commerce company Jet.com for $3.3 billion, founded by Marc Lore, to start competing with Amazon.com. Jet.com had acquired its own share of online retailers such as Hayneedle, Shoebuy.com, and ModCloth, and Walmart also acquired Parcel, a delivery service in New York, on the 29th of September 2017. The company also acquired Moosejaw, an online active outdoor retailer, for approximately $51 million, bringing partnerships with more than 400 brands, including Patagonia and The North Face. Marc Lore, Walmart's U.S. e-commerce CEO, said that Walmart's existing physical infrastructure of almost 5,000 stores around the U.S. would enhance their digital expansion by doubling as warehouses for e-commerce without increasing overhead. In 2018, Walmart started crowdsourcing delivery services to customers using drivers' private vehicles, under the brand Spark. On the 6th of December 2017, Walmart announced that it would change its corporate name to Walmart Inc. from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. effective the 1st of February 2018. In 2019, Walmart made the announcement that it would cease the sale of all e-cigarettes due to regulatory complexity and uncertainty, and that same month, Walmart opened its first Health Center, a medical mall where customers can purchase primary care services. Prices without insurance were listed, for instance, at $30 for an annual physical and $45 for a counseling session.
The Pandemic and the Future
In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic forced temporary measures such as store closures, limited store occupancy, and enforcement of social distancing protocols. Store hours were adjusted to allow cleaning and stocking, and limits on items were placed due to the rise of panic buying. During the pandemic, Walmart changed some employee benefits, allowing employees to decide to stay home and take unpaid leave if they felt unable to work or uncomfortable coming to work. Employees who contracted the virus would receive up to two weeks of pay, and after two weeks, hourly associates who were unable to return to work were eligible for up to 26 weeks in pay. Walmart paid pandemic bonuses of $428 million, with part-time or temporary workers receiving a bonus of $150 and full-time workers receiving a bonus of $300. In the first quarter of 2020, consumers responded to COVID by shopping less frequently, buying more when they did shop, and net sales increased by 11 percent, while online sales rose 74 percent. In 2021, Walmart partnered Ford and Argo AI to introduce an autonomous delivery system for customers who place online orders. In 2022, Walmart announced that locations were not going back to 24 hours, with most stores now open between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. In January 2023, Walmart announced that it would raise its minimum wage for hourly workers from $12 to $14 an hour, with approximately 340,000 employees expected to receive a raise, effective in March.
The Family Legacy
Walmart is a publicly traded family-owned business, the largest such business in the world, as the company is controlled by the Walton family. Sam Walton's heirs own over 50 percent of Walmart through both their holding company Walton Enterprises and their individual holdings. The company was founded in 1962 by brothers Sam Walton and James Bud Walton in nearby Rogers, Arkansas. It is the world's largest company by revenue and the largest private employer in the world, with 2.1 million employees. In 2014, Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart International, replaced Mike Duke as Walmart CEO, becoming the company's fifth chief executive. In 2025, Walmart announced that it would switch its stock exchange listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market, marking the largest stock exchange transfer on record. Walmart began trading as a Nasdaq-listed security on the 9th of December 2025, and the switch underscored how deeply technology is embedded in the company's operations and growth strategy, positioning the company for inclusion in the Nasdaq-100, which occurred on the 20th of January 2026. The company also announced that it would be adding college degrees and certificates to its Live Better U program, and in 2024, managers were given stock grants of up to $20,000, with a 3-to-1 stock split to make it easier for employees to buy stock.