preview

Sam Walton Research Paper

Decent Essays

Sam Walton, a businessman and entrepreneur with an innovative vision, started his own company, which became the leading in discount retailing today. His brilliance and unusual business practices lead him and his associates to acquire a successful company for over thirty years. Even after his death, the company is still growing steadily today. Walmart executives still continue to rely on Walton’s traditions, concepts, goals, and philosophies. He exerted a tremendous influence and left a legacy behind.
Samuel Moore Walton was born on March 29, 1918, in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He was born to Thomas and Nancy, who owned a farm in Oklahoma until 1923. Since Sam was born to a lower middle class family, he was a very hardworking boy. In school, Sam …show more content…

Seeing though how his family struggled to make a living, he decided to finish his education and attend the University of Missouri (Stanford). Sam Walton’s first real job out of school was with the retailer JCPenney. He worked there as a manager for a year and half before joining the army in 1942 during World War II. During his time at JCPenney, Sam learned many ideas and values about the retail business which further helped him when opening his own retail business later on. While he was still in the army, Walton married Helen Robson in 1943. Sam and Helen moved to Newport, Arkansas after the war, where Walton bought a Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchise and opened his first retail store through the ideas he learned while being a manager at JCPenney. Working hard to bring in customers, Sam turned the store into a success. However, he only had a five year lease and, at the end of the lease, the owner of the building took control of his business (Hayes). Despite this major hitch, Walton did not give up. He was the type of person that learns from mistakes He then opened another store in Bentonville called Walton’s, but this time he purchased the building. Sam attained success once again with his store. This successfulness of his new store lead him to open new stores in other small towns. His managers and employees worked hard due to Sam’s encouragement by offering them profits from the store

Get Access