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1-Page Summary of Sam Walton

Overview

Like thousands of other merchants across the United States, Sam Walton began his career as a small-town dime store owner. He was different from most people in that he had an insatiable drive to compete and always wanted to open another store. His competitive spirit and hard work paid off for him because he found merchandise and made deals to expand his market share.

This passage follows Sam Walton’s journey from a small shop owner to the richest man in America. It also explores his principles and how he propelled himself and his businesses to global prominence.

Learning to Value a Dollar

Sam Walton was born in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl era. He worked for his father, who did anything he could to make a living, including farming and banking. During the Great Depression, they evicted people from their land because of unpaid bills. It was painful to watch these families lose their homes but it helped his family survive.

Walton grew up in a poor family and was forced to work hard at an early age. He delivered milk, did odd jobs for neighbors, and raised pigeons and rabbits. He soon realized that it took a lot of effort to earn money, so he decided to save his earnings instead of spending them on unnecessary things.

The author’s mother instilled in him the belief that if he was going to attempt something, he should be the best at it. This led him to compete fiercely in sports and never play on a losing football team. At age 13, he became the youngest person to achieve Eagle Scout status, which is an achievement for Boy Scouts. He attended college and continued his success by winning elections, becoming president of his honor society and serving as an officer in his fraternity. In addition, he became captain of Scabbard and Blade—the elite military honor society—which made him highly competitive with others who were also trying to excel at everything they did.

After serving in the army, Sam Walton started a retail store with his savings and some help from his father-in-law. He noticed that there was another retailer across the street, so he studied their displays and pricing to see how he could improve things for customers at his own store. He discovered wholesale deals that provided him with large profit margins, which led to more sales. This experience taught him how to be a smart trader and businessman as well as helped him develop Walmart later on in life.

Sam Walton started his business by opening a small shop in Newport, Arkansas. He later moved to Bentonville where he opened more shops and eventually founded Walmart. In between all of this, he also ran other stores that were successful enough to expand from one location into multiple locations around the state of Arkansas. His success was based on keeping prices low so customers would come back and buy again.

Swimming Upstream

Sam Walton opened his first Wal-Mart in 1962. At the time, Kmart had over 250 stores and was generating $800 million a year in profits. However, Walton thrived when he competed with larger competitors and used pricing to his advantage. He would find a handful of items that he could sell at astonishingly deep discounts, which attracted customers from far away to come get those deals and then stay for other purchases.

Wal-Mart became known for its low prices and made a policy that if customers found an item cheaper elsewhere, they could bring their purchase back. This helped build trust with consumers who now knew that Wal-Mart always had the lowest prices.

Walton’s other passion was finding everyday items, buying them in bulk and displaying them in his stores. He would sometimes hang things from the ceiling to draw attention.