Walmart

The current Walmart logo.

Walmart Inc. formerly Walmart Stores, Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores.

The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated on October 31, 1969. It is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Walmart is also the largest grocery retailer in the United States. It also owns and operates the Sam's Club retail warehouses in North America.

Walmart has 11,277 stores and clubs in 27 countries, operating under 55 different names. The company operates under its own name in the United States and Canada, including the 50 states and Puerto Rico. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Chile, Canada, and South Africa. 

History

Sam Walton, a businessman from Arkansas, began his retail career when he started work on June 3, 1940, at a Penney's store later renamed JC Penney in Monks, Iowa where he remained for 18 months. In 1945, he met Butler Brothers, a regional retailer that owned a chain of variety stores called Ben Franklin and that offered him one in Newport, Arkansas.

Walton was extremely successful in running the store in Newport, far exceeding expectations. However, when the lease came up for renewal, Walton could neither come to agreement on the existing store's lease renewal nor find a new location in Newport. Instead, he opened a new Ben Franklin franchise in Bentonville, Arkansas, but called it Walton's Five and Dime.

On July 2, 1962, Walton opened the first Walmart Discount City store located at 719 Walnut Ave. in Rogers, Arkansas. The building is now occupied by a hardware store and an antique mall. Within five years, the company expanded to 24 stores across Arkansas and reached $12.6 million in sales. In 1968, it opened its first stores outside Arkansas, in Sikeston, Missouri and Claremore, Oklahoma.

Incorporation and growth

In the 1980's, Walmart continued to grow rapidly, and by its 25th anniversary in 1987 there were 1,198 stores. In 1988, Sam Walton stepped down as CEO and was replaced by David Glass. Walton remained as Chairman of the Board, and the company also rearranged other people in senior positions.

In 1988, the first Walmart Supercenter opened in Washington, Missouri.

In 1998, Walmart introduced the Neighborhood Market concept with three stores in Arkansas. By 2005, estimates indicate that the company controlled about 20% of the retail grocery and consumables business.

In 2000, H. Lee Scott became President and CEO, and Walmart's sales increased to $165 billion. In 2002, it was listed for the first time as America's largest corporation on the Fortune 500 list. It has remained there every year, except for 2006.

In 2005, Walmart had more than 6,200 facilities around the world including 3,800 stores in the United States and 2,800 elsewhere, employing more than 1.6 million associates worldwide. Its US. presence grew so rapidly that only small pockets of the country remained further than 60 miles 100 km from the nearest Walmart.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, Walmart was able to use its logistical efficiency in organizing a rapid response to the disaster, donating $20 million in cash, 1,500 truckloads of free merchandise, food for 100,000 meals, as well as the promise of a job for every one of its displaced workers.

Recent initiatives

In October 2005, Walmart announced it would implement several environmental measures to increase energy efficiency. The primary goals included increase fuel efficiency in Walmart's truck fleet by 25% over three years and double it within ten, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in seven years, reduce energy use at stores by 30%, and cut solid waste from US. stores and Sam's Clubs by 25% in three years. CEO Lee Scott said that Walmart's goal was to be a good steward for the environment and ultimately use only renewable energy sources and produce zero waste. Walmart created its own electric company in Texas, Texas Retail Energy, and plans to supply its stores with cheap power purchased at wholesale prices. Through this new venture, the company expects to save $15 million annually and also lays the groundwork and infrastructure to sell electricity to Texas consumers in the future.

On September 12, 2007, Walmart introduced new advertising with the slogan, Save Money Live Better, replacing the Always Low Prices, Always slogan, which it had used for the previous 19 years.

On June 30, 2008, Walmart unveiled a new company logo, featuring the non-hyphenated name Walmart and in place of the star, a symbol that resembles a sunburst or flower. The new logo made its debut on the company's walmart.com website on July 1, 2008.

On February 22, 2010, the company confirming it was acquiring video streaming company Vudu, Inc. for an estimated $100 million.

Operating divisions

Walmart's operations are organized into three divisions: Walmart Stores US., Sam's Club, and Walmart International. The company does business in nine different retail formats: super centers, food and drugs, general merchandise stores, bodegas small markets, cash and carry stores, membership warehouse clubs, apparel stores, soft discount stores and restaurants.

Walmart Stores US.

Walmart Stores US. is the company's largest division. It consists of three retail formats that have become commonplace in the United States Discount Stores, Super centers, and Walmart Markets. The retail department stores sell a variety of mostly non-grocery products, though emphasis has now shifted towards super centers, which include more grocery items. This division also includes Walmart's online retailer, walmart.com.

Walmart Discount Stores

Walmart discount stores are discount department stores about the size of an average store. They carry general merchandise and a selection of groceries. Many of these stores also have a garden center, a pharmacy, Tire And Lube Express, optical center, one-hour photo processing lab, portrait studio, a bank branch, a cell phone store and a fast food outlet. Some also have gasoline stations.

The first Walmart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962.

In 1990, Walmart opened its first Bud's Discount City location in Bentonville. Bud's operated as a closeout store, much like Big Lots. Many locations were opened to fulfill leases in shopping centers as Walmart stores left and moved into newly built Super centers. All of the Bud's Discount City stores closed or converted into Walmart Discount Stores by 1997.

Walmart Supercenter

Walmart Super centers are hypermarkets that includes everything a Walmart discount store does, and also include a full-service supermarket, including meat and poultry, baked goods, delicatessen, frozen foods, dairy products, garden produce, and fresh seafood. Many Walmart Super centers also have a garden center, pet shop, pharmacy, Tire And Lube Express, optical center, one hour photo processing lab, portrait studio, and numerous alcove shops, such as cellular phone stores, hair and nail salons, video rental stores, local bank branches, and fast food outlets.

The first Super center opened in 1988, in Washington, Missouri. A similar concept, Hyper mart USA, opened in Garland, Texas a year earlier. All of the Hyper mart USA stores were later closed or converted into Super centers.

As of October 31, 2018, there were 3,568 Walmart Super centers in the United States. The largest Super center in the United States is located in Cross gates Commons in Albany, New York.

The Super center portion of the name on these stores has been phased out, simply referring to these stores as Walmart, since the company introduced the new Walmart logo in 2008. The Super centre portion of the name is still used on super centres in Canada

Sam's Club

Sam's Club is a chain of warehouse clubs which sell groceries and general merchandise, often in large quantities. Sam's Club stores are membership stores and most customers buy annual memberships. However, non-members can make purchases either by buying a one-day membership or paying a surcharge based on the price of the purchase. Some locations also sell gasoline. The first Sam's Club opened in 1983 in Midwest City, Oklahoma under the name Sam's Wholesale Club.