walmart

Sam Walton was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma March 29, 1918. Growing up in the Great Depression, the Walton family moved around several times before landing in Columbia, Missouri. Sam Walton graduated in 1936 from David H. Hickman High School where he was voted “most versatile boy”. Sam Walton then went on to attend the University of Missouri. Walton’s family was too poor to pay for his education so Walton worked various jobs including waiting tables for food, to pay for his education. He graduated in 1940 with a degree in Economics. (Lee, 2008)

Not sure what to do have graduating and realizing getting his graduate degree was too expensive, Walton decided to accept a management training position at JC Penney’s. He was impressed with the company’s philosophy of customer service. Walton worked at JC Penney’s for eighteen months where he personally met James Cash Penney who taught Walton how to package an item at the lowest cost. (John Huey, 1991)

Walton took a break from his retail career and joined the service in World War II. He was assigned to the Military Police. He met his future wife Helen Robinson in Oklahoma when he waiting to be called up for the military. After the war, Walton borrowed $25,000 from his father in law to purchase his first business, a Ben Franklin Variety store in Newport, Arkansas. The Ben Franklin Variety store was a well-known store that competed with stores like Woolworth and McCrory’s (Daniel Gross)

The Ben Franklin store was located on the best corner in the downtown area and was across the street from another variety store called the Sterling Variety Store. Walton’s business savvy was first evident when he found out about a sensational product that Sterling was selling and was flying ...

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...(Berfield, 2012) There has also been several class action lawsuits filed against Wal-Mart representing 150,000 women. The most recent one is a reformulated lawsuit after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out a larger case against Wal-Mart for sexual discrimination that represented women who worked at 3,400 Walmart stores. A U. S. District Judge recently denied the motion again. This has created another obstacle for the women to have their day in court. (Reuters, 2013)

Wal-Mart's low wages have led to full-time employees needing to seek public assistance. “They receive $2.66 billion in government help each year (including $1 billion in healthcare assistance). That works out to about $5,815 per worker, and about $420,000 per store. But the federal and state aid varies widely; in Wisconsin, a study found that it was at least $904,542 a year per store.” (Ritholtz, 2013)