For those who’ve heard of Sam Walton (the founder of Wal-Mart) was born on March 29, 1918 to Thomas Gibson and Nancy Lee Walton near Kingfisher, Oklahoma. In Oklahoma, they owned and lived on a farm until 1923. The Walton’s then decided that the farm was not profitable enough to raise a family on. So, Sam and Jame’s (Sam’s younger brother born in 1921) dad decided he would go back to being a Farm Loan Appraiser. Once this job started the Walton family moved out of Oklahoma and moved from town to town in Missouri. This would traumatize most children but for the Walton boys though it was no big deal. This could be seen when Sam was in 8th grade at Shelbina he became the youngest boy in the state’s history to become an Eagle Scout and this was only a start of his many of accomplishments. As Sam Walton grew up he was always an ambitious boy. He attended Hickman High School in Columbia there he played basketball and football, in which he was the starting quarterback for the football team and lead them to the state title in 1935. He wasn’t the most smartest person at school but he was determined to do good so with hard work and lots of studying he became an honors student. Besides being athletic and smart he was also a political figure at school, too. He severed as Vice- President of his Junior Class and President of the Student Body his senior year. Raised in Missouri  he worked in his father’s store while attending school where he had  his first retailing experience  he really enjoyed . At the University of Missouri Sam majored in Economics. He could not really afford to attend school so he worked extra hard to get the money. Sam waited tables in exchange for meals, lifeguarded at the school pool, and also delivered newspapers. When Sam Walton graduated in 1940 he was voted the permanent President of his class. , he began his own career as a retail merchant when he opened the first of several franchises of the Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchises in Arkansas.
This would lead to bigger and better things and he soon opened his first Wal-Mart store in 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart specialized in name-brands at low prices and Sam Walton was surprised at the success. Soon a chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America.  , he began his own career as a retail merchant when he opened the first of several franchises of the Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchises in Arkansas. By the 1980s, Wal-Mart had sales of over one billion dollars and over three hundred stores across North America. Wal-Mart’s unique decentralized distribution system, also Walton’s idea, created the edge needed to further spur growth in the 1980s amidst growing complaints that the “superstore” was squelching smaller, traditional Mom and Pop stores. By 1991, Wal-Mart was the largest U.S. retailer with 1,700 stores. Walton remained active in managing the company, as president and CEO until 1988 and chairman until his death. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom shortly before his death.
Walton died in 1992, being the world’s second richest man, behind Bill Gates. He passed his company down to his three sons, daughter and wife. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated (located in Bentonville, Arkansas) is also in charge of “Sams Club”. Wal-Mart stores now operate in Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, South Korea, China and Puerto Rico. Sam Walton’s visions were indeed successful.

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