ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Samuel Moore "Sam" Walton (March 29, 1918 April 5, 1992) was an American businessman and entrepreneur born to Thomas Gibson Walton and Nancy Lee, in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, best known for founding the retailers Walmart. If we work together, well lower the cost of living for everyonewell give the world an opportunity to see what its like to save and have a better life. - Sam Walton

While attending eighth grade in Shelbina, Missouri, Sam became the youngest Eagle Scout in the state's history. Growing up during the Great Depression, Walton had numerous chores to help make financial ends meet for his family as was common at the time. He milked the family cow, bottled the surplus, and drove it to customers. Afterwards, he would deliver Columbia Daily Tribune newspapers on a paper route. In addition, he also sold magazine subscriptions. Upon graduating from David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, he was voted "Most Versatile Boy.

After high school, He attended the University of Missouri as a ROTC cadet. During this time, he worked various odd jobs, including waiting tables in exchange for meals. Also during his time in college, Walton joined the Zeta Phi chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity. He was also tapped by QEBH, the well-known secret society on campus honoring the top senior men, Walton joined J.C. Penney as a management trainee in Des Moines, Iowa three days after graduating from college. This position paid him $75 a month. Walton spent approximately eighteen months with J.C. Penney. He resigned in 1942 in anticipation of being inducted into the military for service in World War II. He eventually reached the rank of Captain.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ,branded as Walmart is an American multinational retail corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's second largest public corporation, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2013, the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees, and is the largest retailer in the world. Walmart remains a familyowned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family, who own over 50 percent of Walmart. It is also one of the world's most valuable companies. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962

After serving as an Army captain in an intelligence unit during World War II, Walton returned to private life in 1945 and used a $25,000 loan from his father-in-law to acquire his first store, a Ben Franklin franchise in Newport, Arkansas. In less than two decades, Walton, working with his younger brother, James, came to own 15 Ben Franklin stores. But frustration over the management of the chain, in particular the decision to ignore Waltons push to expand into rural communities, prompted him to strike out on his own.

They chose Bentonville because Helen(his Spouse) wanted smalltown living, and Sam could take advantage of the different hunting seasons that living at the corner of four states had to offer. Inspired by the early success of his dime store, and driven to bring even greater opportunity and value to his customers, Sam opened the first Walmart in 1962 at the age of 44 in Bentonville, Arkansas.

As another chain store grew, Meijer, it caught the attention of Walton. He acknowledges that his one-stopshopping center format was based on Meijers innovative concept. Contrary to the prevailing practice of American discount store chains, Walton located stores in smaller towns, not larger cities. To make his model work, he emphasized logistics, particularly locating stores within a day's drive proximity to Wal-Mart's regional warehouses, and distributed through its own trucking service. Buying in volume and efficient delivery permitted sale of discounted name brand merchandise. Thus, sustained growth from 1977's 190 stores to 1985's 800 was achieved.

When he started his business he faced adversity that almost led to his failure. You see, he had an economic crisis when bankers refused to lend him money, and some of his product suppliers created a credit crisis for him when they forced him to agree to pay cash on delivery before they would ship products to his stores. It seemed everyone lacked confidence in his retail business strategy at a time when he needed to count on their support the most. For Sam Walton to succeed, in those early and difficult days, took a singularity of focus, passionate leadership, and a never say die attitude! He had to overcome his own fear of failure and refocus himself on what to do to succeed. Sam Walton had the last laugh as he grew his business from a single store to become the worlds largest company. Along the way he also became the worlds richest man!

The company is the world's second largest public corporation, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2013, the biggest private employer in the world with over two million employees, and is the largest retailer in the world. Walmart remains a family-owned business, as the company is controlled by the Walton family, who own over 50 percent of Walmart. It is also one of the world's most valuable companies. Walmart has over 11,000 stores in 27 countries, under 55 different names. The company operates under the Walmart name in the United States, including the 50 states and Puerto Rico. It operates in Mexico as Walmart de Mxico y Centroamrica, in the United Kingdom as Asda, in Japan as Seiyu, and in India as Best Price.

Revenue US$ 469.162 billion (FY 2013) Operating income US$ 27.801 billion (FY 2013) Net income US$ 16.999 billion (FY 2013) Total assets US$ 203.105 billion (FY 2013) Total equity US$ 76.343 billion (FY 2013)

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Walmart) expects capital investments to range between $11.8 and $12.8 billion for fiscal year 2015. This range includes a $200 million reduction from the current fiscal year 2014 capital guidance. The company will add between 33 and 37 million net retail square feet worldwide next year, with more than half of the increase driven by Walmart U.S., including accelerated small format openings. The capital plan includes increased investments in technology and e-commerce.

The company maintains its fiscal year 2014 capital forecast of $12.0 to $13.0 billion and reduces its total retail square footage plan to approximately 34 million. Walmart International announced a $500 million reduction from its current plan due to fewer new store openings, resulting in a reduction of approximately 7 million square feet. Walmart U.S. accelerates small format openings and ecommerce fulfillment centers, and increases its fiscal year 2014 projected capital investment by $500 million to a range of $6.0 to $6.5 billion. The segment is projecting fiscal year 2015 capital investments to be lower than the updated current year forecast, but with

From where capital was arranged?

In 1945, after leaving the military, Walton took over management of his first variety store at the age of 26. With the help of a $20,000 loan from his father-in-law, plus $5,000 he had saved from his time in the Army, Walton purchased a Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas. The store was a franchise of the Butler Brothers chain. With the sales volume growing from $80,000 to $225,000 in three years, Walton drew the attention of the landlord, P.K. Holmes, whose family had a history in retail. Admiring Sam's great success, and desiring to reclaim the store (and franchise rights) for his son, he refused to renew the lease. The lack of a renewal option, together with the prohibitively high rent of 5% of sales, were early business lessons to Walton. Despite forcing Walton out, Holmes bought the store's inventory and fixtures for $50,000, which Walton called "a fair price".

From where capital was arranged?

With a year left on the lease, but the store effectively sold, he, his wife Helen and his father managed to negotiate the purchase of a new location on the downtown square of Bentonville, Arkansas Before he bought the Bentonville store, it was doing $72,000 in sales and it increased to $105,000 in the first year and then $140,000 and $175,000.

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