This biography for middle grade explores the traits of a fascinating man who became the founder of the world’s largest retail business.
Samuel Moore Walton
(1918-1992) was born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. When he was five, his family
moved to Missouri. He had one younger brother.
He came to understand
the importance of money early in life. His father worked on family farm barely
making ends meet. Sam helped out with any chore he could. He also made milk
deliveries, sold magazine subscriptions and delivered newspapers after school,
while other boys played with friends.
When the Great
Depression struck in 1929, he saw how important it was to have enough money. He
worked hard at school and outside school. His work ethic was very strong. He
had friendly personality and it made him popular at school. He liked sports
because he liked to compete and win.
The parents
encouraged his both sons to go to college. Sam took various jobs to help with
paying for tuition. In 1940, he got a degree in economics from the University
of Missouri.
He wasn’t sure what
he wanted to do afterwards. He decided to give it a try in the retail business.
He got a job with J.C. Penny. He became a manager of a store in Iowa. As much
as he enjoyed his job, he gave it up to serve during WWII.
In 1945, he got back
to the retail business, but this time he wanted his own business. He invested
in Ben Franklin chain of retail stores. He took over the Ben Franklin in
Newport which wasn’t doing well. Sam quickly figured out how to improve sales
but the chain owners had their own ideas how to run the business which clashed
with Sam’s ideas. Sam decided to ignore the company’s rules and did things his
own way. Despite his success, he had to give up his store after five years due
to rent renewal issue. He used what he learned here for his next venture.
He found a struggling
business in Arkansas and bought it. He fixed up the store and made it more
modern. He listened to customers what they wanted. And they wanted to look at
the merchandise themselves instead having a clerk hand it to them. Sam saw an
opportunity on saving money by hiring fewer people. This also led customers to
buying more than they needed. Thus, higher sales. Sam was a strong believer in
selling more for less and that’s what he did. The store became a huge success.
Thus, he started opening more stores.
Sam believed that
discount stores were the future but the owners of the Ben Franklin chain
disagreed. Sam decided to open his own chain with his brother. Thus, the first
Walmart was opened on July 2nd, 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas. Within
five years, he opened twenty-four Walmarts.
Sam was full of
energy, enthusiasm and vision, always looking for new ideas how to improve the
successes he already had. In 1980, he opened Sam’s Club to buy products in
bulk.
This biography
exemplifies a man who wasn’t afraid to try new things, who wasn’t afraid to
fail as he knew there were lessons to be learned from failures and to apply the
knowledge to the next venture. He always had a positive attitude. He started
from nothing and through learning and listening he got to the top.
The story is
presented with simple sentences so it could be read by its target audience ages
8-10 years. It gives much depth to Walton’s story and how enthusiastic and full
of vision he was. He understood the importance of learning from setbacks which
is visible in this story.
Source: Children’s
Press, 2013
TRENDING INSPIRATION:
“If you try something and it doesn’t work, learn from that failure and try
something else. But above all else, always try something.” – Sam Walton
Traits:
·
He understood
the importance of money early in life. Thus, he helped his father with any
chores he could around the farm.
·
He made
milk deliveries, sold magazine subscriptions and delivered newspapers after
school while other boys played with friends.
·
He worked
hard at school and outside school.
·
His work
ethic was very strong.
·
He had
friendly personality and it made him popular at school.
·
He liked
sports because he liked to compete and win.
·
After
college, not sure what to do, he decided to give it a try in the retail
business. He became successful as manager at J.C. Penny.
·
Then,
applied his knowledge to managing his own business.
·
Not
agreeing with chain owners, and having visions others didn’t see at the time
led him to open his own retail chain.
·
He
listened to customers what they wanted while shopping.
·
He was
full of energy and positivity.
“If you love your
work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can.”
– Sam Walton
“Swim upstream. Go
the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom.” – Sam Walton
“We’re all working
together, that’s the secret.” – Sam Walton
“One person seeking
glory doesn’t accomplish very much.” – Sam Walton
“Outstanding leaders
go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people
believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.” – Sam Walton
“Celebrate your
successes. Find some humor in your failures.” – Sam Walton
“Nothing else can quite
substitute a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re
absolutely free and worth of fortune.” – Sam Walton
