Sam Walton: The Man Who Invented Walmart by Wil Mara

 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 2^nd, 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