Small store creates richest family
When it comes to Robson Walton, it starts with his father, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
Wal-Mart didn't exist when Fortune magazine began naming its Fortune 500 companies in 1955. A half-century later, Wal-Mart is the retail giant that tops the Fortune 500 list.
Forty years ago, Wal-Mart was just a husband-and-wife store in a small town in the U.S. state of Kansas. Now, Wal-Mart has 1,702 traditional chain stores, 952 supermarkets, 479 "Sam's Club" stores, 20 "neighborhood market" grocery stores in the U.S., and 1,088 chain stores in other countries. The company employs 1.14 million people, forming a powerful "Wal-Mart empire".
In October 1985, Forbes magazine put Sam Walton at the top of its list of America's billionaires. Sam and Wal-Mart Stores became the center of national public attention overnight. Huge crowds of reporters flocked to Sam's place. However, when they saw the United States the first rich man living the most simple life, can not help but be greatly disappointed: Sam wearing a set of cheap clothes sold in their own stores, driving a small freight truck to and from work, the car is also installed in the back of the dog cage off the hounds, wearing a discount baseball cap.
This is the kind of "redneck" who created a wealth myth. By 2001, the Walton family fortune totaled 93.1 billion U.S. dollars, becoming the world's richest family. Sam's wife and daughter are among the top 10 women on the world's billionaires list, and five members of the Sam family have had their names on the list for years.
Sam Walton was born in 1918 in a small town in Arkansas, USA. Sam's family was not wealthy when he was a child, which led him to develop thrifty habits.In 1936, Sam entered the University of Missouri to pursue a bachelor's degree in economics and served as president of the university's student government. Sam returned to his hometown at the end of World War II after finishing his service, borrowed $20,000 from his father-in-law, and with the $5,000 Sam had saved from his military service, he and his wife, Helen, rented a couple of houses in Newport and opened a small store specializing in 5- to 10-cent items. Because of Sam's kind treatment of people, neighborhood residents were willing to shop at his store.
In 1950, Mr. and Mrs. Sam sold the small store for twice their investment and moved to Bentonville, Arkansas, where they opened a new store. Although the new mall was considered a franchise of the Ben Franklin chain, the Waltons named it after the family's last name: Walton Family Stores. By 1962, they had 15 department stores to their name. That year, Sam and his brother James finally opened the first store entirely of their own, Wal-Mart, in Rogers City, Arkansas.
Wal-Mart was a big success from the start. In its first year, the Bentonville store already had a turnover of $700,000.
In 1964, Wal-Mart already had a chain of five stores, which grew in 1969 to 18 stores. Wal-Mart prioritized small and medium-sized cities and large villages and towns. The business model was consistent: low margins, small inventories, high volume stocking, more work on costs and active use of information tools.
Sam opened his stores with the belief that "as long as a store can offer the most complete range of goods and the best service, customers will flock to it." He asked his employees for two things: "The sun goes down" and a "ten-foot attitude." The "sun goes down" means that every employee must complete his or her tasks for the day before the sun goes down, and, if a customer makes a request, it must be met before the sun goes down; the "ten-foot attitude" means that when a customer walks within 10 feet of an employee, the employee must take the initiative to get within 10 feet of the customer. Ten-foot attitude" means that when a customer walks within 10 feet of an employee, the employee must take the initiative to ask the customer what he or she wants, and he or she must look the customer in the eye when speaking. In addition, he also puts forward the ten rules of business: wholeheartedly business, more than others to do their best; and colleagues to share profits; motivate your colleagues; all things and colleagues to discuss; appreciate the colleagues of the company's contribution; success should be celebrated, failure is not lost heart; listen to the company's views of everyone; beyond the customer's expectations, they will come back again and again; to control the cost of lower than competitors; against the current, take a different path, give up traditional ideas. path and abandon traditional ideas.
Sam has tasted the hardships of life since he was a child, and the notion of "valuing every dollar" has been ingrained in his mind, which has had an impact on his later business style. We work side by side, and that's the secret," he says. We reduce the cost of living for every customer. We want to give the world a chance to see what it looks like to improve the lives of all people by saving."
The cheapskate nouveau riche
Sam died in 1992, and in accordance with his will, his shares were divided among his wife, three sons and a daughter. That same year, Sam's family made public his autobiography, "Sam Walton: Made in America," which laid out the secrets of his success, and the book quickly became a bestseller in the United States.
Perhaps Sam's son was the most thorough reader of the book. In the book, Sam warned his children and grandchildren that if anyone dared to sell what was a "toy" to many rich people, he would take that person with him to hell. Walton's sons inherited their father's frugal character. Large American companies generally have luxurious offices, Jim Walton's office is only 20 square meters, Robson-Walton's office is only 12 square meters, and their office furnishings are also very simple, so that many people describe Wal-Mart as "'poor' store Poor people buy."
Robson Walton, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. for 11 years. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in business administration and received a master's degree from Columbia University Law School in 1969. He was vice president, general counsel and vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Robson, the oldest of the four Walton children, got his driver's license as an adult and proceeded to deliver merchandise at night to various retail outlets, saving his father a great deal of money in transportation costs. By then all four children were helping their father. Unlike children their own age, adults did not give them an allowance, but they could earn their own. They knelt on the store floor and scrubbed floors, repaired leaky roofs, and helped unload trucks at night. Their father paid them as much as the laborers. Robson Walton recalls today that his father let them turn some of their earnings into shares in the store, and as the store prospered, the children's modest investment turned into a sizable primary capital. By the time he graduated from college, Robson was able to buy a house with his own money and furnish it lavishly.
In April 1992, Robson, already an experienced man, became chairman of Wal-Mart, injecting fresh blood into its development. According to the May 1994 U.S. "Fortune" magazine released the national service industry classification list, Wal-Mart 1993 sales of up to 67.34 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of more than 11.8 billion U.S. dollars over the previous year, more than 1992 ranked first in the Sears Department Stores, topped the retail industry in the U.S. In 1995, Wal-Mart's sales continued to grow, and created a world record in retailing, to achieve annual sales of $93.6 billion. In 1995, Wal-Mart continued to grow and set a world record for retail sales, achieving annual sales of $93.6 billion and ranking fourth on Fortune magazine's 1995 list of America's largest corporations. 2001, Wal-Mart jumped to second place on the Fortune 500 list, and, in fact, Wal-Mart's annual sales are equal to the combined sales of all U.S. department stores, and are still going strong today.
In addition to adhering to his father's established business philosophy, Robson also focused on relying on information technology to develop Wal-Mart. The famous Wal-Mart database is the world's largest civilian database. With the help of this information system, Wal-Mart and suppliers to establish a close contact, from the computer orders to the goods on the shelves, Wal-Mart stores than competitors on average 3 days faster, cost savings of 2.5%. 1996 to 1999, Wal-Mart's sales increased by 78%, while the inventory rose by only 24%. Today, Wal-Mart is not satisfied with the sales of 4,000 stores, and will be the front to the Internet, through e-commerce to further expand their territory to all corners of the world.
Robson, who has become the world's richest man, has not forgotten his father's teachings, and like his father, Robson is a very frugal man. He lives in deep seclusion and drives an old trailer. A barber said, "I've cut Walton's hair 85 times, and he's never given me an extra cent." There is not a single photo of Robson on Wal-Mart's Web site. The tycoon does not give interviews to journalists and his press secretary refuses to answer questions about Walton's private life. The Sunday Times had asked Wal-Mart's headquarters in 2001 three questions about Robson's private life: where does Robson currently live; does he travel much; and does he own a yacht. Instead of getting any answers, the newspaper was reminded by a Wal-Mart spokesman that it was better to ask business-related questions.
News Background
About Wal-Mart
Sam Walton founded the company in 1962, opening the first Wal-Mart department store in Rogers City, Arkansas
October 31, 1969 Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated
1970 Bentonville, Arkansas, was the site of its corporate headquarters and first distribution center
1972 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. stock is authorized to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange
1983 First Sam's Club store opens in Midwest City, Oklahoma
1987 Wal-Mart's satellite network is completed, making it the largest privately owned satellite system in the U.S.
1988 First Wal-Mart shopping plaza opens in Washington, Missouri opened
1990 Wal-Mart became the number one retailer in the United States
1991 Wal-Mart store opened in Mexico City, Wal-Mart began to enter overseas markets
1992 April 5 Mr. Sam Walton passed away, April 7 S. Robertson Walton became the company's board of directors chairman
1993 Wal-Mart International is established
December 1993, sales reach $1 billion for the first time in a single week
1997 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. stock becomes a Dow Jones Industrial Average stock
1997 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. surpasses the $100 billion mark for the first time in 1997, reaching $105 billion in annual sales
2000 Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is named one of the "World's Most Admired Stores" by Fortune Magazine. magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies"
In 2001, Wal-Mart was ranked No. 3 on FORTUNE magazine's "America's Most Admired Companies"
In 2001, Wal-Mart's one-day sales set an all-time record, reaching $1.25 billion the day after Thanksgiving. 1.25 billion dollars the day after Thanksgiving.