His Passion for Serving Customers, His Faith in God and His Desire to Share Success with Associates Drove Sam Walton to Become the Most Successful Retailer of His Generation.

Sam Walton was born March 29, 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He opened the first Wal-Mart in 1962, after several years in the retail management business. The discount chain expanded internationally over the next 30 years, growing into the world's largest company by 2010. 

From his days as president of the Burall Bible Class at the University of Missouri and Stephens College Walton developed values and a system of beliefs that would influence the rest of his life. One writer characterized Sam Walton as part P. T. Barnum and part Billy Graham as applied showman and his beliefs to building the giant discount retailer.

Sam Walton built the Wal-Mart empire into the number one retailer on a simple, but groundbreaking plan, cut all excess costs and sell low. Walton reduced his wisdom to words whenever something struck him as important.

"There is only one boss - the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else." -Sam Walton

John Huey wrote an article for Time Magazine in 1998 that grasped what Walton had really accomplished. Here are some excerpts: 

"Though it's hard to believe today, discount retailing was a controversial concept when it began. Traditional retailers hated it, and so did manufacturers; it threatened their control of the marketplace. Most states had restrictions on the practice. 

Walton was an active student of retailing--all family vacations included store visits--so Walton saw what was coming. On July 2, 1962, at the age of 44, he opened his first Wal-Mart store, in Rogers, Ark. Once committed to discounting, Walton began a crusade that lasted the rest of his life: to drive costs out of the merchandising system wherever they lay--in the stores, in the manufacturers' profit margins and with the middleman--all in the service of driving prices down, down, down.

Using that formula, which cut his margins to the bone, it was imperative that Wal-Mart grow sales at a relentless pace. It did, of course, and Walton hit the road to open stores wherever he saw opportunity. He would buzz towns in his low-flying airplane studying the lay of the land. When he had triangulated the proper intersection between a few small towns, he would touch down, buy a piece of farmland at that intersection and order up another Wal-Mart store, which his troops could roll out like a rug.

As the chain began to take off, Walton made major adjustments to manage the growth--again always seeming to see ahead. As early as 1966, when he had 20 stores, he attended an IBM school in upstate New York. His goal: to hire the smartest guy in the class to come down to Bentonville, Ark., and computerize his operations. He realized that he could not grow at the pace he desired without computerizing merchandise controls. Though he is rarely remembered that way, Walton may have been the first true information-age CEO."

On March 17, 1992, President George Bush presented Walton with the Medal of Freedom for his entrepreneurial spirit and his support of employees and the communities of Walmart. It would be his last achievement. Walton checked into the University of Arkansas Hospital and passed away six days after his 74th birthday.

Walton was an avid hunter and outdoorsman who maintained his humble image right up until his death. His vehicle of choice was a red 1985 Ford pickup. From 1959 on, he lived in the same house with his wife Helen in Bentonville, Arkansas.

“I would like to be remembered as a good friend ... That’s important. I have such a strong feeling for the folks in our company. They have meant so much to me.” Sam Walton

Source: http://petlynxinfostream.blogspot.com/2018/01/sabbath-belief-in-god-faith-in.html

Discussion Questions:

1. Describe the influences Sam had before opening his first Wal-Mart store.

2. What was Sam's simple plan that helped build the Wal-Mart empire?

3. According to Sam, who is the boss?  Why?

4. How did Sam plan for new stores?

5. Why did he attend an IBM school in upstate New York?

6. How does Sam want to be remembered? Why?

7. What influences you in your life? Are they good or bad?

8. What are you passionate about? Why?