Overview
When Sam Walton founded the first Wal-Mart in 1962, the idea of bringing in a discount-shopping store into rural America was almost unheard of, except for the local five and dime stores. When Walton noticed that he had a lot of competition from regional discount chains, him and his wife Helen travelled the country to study other new retailing concepts, and were convinced that it was the wave of the future. With Walton's vision, Wal-Mart grew to be a multi-billion dollar, international company, operating about 4,600 stores around the world.
Wal-Mart's milestones began in 1962 when the first Wal-Mart was opened in Rogers, Arkansas. Seven years later the company incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Then a year later they opened the first distribution centre and home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, and also went public on the New York Stock Exchange. Several years later, in 1988, the first super centre was opened. Then in 1991, the first international unit was opened in Mexico City.
By the turn of the century, Discount Store News had named Wal-Mart "Retailer of the Century" and made Fortune magazine's lists of the "Most Admired Companies in America" and the "100 Best Companies to Work For." They were also ranked on Financial Times' "Most Respected in the World" list. In 2002, Wal-Mart became number one on the Fortune 500 list and was presented with the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, a presidential award that recognizes companies for outstanding achievement in employee and community relations.
Vision satment:
To become the worldwide leader in retailing
Mission Statement
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. does not have a formal mission statement. This is because Kim Ellis, the Public Relations Coordinator, said th ...