Walmart, la plus grande société au monde avec sa chaîne d'entrepôts et de magasins discount (document en anglais)

§1 In Fortune magazine’s 2010 rankings, Walmart,

the world’s largest corporation with its chain of

warehouse and discount stores, overtook Exxon as

the global leader of multinationals with a revenue

of 408,214.0 billion dollars and profit of 14,335.0

billion. The company manages a network of stores

that employ over 2 million people in 15 countries.

An incredible success story, considering the humble

origins of its founder Sam Walton, and the modest

beginnings of the store.

§2 Born on a farm in Oklahoma in 1918 and raised

during the Great Depression, Walton was the epitome

of the American dream: a self-made man and

entrepreneur who started out doing farm chores

and moved on to odd jobs in the various small

towns where his parents moved when the farm was

no longer viable. In the depressed areas of the midwest

and south, he worked his way through high

school and college, delivering papers and selling

magazine subscriptions.

However, various awards and titles such as Distinguished

Eagle Scout, The Most Versatile Boy of the

Year, and Permanent President of his senior class at

college forecast an exceptional career.

Three days after graduation, Walton joined JC Penny’s

in Des Moines, Iowa, as a management trainee

for $75 a month and worked in the company till

he was drafted in WWII.

After the war, thanks to a loan and personal savings,

at 26, he bought a Ben Franklin variety store, a franchise

of the Butler Brothers chain. As store manager,

he pioneered many concepts that contributed to

his success, such as keeping the store open later

and practicing discount merchandising by buying

wholesale from suppliers with the lowest price,

using the savings to offer lower customers lower

prices, which in turn increased volume enabling

him to negotiate even lower prices with suppliers.

Thanks to such innovations, his Ben Franklin store

tripled the bottom line in three years.

§3 In 1962, Sam opened the first Walmart store in

Rogers,

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