Sam Walton

Meet a genuine American folk hero cut from the homespun cloth of America's heartland: Sam Walton, who parlayed a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world. The undisputed merchant king of the late twentieth century, Sam never lost the common touch. Here, finally, inimitable words. Genuinely modest, but always sure if his ambitions and achievements. Sam shares his thinking in a candid, straight-from-the-shoulder style. In a story rich with anecdotes and the "rules of the road" of both Main Street and Wall Street, Sam Walton chronicles the inspiration, heart, and optimism that propelled him to lasso the American Dream.

A biography of Sam Walton and how he rose from an impoverished childhood to become the richest man in America.

The story of a department-store trainee who became the richest man in America and owner of the biggest retail store in the world: Walmart. Sam Walton used the money he earned in the army, along with some financial help from his family, to open his first store. Then he opened fourteen more. Then Sam had an even bigger idea. He wanted to build large stores in small towns and reduce the price of everything they stocked. Although other businessmen and potential partners laughed at him, this entrepreneur with humble beginnings used his resourcefulness to create Walmart, which would become the largest company in the world.

This biography examines the remarkable life of Sam Walton using easy-to-read, compelling text. Through striking black-and-white images and rich color photographs, readers will learn about Walton?s family background, childhood, education, and entrepreneurial work as the founder of Walmart and Sam?s Club. Informative sidebars enhance and support the text. Features include a table of contents, timeline, facts page, glossary, bibliography, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.

Praise for The 10 Rules Of Sam Walton "The 10 Rules of Sam Walton is one of those books that should be read and regularly reread by . . . everyone-business-people, students, teachers, parents, and children. It transcends the limits of a traditional book about lessons in business and makes it a book about life and about successful living!"--J. K. Knapp III, former Wal-Mart store manager,current manufacturer and supplier to Wal-Mart As founder of Wal-Mart and its many successful divisions, Sam Walton reinvented the retailing industry through his singularity of focus, high expectations, and never-say-die attitude. During his successful career, Sam Walton developed a list of what he considered the most important rules for entrepreneurial success. As far as he was concerned, there were ten key result areas that he considered pivotal to his own success. Now, in The 10 Rules of Sam Walton, author and former Wal-Mart employee Michael Bergdahl reveals these rules-and the stories behind them-to help you achieve success in both your professional and personal lives. Straightforward and to the point, this book offers valuable lessons that Walton himself followed, and taught, throughout his lifetime-from Rule #1: "Be passionately committed to achieving success" to Rule # 10: "Be different and challenge the status quo." Whether you're an entrepreneur or an hourly paid employee, The 10 Rules of Sam Walton will provide you with a blueprint for success that has proven itself time and again.

As a former employee, Bergdhal had the opportunity to see the Wal-Mart executive team in action and to work directly with Sam Walton. This unique perspective provides him with a treasure trove of great lessons and stories from behind the scenes.

A biography of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, whose idea that he would get the best deals he could on merchandise and pass those savings on to the customer led to his becoming the richest man in America.

It would be difficult to overstate the impact Sam Walton had on American business, specifically retailing. The standalone box stores he pioneered have quite literally changed the nation’s landscape. His innovations in supply-chain management and distribution totally reshaped the relationship between suppliers and retailers, and, for the most part, took wholesalers out of the equation. His insistence on low prices altered customers’ expectations of what they will have to pay for everything from socks to soda. Like few business leaders before or since, Sam Walton changed the world. Saturday, August 14, 1964 was a broiling hot day in Harrison, Arkansas--but the heat was the last thing on Sam Walton’s mind. For the 46-year-old Walton, this was a big day: the grand opening of his second Wal-Mart. He was going to make damn sure it was a big success. He’d planned everything. In the parking lot, he’d had two truckloads of watermelons delivered and hired a donkey to provide rides for the kids. He headed outside to greet his first customers. What he saw would make most entrepreneurs lose their cool: The watermelons had burst, and donkey dung littered the lot. Walton’s reaction was emblematic of his ability to rise above any challenge. He ignored the mess, smiled, walked up to the crowd, stuck out his hand, and said, “Welcome to Wal-Mart.” That focus on customers is Walton’s prime leadership lesson. But there are many others, beginning with his obsession with low prices--just the first step in a mission to deliver unbeatable value.... New Word City, publishers of digital originals, contributes 10 percent of its profits to literacy causes.