Wal-Mart an introduction to retailing
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A
perfect example of a dream come true is the
story of Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart.
From a single store, Wal-Mart has grown to become
the largest company in the United States (in
terms of revenues). And today it dwarfs
every other retailer.
In 1992, President George Bush presented Sam Walton with the Medal of Freedom and said he was "an American original who embodied the entrepreneurial spirit and epitomized the American dream." As a store owner in Bentonville, Arkansas, Sam Walton had a simple strategy: To take his retail stores to rural areas of the United States and then sell goods at the lowest prices around. Sam was convinced that a large discount format would work in rural communities.
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Walton's first discount store
opened in 1962 and used such slogan as "We sell for
less" and "Satisfaction guaranteed," two of
the current hallmarks of the company. By the
end of 1969, Wal-Mart had expanded to 31 locations.
Within a year, Wal-Mart became a public corporation
and rapidly grew on the basis of additional discount
stores, its supercenter format, and global
expansion. Wal-Mart has become a true textbook
example of how a retailer can maintain growth
without losing sight of its original core values of
low overhead, the use of innovative
distribution systems, and customer orientation -
whereby employees swear to serve the customer: "So
help me, Sam." 
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a perfect example: sebuah contoh sempurna; founder: pendiri; in terms of revenues: dalam hal keuntungan
dwarf: mengerdilkan; rural area: daerah pinggiran; satisfaction guaranteed: kepuasan dijamin; hallmark: ciri khas retailer: pengecer overhead: yang berhubungan dengan biaya-biaya umum dalam menjalankan perusahaan.