Word: wal
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Wal-Mart now has tremendous momentum, but the founder is still a prime force. The son of an Oklahoma farm-mortgage broker, Walton earned an economics degree from the University of Missouri and joined J.C. Penney in 1940 as an $85-a-month trainee. After serving in the Army, he pooled his savings and borrowed $25,000 to buy a Ben Franklin store in Newport, Ark., in 1945. By the late 1950s he owned more than a dozen similar stores, but decided that the future was in discounting rather than in five-and-dimes. After studying a K mart...
Today visitors to Wal-Mart's plain, red brick offices in Bentonville soon get an insight into how Walton manages to offer such low prices. The company's frugal quarters are outfitted like a bus station, complete with plastic seats. The chairman's office, covered in bargain-basement paneling, is appointed mostly with strewn-about books and computer printouts...
Humility is Wal-Mart's watchword, which filters down from Mr. Sam. The billionaire, whose family owns 38% of the company's stock, lives in Bentonville with his wife Helen in a modest brick-and-wood ranch-style house. Their names are on the mailbox, and it was only a few years ago that they installed a security system. All their children, three sons and a daughter, are grown. Walton typically rises before dawn and eats breakfast at the Ramada Inn coffee shop on his way to work. Along the way he may stop at Barber John Mayhall...
Walton's hobbies always take a backseat to his company. He plays a fine game of tennis, but he reportedly can be easily distracted by canny opponents who bring up the topic of Wal-Mart. Another favorite pastime is quail hunting; Walton often takes his two pointer dogs along with him on his business trips in case any opportunities arise. His only obvious material luxury is a twin- engine Cessna, which he frequently pilots on his constant travels from store to store...
Though Walton has achieved folk-hero status in small-town America, his company has its critics. The country's 100,000 independent manufacturer's representatives are currently incensed at Wal-Mart, claiming that the chain is trying to run them out of business by dealing directly with its suppliers. Meanwhile, Mom-and-pop-store owners contend that Wal-Mart's cut-rate prices have helped wipe out Main Street shopping. In the past, Wal-Mart's conservative management has drawn some flak for being too slow to promote women, which the company says is untrue, and for being too quick...