Word: wal
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Wal-Mart's growth is phenomenal. The company has been able to expand for the past decade at a dizzying annual pace exceeding 35%, more than triple the rate of the retail industry as a whole. Last year Wal-Mart posted profits of $450.1 million on sales of $11.9 billion, up from only $2.4 billion five years earlier. The company, which ranks as the fourth largest U.S. retailer, is poised to supplant the No. 3 chain, J.C. Penney (1986 sales: $14.7 billion), and is moving up fast on the industry behemoths, K mart ($23.8 billion) and Sears ($44.3 billion). This...
...same time, Wal-Mart is expanding in other directions. It has opened 52 outlets of Sam's Wholesale Club, which are warehouse-style stores of 100,000 sq. ft., or about 2 1/2 acres, that serve mainly as one-stop suppliers for small businesses. Next, taking a cue from Europe's successful hypermarkets, Walton plans to open a chain of Wal-Mart Supercenters, which will offer consumers everything from groceries to hardware in one sprawling 220,000-sq.-ft. emporium. The first one, a test model, will debut this fall in a Dallas suburb...
...Wal-Mart's frenetic growth has made the company a star on Wall Street, where its stock has skyrocketed almost nonstop since it went public in 1970. An original investment in 100 shares, which sold for about $1,650 back then, would be worth more than $700,000 today...
Even so, a first-time visitor to a Wal-Mart store is likely to be underwhelmed initially. The outlets are mostly linoleum floored and arrayed with row upon row of simple racks and counters, punctuated by signs pointing to particular bargains. But the no-frills atmosphere suits the predominantly blue-collar clientele just fine. From shotgun shells to laundry soap, most products are well-known brands at deep discounts. Wal-Mart, unlike many other discount outlets, offers more: well-scrubbed aisles, fully stocked shelves and relentlessly upbeat clerks. "It's attitude," explains Wal-Mart Vice Chairman Jack Shewmaker. "Give...
...fervor among Wal-Mart's 151,000 employees is inspired by a Walton philosophy in which ideas and profits are freely shared. All store employees, even the lowliest shelf stockers, are given the title "associate." Wal-Mart operates a liberal profit-sharing plan (1986 disbursements: $52 million) and offers bonuses for specific accomplishments like reducing pilferage. Workers are exhorted to make suggestions. "Most of the good ideas come from the bottom up," says Wal-Mart President David Glass. "We keep changing a thousand little things...