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Sam Walton was the shrewd businessman behind the world's largest retailer. After working his way through the University of Missouri as a newspaper delivery boy, he got a job in Des Moines, Iowa as a management trainee for J.C. Penny at a salary of $75 a month. Walton borrowed some money from his father-in-law and opened a variety store after serving as an Army captain in World War II (mostly spent in California and Utah because he was declared unfit for service due to a heart problem). A chain of drugstores followed. He went into business with his brother Bud, and by 1960, the Waltons' 15 stores were taking in $1.4 million a year. But Walton soon saw a challenging new competitor arise - the discount store. The Walton brothers opened their first Wal-Mart in 1962 - in Rogers, Arkansas. Specializing in name brands at low prices, the chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America.
 top: Wal-Mart associates
bottom: Wal-Mart executives
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Inspired by workers he saw in a tennis ball factory in Korea, Walton introduced the famous "Wal-Mart Cheer" to employees, whom the company refers to as "associates." Walton's management style was popular with employees and helped to spur growth in the 1980s amidst complaints that the superstore was squelching traditional mom and pop stores. Sales grew to $26 billion by 1989, compared to $1 billion in 1980.
By 1990, Wal-Mart was the largest U.S. retailer, with 1,700 stores. One year later Wal-Mart entered the international market for the first time with the opening of a unit in Mexico City. Within five years, Wal-Mart would enter Puerto Rico, Argentina, Brazil and China. Since then, Wal-Mart has built stores in Canada, Germany, Korea and the United Kingdom. Sam Walton remained active in managing the company as C.E.O. and president until 1988, and chairman until his death at the age of 74 in 1992.
Wal-Mart currently opens a new megastore every two business days and has expanded, on average, into one new country each year. In 2000, Wal-Mart launched a revamped ecommerce site, but it remains to be seen whether its brick and mortar success will translate into Internet sales. Some analysts think that the aggressive strategy to place large stores in underserved areas that has served Wal-Mart so well may not translate to the online world. The world's biggest retailer entered the European market in December 1997, but operations aren't yet reaching the levels of growth needed to make the company's investment pay off. As of March 2001, Wal-Mart is receiving a return on their investment of just over six percent in Europe, as compared to a 23 percent return in the United States. Still, in the fiscal year 2000, sales increased 16 per cent to $191.3 billion, making Wal-Mart a formidable force in the retailing world.
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