Picture of the day - August 16, 2005

Mexican Wal-Mart

Today's picture features a simple Wal-Mart sign in Mexico. Amy and Gene snapped the photo during their recent Cancun vacation because they found it amusing that Wal-Mart's reach extended south of the border. It caught my interest too. Wal-Mart is one of the greatest retail success stories of the last 100 years. Starting out with a single "Ben Franklin 5 and 10" store in Rogers, Arkansas, Sam Walton had a unique vision for retail expansion and the marketing and management skills required to make it a reality. The Wal-Mart steam-roller was born. He hired the best people he could find to help him acquire and staff new stores in mid-sized towns and cities all across the United States. He also hired engineers to design and implement an ordering and distribution system that was the most efficient on the planet. And of course all along the way he found more and more ways of getting his suppliers to drop their prices as low as they could possibly go. Even after he had become one of the world's wealthiest men, Sam Walton never lost his connection with the common man. He drove the same old pick-up truck for years even though he could have easily bought an entire fleet of the most expensive automobiles made. He frequently went hunting in the Arkansas woods with his long-time friends and neighbors just like he had done back when owned the lone "Ben Franklin". He also personally visited numerous Wal-Mart stores all across the country, greeting customers like they were the most important people in the world - because he knew they were! After Mr. Walton passed away in 1992, the company continued it's march across America by building stores in virtually every town that was large enough to support one. The new management took the best of what Sam Walton had taught the world about business and retail success and combined it with the intense desire to please its shareholders. The result is the largest and most successful retail enterprise the world has ever known. Wal-Mart receives plenty of criticism these days for its super-aggressive business practices, much of it well deserved, but Sam Walton would be pleased with the company's unparalleled success as evidenced by the picture above.   Picture Of The Day Homepage | Submit a photo Interesting Articles