Bentonville

"Aside from the question of the size of the targeted marketing area, almost everything about Wal-Mart was borrowed. Walton selected the chain’s name, which was suggested by the manager of his original Bentonville variety store, because of its similarity to “Fed-Mart.” Speaking of that outfit’s founder, Sol Price, Walton said, “I guess I’ve stolen—I actu¬ ally prefer the word ‘borrowed’—as many ideas from Sol Price as from anybody in the business.”70 Two decades after the founding of Wal-Mart, Walton copied Price yet again by launching Sam’s Club stores to compete in the warehouse club category. Price had introduced this deep-discount format, selling everything from food to appliances under one roof, through the Price Club chain in 1976."

"Starting with more limited resources than his competitors, Walton was forced to operate differently to achieve his growth objectives. Initially, WalMart built stores only within one day’s driving distance of its single distribu¬ tion center in Bentonville. Operationally, the key benefit was the ability to resupply stores quickly, thereby keeping the shelves stocked while also avoiding excess inventory. From a strategic standpoint, densely packing the territory with stores discouraged competition and maximized Wal-Mart’s name recognition. Repeating the success formula, Wal-Mart added distribu¬ tion centers in other regions and densely filled in the territory around them. Walton got the most out of his resources by running his stores with lean staffs. Constantly in need of additional managers for his rapidly in¬ creasing number of stores, he kept his eyes peeled for entry-level workers who displayed high potential as merchandisers and managers of people. With as little as six months’ experience, a go-getter could get promoted to assistant manager, a much swifter career path than other retailing chains deemed advisable."

"Walton also showed his independence by rejecting the retailing in¬ dustry norm of cordial relations between buyers and vendors. He insisted on hard-nosed bargaining and forbade his buyers to accept meals or gifts from sales representatives. Wal-Mart’s buyers were “as folksy and downto-earth as home-grown tomatoes,” according to one executive who did business with them. “But when you start dealing with them—when you get past that ‘down home in Bentonville’ business, they’re as hard as nails and every bit as sharp.”97 An official of another company characterized Wal-Mart more bluntly, calling it “the rudest account in America.”98"