Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by Sam Walton (American Entrepreneur)

Sam Moore Walton (1918–92) was an American businessman and entrepreneur. He started Walmart and built it into one of the world’s largest retailers and, in the process, became the wealthiest American.

Born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma, Walton was a product of the Great Depression of the 1930s. After graduating with a degree in economics from the University of Missouri, Walton started his retailing career with the J. C. Penney Company in Des Moines, Iowa. He served in the Army Intelligence Corps during World War II. After the war, he joined his brother to pool their savings, got a $25,000 loan, and bought a Ben Franklin store in Newport, Arkansas. When his landlord failed to renew his lease in 1950, Walton moved to Bentonville, Arkansas, now Walmart’s headquarters. Walmart operated Ben Franklin stores under the name Walton’s Five and Dime stores. In 1962, he founded Walmart’s first store in Rogers, Arkansas, five miles from Bentonville.

Walton oversaw all aspects of his stores. He was continually searching for ways to serve his customers better and frequently walked around the competitor’s stores to educate himself. By 1970, Walton had 25 Walmart stores and took the company public. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he expanded nationwide and turned to new retailing formats, including Sam’s Wholesale Clubs and Walmart Supercenters.

Walton’s stores averaged an annual growth rate of more than 35 percent for more than a decade—Walmart morphed into the fastest growing and most influential force in the retail industry. In the process, Walton became one of the richest men in the world.

Despite his wealth, Walton lived a modest life in Bentonville. He enjoyed riding around in his pickup truck, eating breakfast with friends at a local diner, and attending potluck suppers at the Presbyterian Church. Even when he was diagnosed with incurable bone cancer, he continued to lead an active life, rising every day before dawn.

Walton’s bestselling autobiography Sam Walton, Made in America (1992) explains how he revolutionized shopping and transformed consumer shopping patterns across the United States.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by Sam Walton

Outstanding leaders go out of the way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.
Sam Walton
Topics: Leaders, Leadership

There’s only one boss: the customer. He can fire everybody from the chairman on down simply by spending his money elsewhere.
Sam Walton
Topics: Customers, Business, Challenges

I had no vision of the scope of what I would start. But I had confidence that as long as we did our work well and were good to our customers, there would be no limit to us.
Sam Walton

There’s a lot more business out there in small town America than I ever dreamed of.
Sam Walton
Topics: Business

I have always been driven to buck the system, to innovate, to take things beyond where they’ve been.
Sam Walton
Topics: Possibilities, Potential

Capital isn’t scarce; vision is.
Sam Walton
Topics: Vision, Prophecy

We let folks know we’re interested in them and that they’re vital to us. ‘Cause they are.
Sam Walton
Topics: Business

I had to pick myself up and get on with it, do it all over again, only even better this time.
Sam Walton
Topics: Adversity

High expectations are the key to everything.
Sam Walton
Topics: Attitude, Expectation

Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.
Sam Walton
Topics: Encouragement

Wondering Whom to Read Next?

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *