Slogan: Save money. Live better
Walmart is the largest grocery chain in the US, and even in the whole world. The network includes both small shops and supermarkets scattered throughout the country — representatives of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. There are also outside the United States.
The chain’s stores sell almost everything: electronics, furniture, computers and software, toys and products for children, photo equipment, cosmetics, sports goods, groceries, medicines, various small things for the house, dishes, books, and CDs.
Sam Walton founded the network in 1962. The first Wal-Mart Discount City appeared in Rogers, Arkansas (Rogers, Arkansas). After only five years, the number of stores scattered throughout Arkansas has increased to 24. And the income from them exceeded 12 million dollars a year. Walton begins to move the network out of his state gradually. Wal-Mart stores appear in Oklahoma and Missouri. The principle for all retail outlets of the chain was one – the maximum possible amount of goods, with the minimum price. The concept of the company says: “always low prices.”
Wal-Mart’s story is a story of overwhelming success. Already in 1975, the number of stores exceeded one hundred. They employed more than 7,500 people, and they brought in incomes of hundreds of millions of dollars. The recognizable logo appeared in 1992. So it was preserved in 2009.
Today, Wal-Mart is a network of more than 7,000 stores in 14 countries. The number of employees has long exceeded one million, and revenues – tens of billions.
However, by no means, all markets go smoothly. So access to the demands of Germany and South Korea failed. But in Brazil, Mexico, China, and the countries of South America, things are going well. On the territory of Mexico, Wal-Mart functions as Walmex, on the area of Great Britain as Asda, and as Seiyu in Japan.
Wal-Mart has been repeatedly (and is) attacked by trade unions, as well as by Christian and “green” organizations. They accuse the network of violating environmental standards, mistreating staff (low salaries, inadequate medical care), and tricky business. There are accusations of discrimination against women, national and sexual minorities. In response, statements follow that the cause of all these attacks lies in the fame of Wal-Mart, the largest employer in the United States, consistently included in the Fortune 500 rating. And it seems that this confrontation will last forever.
