Sam Walton: American Patriot

1. Beck From the Dead Time 2007-11-29 18:42
Sam Walton:True American Patriotfrom Made in AmericaBlasts American CEOs for their spendthrift ways. (9) Offers greatest insight into retailing and discounting with this story: Selling more panties by pricing them a bit lower than the usual price, and hence still managing to have greater overall profit. (25) Bought an 1800$ ice-cream machine as a prop for his first store (Ben Franklin franchise) (26). His brother Bud Walton says Sam gave him the job to clean the machine because Same knew that he hated milk. (27) Bought his first 'aircraft', a two-seater Air Coupe for $1850, whose engine once failed just after take-off from Fort Smith. (40) "First lesson we learned was that there was much, much more business out there in small-town America that anybody, including me, had ever dreamed of." (50) (Comment - Does it have any implications for India?) "Maybe its time for a Walton to .... become missionary for free enterprise in the Third World." (77) The IPO stock got very little support from folks right there in northwest Arkansas, home of WalMart. "I always thought people around here thought that.. we were doing it with mirrors. They couldn't help but think we were just lucky... I think it must be human nature that when somebody homegrown gets on to something, the folks around them sometimes are the last to recognize it." (100) He had semi-retired in 1974 when Ron Mayer became CEO. (150-151) But he was too much of a hands-on a guy to stay away and hence came back in June of 1976 as CEO. He had given Ron Mayer an option of becoming Vice Chairman and CFO but Ron chose to leave instead and that Saturday's meeting is known as "Saturday night massacre" in WalMart lore. (152) He's been accused of pitting people against each other, but he doesn't see it that way. He says he's always 'cross-pollinated folks'.(155) WalMart had (has?) a gospel group The Singing Truck Drivers and a management singing group called "Jimmy Walker and the Accountants". (157) Phil Green, who once made the world's largest Tide display at one of the oldest WalMart stores, promised a TV for 22 cents in a promotion to celebrate George Washington's birthday, which was on February 22nd. The only hitch was customers had to find the TV set. It was hidden in the store! The crowd brought the house down! He admitted that "playing hide-and-seek with merchandise was a terrible idea."! (161) Walmart's cheerleading squad Shrinkettes ("WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT SHRINKAGE? CRUSH IT! CRUSH IT!") stole the show at one of the annual meetings with "CALIFORNIA ORANGES, TEXAS CACTUS, WE THINK KMART COULD USE SOME PRACTICE!" (162) While talking about culture of the company, Sam Walton says that company thrives on the traditions of small-town America and especially because it is more fun when you're an adult who usually spends all your time working. (162) Sam says that the outcry by the towners that ensues at closing down a store because Walmart couldn't make it profitable is "something awful" and that "its a price you pay for success". (182)Negotiate hard with your vendors/suppliers 'cause if you pay higher than he deserves, you are buying someone else's inefficiency! (185) Whoever said 'Retail is Detail' is absolutely 100 percent right. (188) Even though WalMart is known for best and innovative applications of Information Technology, Sam never appreciated investment in computers much. His reason: " A computer can tell you down to the dime what you've sold. But it can never tell you how much you could have sold." ! Computer, he says, will never be a substitute for getting out in your stores and learning what's going on. (224) A lot of folks used to ask Sam Walton: "Could a Wal-Mart-type story still occur in this day and age? My answer is of course it could happen again. Somewhere out there right now there's someone - probably hundreds of thousands of someones - with good enough ideas to go it all the way. It will be done again, over and over, providing that someone wants it badly enough to do what it takes to get there. It's all a matter of attitude and the capacity to constantly study and question the management of the business." (256)
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