Wal-Mart: A History of Sam Walton's Retail Phenomenon (Twayne's Evolution of Modern Business Series) - Softcover

Sandra Stringer Vance; Roy V. Scott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0805798331 ISBN 13: 9780805798333

Publisher: Twayne Publishers, 1994

Synopsis

Traces the history of the Wal-Mart discount store chain, and analyzes the reasons for its success

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

Economic and business historian Vance and historian Scott use a decidedly academic approach to describe the creation and rapid expansion of the Wal-Mart retail empire. The authors draw heavily from public corporate documents, periodicals and newspapers, as well as other books to trace the growth of the Wal-Mart chain from the opening of its first store in 1962 to its becoming the largest retail operation in America in 1991. While the text and numerous tables and charts ably document the rise of Wal-Mart, the lack of personal interviews with those responsible for the success of Wal-Mart makes this history-by-the-numbers. To their credit, the authors do look at some of Wal-Mart's shortcomings, including the failed hypermarket expansion. In addition, the authors devote a chapter to the impact Wal-Mart has had on small-town American, concluding that, while Wal-Mart has had some negative consequences for the towns in which it has stores, it has, on balance, improved the economic life of the regions where it does business. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct).
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal:

Wal-Mart is significant not only because it made its founder, Sam Walton, one of the richest men in the world but also because it defined nationwide discount retailing as a new dimension for merchandise distribution in America. Lacking access to internal company documents, the authors drew on published sources for their information. In their view, Walton observed that small towns in America needed retail stores that offer a large assortment of merchandise at discounted prices. This concept, radical as it was in 1962, gave rise to other retail industry contributions, such as volume buying on a scale never done before, new economical distribution methods, and a management system that rewarded employees with generous incentives. A well-done case study for business collections.
Joseph Barth, U.S. Military Acad. Lib., West Point, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Twayne Publishers
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0805798331
• ISBN 13: 9780805798333
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 220
• Editor: Edwin J. Perkins