Sam Walton
Sam Walton
Samuel Moore "Sam" Waltonwas an American businessman and entrepreneur best known for founding the retailers Walmart and Sam's Club...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth29 March 1918
CityKingfisher, OK
CountryUnited States of America
inspirational years long
I guess in all my years, what I heard more than anything else was: a mere town cannot support a discount store for very long.
years opposites long
Swim upstream. Go the other way. Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction. But be prepared for a lot of folks to wave you down and tell you you're headed the wrong way. I guess in all my years, what I heard more often than anything was: a town of less than 50,000 population cannot support a discount store for very long.
years ideas people
"Somehow over the years people have gotten the impression that Wal-Mart was...just this great idea that turned into an overnight success. But...it was an outgrowth of everything we'd been doing since [1945]...And like most overnight successes, it was about twenty years in the making."
airplane years
I've owned about 18 airplanes over the years, and I've never bought one of them new.
believe cut dogs drive hair haul news pickup supposed
I still can't believe it was news that I get my hair cut at the barbershop. Where else would I get it cut? Why do I drive a pickup truck? What am I supposed to haul my dogs around in, a Rolls-Royce?
celebrate costume fun humor loosen silly sing success
Celebrate your success and find humor in your failures. Dont take yourself so seriously. Loosen up and everyone around you will loosen up. Have fun and always show enthusiasm. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song.
best
Most of us don't invent ideas. We take the best ideas from someone else.
What am I supposed to haul my dogs around in, a Rolls-Royce?
chance everybody exactly good niche opposite
If everybody is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going exactly in the opposite direction.
guess happened laid low regional remained strictly
I don't know what would have happened to Wal-Mart if we had laid low and never stirred up the competition. My guess is that we would have remained a strictly regional operator.
business check folks learned trust variety
I learned this early on in the variety business: You've got to give folks responsibility, you've got to trust them, and then you've got to check on them.
positive
All of us profit from being corrected - if we're corrected in a positive way.
associates exactly
The way management treats associates is exactly how the associates will treat the customers.
born maybe retail
Maybe I was born to be a merchant, maybe it was fate. I don't know about that. But I know this for sure: I loved retail from the very beginning.