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Wal-Mart: A History of Sam Walton's Retail Phenomenon. By Sandra S. Vance and Roy V. Scott. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1994. xv + 220 pp. Photos, charts, notes, bibliography, and index. $22.00. ISBN 0-8057-9832-3.
Reviewed by William B. Friedricks
This book offers more than its title indicates. Rather than merely recounting the tale of Wal-Mart and its folksy founder, Sam Walton, the study uses the retailing giant to examine the evolution of marketing and mass retailing in modern America.
Walton's retail beginnings date back to 1945, when he purchased a Butler Brothers' Ben Franklin variety store franchise in the small town of Newport, Arkansas. Here and in several other variety stores that followed, Walton forged much of the strategy that would later lead Wal-Mart to the top of the retailing industry. This included buying directly from manufacturers, selling goods at discounted prices, and relying on increased volume for profits. In addition, stores were established in small towns, and Walton commuted to and from his growing number of outlets by airplane. When he entered retailing, it was still dominated by department and chain stores, but the industry was about to...