On the desk today · Walmart
He lost his first store. Moved across the state. Opened another. Then 10,954 more.
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The Store He Lost
Built the One He Kept
In 1945, a 27-year-old Army veteran named Sam Walton borrowed $25,000 and opened a Ben Franklin five-and-dime store in Newport, Arkansas. He worked it hard. He undercut his competition. He drove sales up sharply in his first year. Then he lost it. The landlord — who had seen how well the store was doing — refused to renew the lease. He wanted the store for his own son.
Walton packed up his family and moved across the state to Bentonville — a town of fewer than 3,000 people. He opened a new store on the town square and called it Walton’s Five and Dime. He was 32 years old. He had lost his best location and started over in a town most people couldn’t find on a map.
I went to a Walmart last Saturday. I needed laundry detergent, a bag of dog food, and a birthday card. The trip took 14 minutes. I spent $47. The parking lot was full. The aisles were crowded. I passed a woman with a cart stacked to the top — groceries, cleaning supplies, a case of water, a pair of shoes. She was doing all her shopping in one trip, in one store, at prices lower than anywhere else in town. I do the same thing. You probably do too.
That is the business. Keep the prices lower than everyone else. Sell more volume. Make up the margin in scale.
On July 2, 1962, Sam Walton and his brother Bud opened the first Walmart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas — a no-frills store selling brand-name goods at discount prices. While Kmart and Target were opening their first stores that same year in urban and suburban markets, Walton went the other direction. He targeted small towns that larger retailers ignored — places where people had no choice but to shop at the general store and pay whatever it charged. Walton gave them a choice. And they took it.
Within five years, there were 18 Walmarts across Arkansas and $9 million in annual sales. Walton took the company public on October 1, 1970. By the time of his death on April 5, 1992 — at 74, from bone cancer — there were 1,735 Walmarts, 212 Sam’s Clubs, 380,000 employees, and nearly $50 billion in revenue. President George H.W. Bush had awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom just weeks earlier.
In fiscal 2026 — the year ended January 31 — Walmart reported $713.2 billion in total revenue. Net sales were $706.4 billion. Operating income was $29.8 billion. Net income was $22.3 billion. The company operates 10,955 stores across 19 countries and employs approximately 2.1 million people — making it the largest private employer on earth. About 280 million customers and members visit a Walmart or Sam’s Club every week.
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That 280-million-customer weekly foot traffic is the number that explains why Walmart compounds. More than the population of every country in Europe except Russia walks through Walmart’s doors in a single week. Each visit generates a transaction. Each transaction generates data — what people buy, when they buy it, how often they return. Walmart uses that data to negotiate with suppliers, optimize inventory, and reduce waste. The cycle feeds itself: lower costs lead to lower prices, lower prices drive more traffic, more traffic generates more data, more data drives better decisions. The flywheel has been spinning since 1962. It has never stopped.
The stickiness is the price. Walmart’s “everyday low prices” model — the phrase Sam Walton used from the beginning — means the company doesn’t run sales. It doesn’t offer weekly promotions. The price you see is the price you pay, and it’s consistently lower than the competition. For a family on a budget — and most families are on a budget — switching to a more expensive grocery store or retailer doesn’t happen. You go to Walmart because it costs less. And because it costs less, you go back. Grocery now accounts for roughly half of Walmart U.S. revenue — and grocery is the most recession-proof category in retail. People stop buying furniture in a downturn. They never stop buying food.
The digital transformation is where the flywheel accelerates. In fiscal 2026, Walmart’s e-commerce net sales crossed $150 billion — up 24.4% from the year before. That makes Walmart one of the largest online retailers on earth. The stores serve as fulfillment centers — orders placed online are picked from shelves and delivered from the nearest location. Walmart+ — the membership program that competes with Amazon Prime — adds a subscription layer: free delivery, fuel discounts, early access. Membership income grew across all segments in fiscal 2026. The store is the warehouse. The website is the storefront. And the 10,955 locations are now distribution nodes in a network that reaches nearly every American household.
Doug McMillon became CEO on February 1, 2014. He had started at Walmart in 1984 — as a teenager, loading trucks in a distribution center for $6.50 an hour. Under his leadership, revenue has grown from $476 billion to $713 billion.
WHY THIS WORKS
$713 billion in revenue is a gravitational force. At this scale, Walmart negotiates prices with suppliers that no competitor can match. Lower input costs mean lower shelf prices. Lower shelf prices drive more traffic. The cycle never breaks.
Grocery is half the business — and recession-proof. People stop buying electronics in a downturn. They never stop buying groceries. Walmart’s position as the largest grocer in America makes the revenue base nearly immune to economic cycles.
10,955 stores are 10,955 fulfillment centers. E-commerce crossed $150 billion. Every store picks, packs, and delivers. The physical network doubles as a logistics advantage that pure online retailers can’t replicate.
280 million weekly visits generate a data flywheel. Every transaction feeds a system that optimizes inventory, reduces waste, and predicts demand. The data advantage compounds with every customer who walks through the door.
Sam Walton was born on March 29, 1918, in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. He grew up during the Depression. He borrowed $25,000, opened a store, and lost it. He moved across Arkansas, opened another, and spent the next 30 years building from one store to 1,735. When he died in 1992, Walmart employed 380,000 people and generated $50 billion in revenue. Thirty-four years later, it employs 2.1 million and generates $713 billion. The Walton family still owns approximately 46%. The headquarters is still in Bentonville. The original Walton’s Five and Dime on the town square is now a museum. And the principle Sam Walton lived by from the day he opened his first store — keep the price lower than everyone else, and they will come — is still the only strategy the company has ever needed.
