With their endless aisles, their bountiful racks chock full of discounted merchandise, Walmart stores have firmly wedged themselves into the hearts and minds of most Americans, especially within those neural circuits in charge of household budgeting. At this point, Walmart may as well be considered one of the great, all-American institutions, an essential fiber within the fabric of Star-Spangled capitalism. Or, on the other side, some might say Walmart is everything wrong with the business world today, ruthlessly dominating anyone who even hints at competing with them, and otherwise strong arming everyone from government officials to manufacturers to get their way. But whether you love to hate it, or hate to love it … you certainly can’t ignore Walmart. But how did the world’s largest retailer, with gross annual sales double that of the next up in amazon, start and grow to the behemoth we have today, let alone so insanely rapidly?
Well, put on some Lynyrd Skynyrd, grab your guns, flannel, and a Budweiser, and let’s dive into the fascinating story of how one man changed how the world shops.
Authors: Arnaldo Teodorani and Daven Hiskey
Editor: Daven Hiskey
Host: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Caden Nielsen
0:00 Intro
2:51 An Incredible Humble Beginning and Sickening Overachiever
6:07 Continuing to Sickeningly Overachieve in College
8:43 After College Scatterbrained Hard Worker
10:24 WWII and a Dream Girl
12:33 A Beginning and Some Key Choices
18:40 A Huge Mistake, Overcoming, and Expansion
22:18 A New Breed of Store to Change the Game
25:40 Going it Alone and Risking It All
28:06 Go Big or Go Home
30:52 The Methods to the Madness
44:12 The Passing of a Titan
45:56 Good or Bad- The Walmart Controversy
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