Walmart turns 62: How Walmart grew into the retail giant we know today

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — July 2 is the anniversary of the opening of the first Walmart in Rogers in 1962.

More than six decades later, it is one of the largest retailers in the world with 10,500 stores and clubs in 19 countries, according to its corporate website .

Humble beginnings

Walmart’s first store opened 62 years ago, but its origins date back even further.

According to the Walmart Digital Museum , Sam Walton and his family moved to Bentonville in 1950 from eastern Arkansas.

Walton bought Luther Harrison’s Variety Store on the town square. It was his second store, but the first to bear the Walton name. It was a Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchise next door to a space occupied by a barbershop that Walton bought in 1951. Walton followed that expansion up by moving into the space next door and a remodeling sale for Walton’s 5&10.

Walton’s 5&10 can still be seen today as part of the Walmart Museum on the Bentonville Square.

Moving forward

According to the company , Walton would open the first Walmart in Rogers on July 2, 1962. In five years, the family would own 24 stores and bring in $12.7 million in sales. In 1969, the company was officially incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

By 1970, Walmart was a publicly traded company. The first stock was sold at $16.50 per share. The first distribution center and Home Office opened in Bentonville one year later.

By 1972, 10 years after the first store opened, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Walmart had 51 stores at that point and sales of $78 million.

By 1975 Walton introduced the Walmart cheer , having been inspired by a Korean manufacturing facility he had visited. By 1978, the first pharmacy opened.

$1 billion in sales and the hula on Wall Street

In 1980, Walmart reached $1 billion in annual sales which the company says is faster than any other company at that time.

Three years later, the first Sam’s Club opened in Midwest City, Oklahoma. It was the company’s foray into big box stores. The company also replaced cash registers with computerized point-of-sale systems.

Walton did the hula on Wall Street in 1984. He told his employees he would do the hula on Wall Street if the company hit a pre-tax profit of 8% for the previous fiscal year.

The Walton family established the Walton Family Foundation . The foundation aims to strengthen connections between K-12 education and opportunity, protect rivers, oceans and communites they support and advance Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta.

The company launched its first Walmart Supercenter in 1988 in Washington, Missouri. The store aimed to combine general merchandise and a full-scale supermarket to provide one-stop shopping.

Going worldwide and Sam Walton’s death

In 1991, Walmart opened a Sam’s Club in Mexico City through a joint venture with Cifra, a Mexican retail company.

In 1992, Walton received the Medal of Freedom. Not long after receiving the award, he died at the age of 74. Rob Walton becomes chairman of the board. At that point Walmart employed 371,000 employees and had opened 1,928 stores and clubs.

One year later the company celebrated its first $1 billion sales week.

In 1994 and 1996, the company would expand into Canada and China. In 1997, the company celebrated its first $100 billion sales year.

By 1998, Walmart entered the United Kingdom after buying Asda. The company also introduced the Neighborhood Market format with three stores in Arkansas.

The new millennium

Walmart embraced the turn of the millennium and the rise in online shopping by launching Walmart.com in 2000, allowing U.S. customers to shop digitally.

Two years later, Walmart topped the Fortune 500 ranking of the largest companies in the U.S. The company also entered the Japanese market after its investment in Seiyu.

In 2007, Walmart.com launched its site-to-store service which allowed customers to buy items online and pick them up in stores.

By 2009, Walmart had entered Chile with the acquisition of a majority stake in D&S S.A. In the same year, it exceeded $400 billion in annual sales.

Still expanding after half a century

In 2010, the company opened its first store in India through a joint venture with Bharti Walmart. One year later, it expanded into South Africa by acquiring 51% of Massmart Holding Limited. With Massmart acquisition, Walmart surpassed 10,000 retail units around the world.

In 2012, the company celebrated its 50th anniversary.

In 2013, Walmart acquired Bharti Walmart Private Limited, including the Best Price Modern Wholesale cash and carry business in India. The company’s first District of Columbia store opened that same year. The company also committed to buying $250 billion in goods manufactured in the U.S. over the next 10 years.

Rob Walton retired as chairman of the board in 2015 but continued to serve as a director. He was succeeded by Greg Penner. In that same year, Walmart acquired a 100% stake in Yihaodian, an e-commerce business in China, up from the 51% stake in 2012.

In 2016, Walmart acquired Jet.com and Heyneedle, a subsidiary of Jet.com. The company makes a company to become the most trusted retailer by 2025.

One year later, the company acquired Moosejaw, ModCloth, Bonobos and Parcel. Jet buys ShoeBuy.com, which is later renamed Shoes.com. The company also set a goal to reduce its consumables chemical footprint by 10% by 2022.

In 2018, the company changed its legal name from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to Walmart Inc. The company also buys Flipkart in India, Eloquii, Bare Necessities and Art.com.

One year later, the company launched InHome Delivery and free NextDay delivery from Walmart.com.

Continuing into the future

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Walmart and Sam’s Club turned their parking lots into testing centers and sourced personal protective equipment materials for frontline healthcare workers. In the same year, the company launched Walmart+, a membership program that aims to help customers save time and money.

Walmart Argentina is acquired by Grupo de Narváez in the same year. One year later, the company would sell its majority stake in Seiyu to KKR and Rakuten.

In 2021, Walmart also invested in drone delivery, fintech and autonomous vehicles.

Walmart celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2022 and shows no signs of slowing down even after facing off with retail rivals like Amazon and Target.

Recently, the company announced its plans to roll out digital shelf labels at 2,300 stores. The company also announced in May it was laying off several hundred employees from its Home Office.

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