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Revision as of 04:27, 23 July 2002 by Mav (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is the world's largest retailer. In the fiscal year ending January 31, 2001 Wal-Mart had $191 billion dollars in sales. It employs over 1 million people worldwide and operates 4,500 retail units in 10 countries. Wal-Mart operates in the United States, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, China, Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-mart, opened the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962.
Wal-Mart stores are large in area, usually constructed as part of a shopping mall in a low-density suburban centre. The stores contain a broad range of products, from clothes through consumer electronics, outdoor equipment, toys, hardware, and books, as well as many other lines. Wal-mart is now the #2 grocery chain in the nation, behind Kroger's. The products it sells are usually basic, mass-market equipment rather than premium products stocked at specialist stores. Wal-Mart and stores like it are often referred to as "big box" stores because shoppers usually buy either large items or small items in volume.
The key to Wal-Mart's success is the economies of scale it brings to manufacturing and logistics, buying massive quantities of items from its suppliers and with a very efficient stock control system to make logistics costs lower than its competitors, which includes the Kmart Corporation.
The legal department of Wal-Mart has a reputation among personal injury lawyers for extremely aggressive legal tactics, and the corporation has been sanctioned by several courts for failing to respond properly to plantiff discovery motions.