Sam Walton

Sam Walton

Sam Walton graduated from college and served in the Army during World War II. He borrowed $25,000 to buy his first store in Arkansas in 1945. It was a franchise for a Ben Franklin store.

A franchise is the right to sell another company's goods or services in a certain area.

Multiple Choice

Which words help the reader know the meaning of the word franchise?

• certain area

• goods or services

• the right to sell

• another company

He eventually owned 15 Ben Franklin stores. He became unhappy with how he had to manage them. He decided to start a store of his own instead.

Multiple Choice

Why did Sam Walton want to start a store of his own?

• He wanted to make more money.

• His father loaned him the money.

• He lost the franchise on his stores.

• He was unhappy with how he had to manage his franchise stores.

Walton began to open stores in smaller towns rather than larger cities. One of his business strategies was to make all his prices lower than other stores. Another one was to make money by selling greater amounts of all his store goods. Other store owners believed his ideas would never work.

Multiple Choice

Which one of the following is a business strategy used by Walton?

• have special sales on special days

• open more stores in larger cities

• have lower prices than other stores

• sell only certain types of items.

The first Wal-Mart was opened in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962. It was called Wal-Mart Discount City. Customers were thrilled that big-city discounts had finally come to their small towns. Sales soared. More Wal-Marts were opened. By 1985, Sam Walton had become the richest man in America. His fortune was worth nearly $3 billion dollars.

Multiple Choice

According to the text, how does the reader know for sure that Sam Walton's business ideas were great?

• Everyone started to copy him.

• Most of his customers liked him.

• Everyone wanted to work for him.

• He became the richest man in America.