Landlord took his store; Sam Walton built Walmart!

In 1950, Sam Walton's landlord in Newport decided not to renew his lease, giving the location to his own son instead. The store had grown from $80,000 to $225,000 in sales over three years under Walton's management. Walton and his wife, Helen, then bought a Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchise in Newport and opened it on September 1, 1945, having recently returned from the army and completed a business degree from the University of Missouri.

This store is where Walton developed his pricing strategy - lowering prices could lead to higher sales volume and ultimately greater profits. When the Newport lease ended, the Waltons moved to Bentonville and opened Walton's 5 & 10, the first self-service variety store in Arkansas. By opening stores in smaller towns, Walton aimed to leverage the advantages of self-service stores in markets with fewer customers.

By the early 1960s, the Waltons owned sixteen Ben Franklin stores across multiple states, becoming the largest chain of independently owned variety stores in the country. As discounting became more common in American retail, Walton challenged Ben Franklin to halve its margins, but the company refused. Undeterred, Walton opened the first Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas, on July 2, 1962.

With growth came the need for additional capital, leading to the incorporation of Walmart in 1969. By January 1970, Walton and his brother owned eighteen Walmart stores and fourteen Ben Franklins, with the company going public a year later, raising $300,000 in shares. By 1976, all Ben Franklins had been closed, leaving Walmart with 330 stores.

By 1990, Walmart had grown to 1,573 stores with annual sales of $25.8 billion. By 1991, Walmart had become the largest retailer in the United States, surpassing $100 billion in sales. After Walton's death in 1992, Walmart continued to expand, cementing its position as a retail industry giant.