Missouri Sam Walton

The Man from Missouri Sam Walton grew up modestly in Columbia, Missouri, where he, like Gene Simmons, was a paper carrier and learned quickly the value of hard work. He would go on to graduate from the University of Missouri, which gave him a solid education, but one devoid of the instant status of a diploma from a prestigious Ivy League institution.

Walton pursued his career working in none other than a Ben Franklin store. Although he was effective as a small town retail manager, he had ideas for innovating and improving the firm. When management rejected his ideas, he took the entrepreneurial plunge, opening his own store in 1963, in Rogers, Arkansas, at the ripe age of 45. Armed with minimal capital but loads of energy, an array of retail ideas, and a definite vision, Walton opened his first store around the same time that Kmart and Target were launched. Kmart, backed by billions of dollars from Kresge, and Target, backed by the fashion experience and resources of Dayton Hudson, had the resources, experienced managers, and locations that Walton didn’t have. But the unpretentious man from Missouri would soon dispel the popular notion that small firms can’t compete successfully against large ones. His organization would go on to influence the ultimate bankruptcy of Kmart and to limit the growth of Target by executing, with precision, simple strategies reminiscent to those KISS used to build its dominant brand: S Gain a foothold in markets others don’t serve and attack big markets later.

S Create a culture and a message to explain to fans and employees who you are and what you stand for.