History of Walmart

History of Walmart

Walmart one of the biggest discount retailers today was first opened in 1962 by its founder Sam Walton but Before deciding to open Walmart, Sam Walton decided to travel the country studying everything he could about discount retailing. He became convinced American consumers wanted a new type of store. Trusting his vision, Sam and his wife Helen put up 95% of the money for the first Walmart store in Rogers, Ark. (Walmart, (2001)). From there on Walmart increased and was incorporated as Walmart Stores Inc. on October 31, 1969. The 1970s marked the beginning of significant growth for the company. In 1970 the company opened the first Walmart distribution center, and also the Walmart Home Office, in Bentonville. Ark. At that time Walmart employed around 1,500 employees working in 38 stores with sales of $44.2 million. At that time Walmart also began selling shares over - the - counter as a publicly held company in 1970( Walmart, (2001)). . In the late 1970s Walmart acquired the Hutcheson Shoe Company, and introduced the Walmart pharmacy, auto service center, and jewelry divisions. In 1979, Walmart became the first company to reach $1 billion in sales in such a short period. The company closed out the decade with 276 stores, 21,000 associates and with$1.248 billion in sales (Walmart, (2001)). . As of today Walmart is ranked number one in discount retailers with a long history of memorable and historical events that as made Walmart what it is today.

Walmart’s audit firm

According to Walmart’s annual report the audit firm for the company is Ernst and Young LLP. The firm has audited the financial statements of Walmart Stores, Inc. as of January 31, 2007 and 2006, and also the consolidated statements of income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended January 31, 2007. The financial statements of Walmart are the responsibility of the Company’s higher management. The responsibility of Ernst and Young LLP is...