140 Facts About Walmart

Walmart Inc is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets ( called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Walmart was founded by Sam Walton in nearby Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 and incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law on October 31, 1969.

Since August 2018, Walmart held only a minority stake in Walmart Brasil, which was renamed Grupo Big in August 2019, with 20 percent of the company's shares, and private equity firm Advent International holding 80 percent ownership of the company.

Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue, with about US$570 billion in annual revenue, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in May 2022.

Walmart was the largest United States grocery retailer in 2019, and 65 percent of Walmart's sales came from U S operations.

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Walmart was originally geographically limited to the South and lower Midwest, but it had stores from coast to coast by the early 1990s.

Walmart's primary focus was selling products at low prices to get higher-volume sales at a lower profit margin, portraying it as a crusade for the consumer.

Walmart experienced setbacks because the lease price and branch purchase were unusually high, but he was able to find lower-cost suppliers than those used by other stores and was consequently able to undercut his competitors on pricing.

Walmart stores opened throughout the rest of the U S, with Vermont being the last state to get a store in 1995.

In 1998, Walmart introduced the Neighborhood Market concept with three stores in Arkansas.

In 2005, Walmart reported in sales, more than 6, 200 facilities around the world—including 3, 800 stores in the United States and 2, 800 elsewhere, employing more than 1.

In November 2005, Walmart announced several environmental measures to increase energy efficiency and improve its overall environmental record, which had previously been lacking.

CEO Lee Scott said that Walmart's goal was to be a "good steward of the environment" and ultimately use only renewable energy sources and produce zero waste.

Walmart designed three new experimental stores with wind turbines, photovoltaic solar panels, biofuel-capable boilers, water-cooled refrigerators, and xeriscape gardens.

Walmart created its own electric company in Texas, Texas Retail Energy, planned to supply its stores with cheap power purchased at wholesale prices.

In 2006, Walmart announced that it would remodel its U S stores to help it appeal to a wider variety of demographics, including more affluent shoppers.

On September 12, 2007, Walmart introduced new advertising with the slogan, "Save money.

On June 30, 2008, Walmart removed the hyphen from its logo and replaced the star with a Spark symbol that resembles a sunburst, flower, or star.

Walmart Canada started to adopt the logo for its stores in early 2009.

On March 20, 2009, Walmart announced that it was paying a combined in bonuses to every full and part-time hourly worker.

In May 2021, Walmart acquired the Israeli startup Zeekit startup for $200 million.

In January 2011, Walmart announced a program to improve the nutritional value of its store brands over five years, gradually reducing the amount of salt and sugar and eliminating trans fat.

Walmart promised to negotiate with suppliers with respect to nutritional issues, reduce prices for whole foods and vegetables, and open stores in low-income areas, so-called "food deserts", where there are no supermarkets.

On November 14, 2012, Walmart launched its first mail subscription service called Goodies.

In June 2014, some Walmart employees went on strike in major U S cities demanding higher wages.

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In July 2014, American actor and comedian Tracy Morgan launched a lawsuit against Walmart seeking punitive damages over a multi-car pile-up which the suit alleges was caused by the driver of one of the firm's tractor-trailers who had not slept for 24 hours.

Walmart settled with the McNair family for $10 million, while admitting no liability.

Morgan and Walmart reached a settlement in 2015 for an undisclosed amount, though Walmart later accused its insurers of "bad faith" in refusing to pay the settlement.

In 2015, Walmart was the biggest US commercial producer of solar power with 142 MW capacity, and had 17 energy storage projects.

On January 15, 2016, Walmart announced it would close 269 stores in 2016, affecting 16, 000 workers.

The 102 locations of Neighborhood Markets that were formerly or originally planned to be Walmart Express, which had been in a pilot program since 2011 and converted in to Neighborhood Markets in 2014, were included in the closures.

Walmart planned to focus on "strengthening Supercenters, optimizing Neighborhood Markets, growing the e-commerce business and expanding pickup services for customers".

The acquisition was structured as a payout of $3 billion in cash, and an additional $300 million in Walmart stock vested over time as part of an incentive bonus plan for Jet.

On October 19, 2016, Walmart announced it would partner with IBM and Tsinghua University to track the pork supply chain in China using blockchain.

On February 15, 2017, Walmart announced the acquisition of Moosejaw, a leading online active outdoor retailer, for approximately $51 million.

On June 16, 2017, Walmart agreed to acquire the men's apparel company Bonobos for $310 million in an effort to expand its fashion holdings.

On September 29, 2017, Walmart acquired Parcel, a technology-based, same-day and last-mile delivery company in Brooklyn.

In 2018, Walmart started crowdsourcing delivery services to customers using drivers' private vehicles, under the brand "Spark".

On December 6, 2017, Walmart announced that it would change its corporate name to Walmart Inc from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc effective February 1, 2018.

On January 11, 2018, Walmart announced that 63 Sam's Club locations in cities including Memphis, Houston, Seattle, and others would be closing.

Walmart said that ten of the stores will become e-commerce distribution centers and employees can reapply to work at those locations.

Doug McMillon, Walmart's CEO, said, "We are early in the stages of assessing the opportunities tax reform creates for us to invest in our customers and associates and to further strengthen our business, all of which should benefit our shareholders.

In March 2018, Walmart announced that it is producing its own brand of meal kits in all of its stores that is priced under Blue Apron designed to serve two people.

In September 2018, Walmart partnered with comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres to launch a new brand of women's apparel and accessories called EV1.

On February 26, 2019, Walmart announced that it had acquired Tel Aviv-based product review start-up Aspectiva for an undisclosed sum.

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In May 2019, Walmart announced the launch of free one-day shipping on more than 220, 000 items with minimum purchase amount of $35.

In September 2019, Walmart made the announcement that it would cease the sale of all e-cigarettes due to "regulatory complexity and uncertainty" over the products.

That same month, Walmart opened its first Health Center, a "medical mall" where customers can purchase primary care services, such as vision tests, dental exams and root canals, lab work, X-rays and EKGs, counseling, and fitness and diet classes.

In July 2020, Walmart announced that all customers would be required to wear masks in all stores nationwide, including Sam's Club.

In December 2020, Walmart launched a new service, Carrier Pickup, that allows the customers to schedule a return for a product bought online, in-store, or from a third-party vendor.

In January 2021, Walmart announced that the company is launching a fintech startup, with venture partner Ribbit Capital, to provide financial products for consumers and employees.

In February 2021, Walmart acquired technology from Thunder Industries, which uses automation to create digital ads, to expand its online marketing capabilities.

In June of 2022, Walmart announced it would be acquiring Memomi, an AR optical tech company.

Walmart announced it was partnering with Paramount to offer Paramount+ contentto it's Walmart+ subscribers in a bid to better compete with Amazon.

Walmart announced in August 2022 that locations were not going back to 24 hours.

Walmart offers various retail formats throughout these divisions, including supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash-and-carry stores, home improvement, specialty electronics, restaurants, apparel stores, drugstores, convenience stores, and digital retail.

Walmart Supercenters, branded simply as "Walmart", are hypermarkets with sizes varying from 69, 000 to 260, 000 square feet, but averaging about 178, 000 square feet (16, 500 square meters).

Recently, in several Supercenters, like the Tallahassee, Florida and the Palm Desert, California locations, Walmart added Burger King to their locations, and the location in Glen Burnie, Maryland, due to its past as a hypermarket called Leedmark, which operated from May 1991 to January 1994, boasts an Auntie Anne's and an Italian restaurant.

In 1990, Walmart opened its first Bud's Discount City location in Bentonville.

Many locations were opened to fulfill leases in shopping centers as Walmart stores left and moved into newly built Supercenters.

Walmart opened Supermercado de Walmart locations to appeal to Hispanic communities in the United States.

In 2009, Walmart opened "Mas Club", a warehouse retail operation patterned after Sam's Club.

Walmart Express was a chain of smaller discount stores with a range of services from groceries to check cashing and gasoline service.

Walmart planned to build 15 to 20 Walmart Express stores, focusing on Arkansas, North Carolina, and Chicago, by the end of its fiscal year in January 2012.

On January 15, 2016, Walmart announced that it would be closing 269 stores globally, including the 102 Neighborhood Markets that were formerly or originally planned to be Express stores.

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In 2008, Walmart started a pilot program in the small grocery store concept called Marketside in the metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, area.

In 2015, Walmart began testing a free grocery pickup service, allowing customers to select products online and choose their pickup time.

In May 2016, Walmart announced a change to ShippingPass, its three-day shipping service, and that it will move from a three-day delivery to two-day delivery to remain competitive with Amazon.

Walmart priced it at 49 dollars per year, compared to Amazon Prime's 99-dollar-per-year price.

Walmart announced on March 14, 2018, that it would expand online delivery to 100 metropolitan regions in the United States, the equivalent of 40 percent of households, by the end of the year of 2018.

In October 2019, Walmart announced that customers in 2, 000 locations in 29 states can use the grocery pickup service for their adult beverage purchases.

Walmart will deliver adult beverages from nearly 200 stores across California and Florida.

The news came shortly after Walmart announced the discontinuation of its personal shopping service, Jetblack.

Walmart has joint ventures in China and several majority-owned subsidiaries.

In February 2012, Walmart announced that the company raised its stake to 51 percent in Chinese online supermarket Yihaodian to tap rising consumer wealth and help the company offer more products.

The partnership involved two joint ventures—Bharti manages the front end, involving opening of retail outlets while Walmart takes care of the back end, such as cold chains and logistics.

Walmart operates stores in India under the name Best Price Modern Wholesale.

In November 2012, Walmart admitted to spending lobbying the Indian National Congress; lobbying is conventionally considered bribery in India.

Walmart is conducting an internal investigation into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Bharti Walmart suspended a number of employees, rumored to include its CFO and legal team, to ensure "a complete and thorough investigation".

Walmart entered Indonesia with the opening of stores in Lippo Supermall and Megamall Pluit (now known as Pluit Village) respectively, under a joint-venture agreement with local conglomerate Lippo Group.

In 1997, Walmart took over the supermarket chain Wertkauf with its 21 stores for DM 750 million and the following year Walmart acquired 74 Interspar stores for DM 1.

In July 2006, Walmart announced its withdrawal from Germany due to sustained losses.

Walmart Argentina was founded in 1995 and operates stores under the banners Walmart Supercenter, Changomas, Mi Changomas, and Punto Mayorista.

On November 6, 2020, it was announced that Walmart has sold its Argentine operations to Grupo de Narvaez.

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In May 2018, Walmart announced plans to sell Asda to rival Sainsbury's for $10.

On October 2, 2020, it was announced that Walmart will sell a majority stake of Asda to a consortium of Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital for £6.

Walmart investigators found credible evidence that Mexican and American laws had been broken.

Walmart has invested on internal investigations, which expanded beyond Mexico to implicate operations in China, Brazil, and India.

About 40 percent of products sold in Walmart are private labels, which are produced for the company through contracts with manufacturers.

Walmart began offering private label brands in 1991, with the launch of Sam's Choice, a line of drinks produced by Cott Beverages for Walmart.

Walmart acquired Parcel, a delivery service in New York, on September 29, 2017.

On February 15, 2017, Walmart acquired Moosejaw, an online active outdoor retailer, for approximately $51 million.

Walmart is headquartered in the Walmart Home Office complex in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Walmart has worked as the head of Sam's Club and Walmart International.

Walmart introduced its Site-To-Store program in 2007, after testing the program since 2004 on a limited basis.

On September 15, 2017, Walmart announced that it would build a new headquarters in Bentonville to replace its current 1971 building and consolidate operations that have spread out to 20 different buildings throughout Bentonville.

Walmart is the world's 29th-largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 list, and the largest public corporation when ranked by revenue.

Walmart is governed by an eleven-member board of directors elected annually by shareholders.

Walmart Inc is a Delaware-domiciled joint-stock company registered with the U S Securities and Exchange Commission, with its registered office located in Wolters Kluwer's Corporation Trust Center in Wilmington.

Walmart's move into the grocery business in the late 1990s set it against major supermarket chains in both the United States and Canada.

In 2004, Walmart responded by testing its own dollar store concept, a subsection of some stores called "Pennies-n-Cents".

Walmart had to face fierce competition in some foreign markets.

Walmart continues to do well in the UK, where its Asda subsidiary is the second-largest retailer.

Walmart struggled to export its brand elsewhere as it rigidly tried to reproduce its model overseas.

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Walmart customers cite low prices as the most important reason for shopping there.

When measured against similar retailers in the U S, frequent Walmart shoppers were rated the most politically conservative.

Walmart only carries clean versions of hip-hop audio CDs and in cooperation with The Timothy Plan, places "plastic sheathes over suggestive women's periodicals and banned 'lad mags' such as Maxim" magazine.

In 2006, Walmart took steps to expand its U S customer base, announcing a modification in its U S stores from a "one-size-fits-all" merchandising strategy to one designed to "reflect each of six demographic groups—African-Americans, the affluent, empty-nesters, Hispanics, suburbanites, and rural residents.

Walmart has made steps to appeal to more liberal customers, for example, by rejecting the American Family Association's recommendations and carrying the DVD Brokeback Mountain, a love story between two gay cowboys in Wyoming.

Walmart stopped selling handguns in all U S states, except for Alaska, in 1993.

In 2018, Walmart stopped selling guns and ammunition to persons younger than 21, following a similar move by Dick's Sporting Goods on the same day.

Walmart announced that it would stop selling handguns in Alaska, the only state where the company still sold handguns.

Walmart stated that it was "respectfully requesting" that customers not openly carry weapons in Walmart stores, except for authorized law enforcement officers.

In 2016, Walmart began a drive to automate much of the cash handling process.

Walmart began replacing employees who count currency by hand with machines that count 8 bills per second and 3, 000 coins a minute.

Walmart explained later in his autobiography, "We feel very strongly that Wal-Mart really is not, and should not be, in the charity business, " stating "any debit has to be passed along to somebody—either shareholders or our customers.

For example, in 2005, Walmart donated in cash and merchandise for Hurricane Katrina relief and in 2020 they committed $25 million to organizations on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Walmart planned to offer vaccines in Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas, Chicago and Puerto Rico with the target of delivering between 10 million and 13 million doses per month at full capacity.

In May 2021, Walmart said that starting from May 18 all its fully vaccinated employees can stop wearing masks at work following the guidance from the U S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Walmart compared the changes to previous competitors small town shops have faced in the past—from the development of the railroads and the Sears Roebuck catalog to shopping malls.

Walmart concludes that small towns are more affected by "discount mass merchandiser stores" than larger towns and that shop owners who adapt to the ever-changing retail market can "co-exist and even thrive in this type of environment.

Walmart is the largest private employer in the United States, employing almost five times as many people as IBM, the second-largest employer.

Walmart employs more African Americans than any other private employer in the United States.

Walmart rebranded their Associate Education Benefits to Live Better U in March 2019.

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In June 2019, Walmart Inc announced the expansion of education benefits to recruit high school students.

In 2007, a gender discrimination lawsuit, Dukes v Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, was filed against Walmart, alleging that female employees were discriminated against in matters regarding pay and promotions.

In 2006, Walmart announced that "diversity efforts include new groups of minority, female and gay employees that meet at Walmart headquarters in Bentonville to advise the company on marketing and internal promotion.

In 2011, Walmart added gender identity to their anti-discrimination policy.

In 2013, Walmart began offering health insurance benefits to domestic partners.

In 2015, Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart, issued a statement opposing House Bill 1228 and asked Governor Asa Hutchinson to veto the bill.

In 2016, Walmart added full healthcare benefits to its transgender employees.

Walmart has been subject to criticism from various groups and individuals, including labor unions, community groups, grassroots organizations, religious organizations, environmental groups, firearm groups, and the company's own customers and employees.

Walmart denies doing anything wrong and maintains that low prices are the result of efficiency.

Unlike battery cages, the systems of Walmart's suppliers allow the hens to move around, but relative to battery cages they have higher hen mortality rates and present distinct environmental and worker health problems.

In March 2018, Walmart was sued by former Director of Business Development Tri Huynh for claims of reporting misleading e-commerce performance results in favor of the company.

In September 2018, Walmart was sued by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that Walmart denied requests from pregnant employees to limit heavy lifting.

In July 2019, the Walmart subreddit was flooded with pro-union memes in a protest to the firing of an employee who posted confidential material to the subreddit.

In June 2022, the Federal Trade Commission sued Walmart, alleging that the company facilitated money transfer fraud.

The FTC claimed that Walmart allowed its money transfer services to be used by scammers who stole hundreds of millions of dollars from customers.