The Wal-Mart story began in 1962, when Sam Walton opened the company’s first discount store in Rogers, Ark. Five years later, there were 24 Wal-Mart stores in Arkansas ringing up $12.6 million in sales. 1968 saw the hiring of Wal-Mart Aviation’s first full-pilot, who provided help to Sam and Bud Walton, as well as the opening of the first stores outside of Arkansas, in Sikeston, Mo., and Claremore, Okla. The company officially incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. on October 31, 1969.

Wal-Mart entered the new millennium with the appointment of H. Lee Scott Jr. as the third CEO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2000. That same year, Fortune magazine ranked the company fifth in its “Global Most Admired All-Stars” list and named Wal-Mart the third most admired company in America. The 2000 Cone/Roper Report once again ranked Wal-Mart as the No. 1 Corporate Citizen in America.

Hispanic Business magazine ranked Wal-Mart one of the “Top 25 Diversity Recruitment Programs” in 2001 for its aggressive program to hire and promote Latinos. In 2002, Wal-Mart received the 2002 Ron Brown Award, the highest Presidential Award recognizing outstanding achievement in employee relations and community initiatives.

Wal-Mart marked a significant turning point in 2005 with a new commitment to bring environmental sustainability into its business, under the leadership of CEO Lee Scott. The sustainability commitment developed after Wal-Mart lead the corporate drive to assist in U.S. hurricane relief efforts with $18 million in cash donations. That same year, in McKinney, Texas, and Aurora, Colo., Wal-Mart created experimental stores that save energy, conserve natural resources, and reduce pollution. The company also launched the Acres for America program, which conserves critical wildlife habitats for future generations.

Fortune magazine also placed Wal-Mart in the top spot on its “Most Admired Companies” list two years in a row, in 2003 and 2004. In 2004, Wal-Mart was also presented the “Corporate Patriotism Award,” which is presented to a company that exhibits exceptional dedication to supporting of U.S. service members and their families.As of 2005, Wal-Mart employed more than 1.6 million associates in more 6,200 facilities around the world – including 3,800 U.S. stores and 3,800 international units – with $312.4 billion in sales for the year. The company served more than 138 million weekly customers in the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

By 2006, the number of weekly customers grew to more than 176 million around the world, with 6,779 locations. Wal-Mart had record net sales of $345 billion. The company increased its ownership stake in Seiyu in Japan, to 53.3 percent, and increased its ownership of CARHCO to 51 percent, renaming the company Wal-Mart Central America.

Through the Wal-Mart Foundation, charitable partners, and donations from customers and associates, Wal-Mart contributed more than $415 million in cash and in-kind merchandise to 100,000 organizations worldwide. Wal-Mart also launched a new $4 generic prescription drug program to help customers in its U.S. pharmacies save money on health care.

In February 2007 Wal-Mart helped launch Better Health Care Together, a unique partnership of organizations dedicated to a set of four common sense principles for achieving a new American health care system by 2012. Later in the year, Wal-Mart expanded its successful $4 generic program, which as of 2007 had saved customers more than $396 million on prescription drug costs.

Wal-Mart International reached significant milestones as well. In August, Wal-Mart and Bharti Enterprises announced an agreement to establish Bharti Wal-Mart Private Limited, a joint venture for wholesale cash-and-carry and back-end supply chain management operations in India.

The 3000th international store, a Supercenter in Sao Paulo, Brazil, opened in November 2007. In December, Wal-Mart successfully completed a tender offer to acquire all issued and outstanding shares of Seiyu in Japan, which raised Wal-Mart’s ownership to 95.1 percent.

On April 10, 2008, Sam’s Club celebrated its 25th anniversary. In 2008, Sam’s Club operates more than 590 locations nationwide and more than 100 locations internationally.

A facelift and even lower prices kept the world’s largest retailer afloat in a troubled economy.

Staring down the barrel of brutal fourth-quarter retail forecasts, CEO Lee Scott dramatically cut prices on 15,000 items - including popular toys and electronics - by 20% more than usual to lure holiday shoppers. That rocked the industry, pressuring other retailers to squeeze already tight margins.

The tactic worked: Wal-Mart grossed $100 billion, breaking its fourth-quarter sales record, and soundly beat Target in same-store holiday sales for the first time in nearly a decade.

Over the past four decades, Wal-Mart has been proud to serve the communities where we operate. We’ve received numerous awards for our work, which would not be possible without the support of our customers, associates and communities around the world. Here is just a sampling of our recent recognition:

• Top 50 Companies for People with Disabilities – CAREERS and the disabled magazine
• Spirit of Excellence Award – American Bar Association
• Corporate Diversity Honor Roll – Latin Business Magazine
• Best 15 Companies for Diversity Marketing – Black Enterprise Magazine
• Top Companies for Multicultural Women – Working Mother Magazine
• Top 50 Companies for Latinas – LatinaStyle Magazine
• Top Companies for Female Executives – National Association of Female Executives
• Top Companies for Asian Americans – Asian Enterprise Magazine
• Top 50 Employers of Women Engineers – Woman Engineer Magazine
• Top 50 for Supplier Diversity – HispanicTrends Magazine
• Top Organizations for Multicultural Business – DiversityBusiness.com
• Corporate Partner of the Year – National Association of Women Business Owners
• Best Green Companies – Working Mother Media
• Top 100 Employers for the Class of 2008 –The Black Collegian
• 50 Best Companies for Latinas – Latina Style

Tags: Ark, Arkansas, Claremore, first discount store, H. Lee Scott Jr, Okla, Rogers, Sam Walton, Sikeston, stores, The company, third CEO of Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart Aviation, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

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