Nice. I live in Southwest MO, where I grew up- I remember when Wal-Mart was known as a regional company. I remember Sam Walton flying in on his own little airplane and landing at the airport across the street from our local Wal-Mart, jumping the fence, and running in to the service desk to say a quick "hello". I don't remember ever seeing his famous pickup truck, but I know people who did. They thought some red-neck had parked their truck in front of the store! (Until they went inside and saw Sam greeting people, then they realized it was his truck).<p>Sam Walton's autobiography remains one of the great classics in business leadership. Too bad Wal-Mart managers don't seem to read it anymore. If I were Wal-Mart. I'd make reading it a requirement to be a manager. I think if they did that, their customer service would improve drastically.
I think this drives an important aspect of growth home: don't over stretch. Their geographic center is probably pretty darn close to the weighted center. They didn't just start and then create stores in every major metropolis overnight.<p>I'd like to see the overlay of global expansion, to see if their US growth was used as a model for other countries as well.
Also check out Target - <a href="http://projects.flowingdata.com/target/" rel="nofollow">http://projects.flowingdata.com/target/</a><p>Walmart grows like a tumor out of Arkansas. Target grows like an ant colony scavenging for pockets of food.
And now with $4.8bn revenue in 2007, Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets are taking over grocery store market: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wal-Mart_Neighborhood_Market" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wal-Mart_Neighborhood_Market</a><p>Nice low prices, snazzier inside than a Super Wal-Mart, but compared to a 'real' grocer, the knowledgeability of the staff is appalling. Good luck if you ever ask where they keep the couscous.