Walmart

===1969–1990: Incorporation and growth as a regional power===
[[File:Wal-Mart Logo 1977.svg|thumb|Wal-Mart logo from 1966 to 1981]]

The company was [[Incorporation (business)|incorporated]] under [[Delaware General Corporation Law]] as Wal-Mart, Inc. on October 31, 1969, and changed its name to Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in 1970. The same year, the company opened a home office and first distribution center in [[Bentonville, Arkansas]]. It had 38&nbsp;stores operating with 1,500 employees and sales of $44.2&nbsp;million. It began trading stock as a [[Public company|publicly held company]] on October 1, 1970, and was soon listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]]. The first [[stock split]] occurred in May 1971 for $47 per share. By this time, Wal-Mart was operating in five states: Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma; it entered Tennessee in 1973 and Kentucky and Mississippi in 1974. As the company moved into Texas in 1975, there were 125&nbsp;stores with 7,500 employees and total sales of $340.3&nbsp;million.<ref name="timeline"/>

[[File:Walmart 1980s Logo.svg|thumb|Wal-Mart logo from 1981 to 1992]]

In the 1980s, Wal-Mart briefly experimented with a precursor to the Supercenter, the Hyper-Mart. Four stores combined features of discount stores, supermarkets, pharmacies, video arcades, and other amenities.<ref name="Volpe"/> Wal-Mart continued to grow rapidly, and by the company's 25th anniversary in 1987, there were 1,198 Wal-Mart stores with sales of $15.9&nbsp;billion and 200,000 associates.<ref name="timeline"/> One reason for Wal-Mart's success between 1980 and 2000 is believed to be its contiguous pattern of expansion over time, building new distribution centers in a hub and spoke framework within driving distance of existing Supercenters.<ref name="Volpe"/>

The company's satellite network was also completed in 1987, a $24&nbsp;million investment linking all stores with two-way voice and data transmissions and one-way video communications with the Bentonville office. At the time, the company was the largest private satellite network, allowing the corporate office to track inventory and sales and to instantly communicate with stores.<ref name="satellite">{{cite web|last=Ranade|first=Sudhanshu|url=http://www.blonnet.com/2005/07/17/stories/2005071700141600.htm|title=Satellite Adds Speed to Wal-Mart|work=[[Business Line]]|date=July 17, 2005|access-date=July 24, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927012640/http://www.blonnet.com/2005/07/17/stories/2005071700141600.htm|archive-date=September 27, 2007}}</ref> By 1984, Sam Walton had begun to source between 6% and 40% of his company's products from China.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hornblower |first=Sam |date=November 23, 2004 |title=Wal-Mart & China: A Joint Venture |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/wmchina.html |work=Frontline |access-date=May 31, 2019 |archive-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224200001/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/wmchina.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1988, Walton stepped down as CEO and was replaced by [[David Glass (businessman)|David Glass]].<ref name=" LA Times 88">{{cite news|title=David Glass Named CEO of Wal-Mart Inc.|url=https://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-02/business/fi-40122_1_david-glass|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=February 2, 1988|access-date=February 28, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306204802/http://articles.latimes.com/1988-02-02/business/fi-40122_1_david-glass|archive-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref> Walton remained as chairman of the board. During this year, the first Wal-Mart Supercenter opened in [[Washington, Missouri|Washington, MO]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Our History|url=https://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/our-history|access-date=January 2, 2021|website=Corporate – US|archive-date=February 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204210648/http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/history/the-walmart-museum|url-status=dead}}</ref>

With the contribution of its superstores, the company surpassed [[Toys "R" Us]] in toy sales in 1998.<ref name="Byrnes 04">{{cite news |title = Toys 'R' Us: Beaten at its own game|last1=Byrnes|first1=Nanette|last2=Eidam|first2=Michael|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2004-03-28/toys-r-us-beaten-at-its-own-game|magazine=[[Bloomberg Businessweek]]|date=March 29, 2004|access-date=February 28, 2016|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306074659/http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2004-03-28/toys-r-us-beaten-at-its-own-game|archive-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Wal-Mart Dethrones Toys R Us|url=https://apnews.com/6e6082b522082a0d782052046c75b0b2|work=Associated Press News|access-date=April 10, 2014|date=March 29, 1999|archive-date=October 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003181636/https://apnews.com/6e6082b522082a0d782052046c75b0b2|url-status=live}}</ref>