Walmart

Walmart was founded on July 2, 1962, when Sam Walton opened the first store, Wal-Mart Discount City, in Rogers, Arkansas. Walton's strategy was simple: sell at high volume with low prices in small, rural towns that bigger retailers had overlooked. The company expanded steadily through the following decades, going public in 1970 and listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. The first Walmart Supercenter — pairing a full grocery store with general merchandise — opened in 1988, a format that became central to the chain's growth. Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. Today, Walmart is the largest private employer in the world, with 2.1 million employees, and operates 4,611 stores across the United States, including supercenters, discount stores, and neighborhood markets. It also owns Sam's Club, the membership warehouse chain.