Wal-Mart: A History of Sam Walton's Retail Phenomenon

Economic and business historian Vance and historian Scott use a decidedly academic approach to describe the creation and rapid expansion of the Wal-Mart retail empire. The authors draw heavily from public corporate documents, periodicals and newspapers, as well as other books to trace the growth of the Wal-Mart chain from the opening of its first store in 1962 to its becoming the largest retail operation in America in 1991. While the text and numerous tables and charts ably document the rise of Wal-Mart, the lack of personal interviews with those responsible for the success of Wal-Mart makes this history-by-the-numbers. To their credit, the authors do look at some of Wal-Mart's shortcomings, including the failed hypermarket expansion. In addition, the authors devote a chapter to the impact Wal-Mart has had on small-town American, concluding that, while Wal-Mart has had some negative consequences for the towns in which it has stores, it has, on balance, improved the economic life of the regions where it does business. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct).