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Sam Walton  By  cover art

Sam Walton

By: John Huey,Sam Walton
Narrated by: Henry Strozier
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Publisher's summary

Meet a genuine American folk hero cut from the homespun cloth of America's heartland: Sam Walton, who parlayed a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world. The undisputed merchant king of the late 20th century, Sam never lost the common touch.

Here, finally, inimitable words. Genuinely modest, but always sure of his ambitions and achievements. Sam shares his thinking in a candid, straight-from-the-shoulder style. In a story rich with anecdotes and the "rules of the road" of both Main Street and Wall Street, Sam Walton chronicles the inspiration, heart, and optimism that propelled him to lasso the American Dream.

©1992 The Estate of Samuel Moore Walton (P)2017 Recorded Books

What listeners say about Sam Walton

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Capitalism Is The Way

Sam Walton was a man who loved his country, company, employees, customers, and family. He showed his love mostly in his actions. A giant of giants, yet humble from beginning to end. He ran purely on love of what he did. Wonderful book, with good insight into his life.

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7 people found this helpful

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A great story of a great man and a great company

The performance was outstanding. The narrator demonstrated the energy and enthusiasm of the author himself. It felt like the author was reading the book. The best performance by a narrator other than the author that I've listened to in my 15 years as an audible platinum subscriber. And the story was incredible.

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5 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Meh - Very Rockwellian Superhero, Lacks Honest Introspection

I’m a business owner and entrepreneur, and I crave honest stories from entrepreneurs that lay bare the good, the bad, and the ugly of their journeys.

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight (Nike) does a good job of this.

I was hopeful that Sam Walton would be more candid about the early struggles, failures, successes, whatever. People want the facts: even if those facts make you look bad.

“How did you do it? How did you actually get started? What was life really like?” That’s what everyone wants to know.

This story is super whitewashed. For example, Sam opened his first store with $5,000 (worth $85k today) he saved from his time in the army, and another $20k (worth $350k today) from his father in law. That’s a ridiculous amount of cash for most people, but I’m not going to judge his “luck”, I want to know the mechanics. Was your father in law so rich that $350k didn’t matter? Did he cash out every last dime? Did he freely hand it over, or did he lecture and warn you?

Sam glosses over this (and almost every single thing) as if it was no big deal. “Yeah, we borrowed this money, and the store did well enough that we paid it back in two years.” Umm, okay, most people aren’t producing enough extra profit to pay back $350k in two years. So tell us the dynamics and mechanics!

Most of this story is a series of praising letters, accomplishments, and a general theme of “I was working 24/7.” Okay, everyone understands that success takes grit, determination, and sacrifice. But what is most interesting with these types of stories is the human element: I was working so much that I neglected my wife and children; I was so ruthless in business I did XYZ to win…

But this reads like a self-aggrandizing Rockwellian superhero story, rather than an honest, factual business success memoir.

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Enjoyable memoir from an American success story

I am not involved in sales or merchandising, but I have gone to many Walmarts, and I was curious about how that retail empire grew. I had my questions answered and more. In the first third, Walton tells his personal and professional story. That was probably my favorite part. Later, it focused much more on the growth of Walmarts. Still, Sam Walton's personality shone through. He was a man of old fashioned American values. This kept my interest throughout the book. For those involved in retailing, this should be the business bible in America. Seemed like invaluable information. The reader is amazing, but there was one small problem. This is mostly a first person narrative, with many pages being in the words of people who knew Sam Walton. The reader would pause, then say the name of the new speaker. If you are not paying attention, the change in speaker can be confusing. Also, there is just a pause before it becomes Sam's voice again. The reader spoke in the exact same voice - perfect for Sam Walton but not for others. Eventually I got used to it. Overall, this was an entertaining memoir about the rise of a giant store, and the man behind that business miracle. This satisfied my "how the world works" curiosity.

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4 people found this helpful

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10 hr Walmart commercial

10 hr Walmart commercial with some interesting points here and there. A whitewash of Walmart’s business practices.

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3 people found this helpful

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An inspirational biography of a once in a lifetime

This is one of the best books I've read. Takes you on a journey through the iconic Sam Walton and how he overcame great odds to succeed on his terms. Highly recommend!

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Worth Reading

Sam Walton’s words give excellent insights on what he thought was important in the success of his company. He gives good examples of the values and traits that are required to take a business to the level that his achieved.

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3 people found this helpful

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Remarkable man.

This book inspired me. You just fall in love with the man. And later he brings a tear to your eye.

He is a true leader and I wish i had the chance to meet him. God bless that man.

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3 people found this helpful

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You can learn something from this man even if you don’t like Walmart

What a great lesson in both business and life. Put the customer first and care about people.

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2 people found this helpful

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Too Many Perspectives

This book is confusing to follow becaise its constantly jumping perspectives and the reader does nothing to help there.

Moreover, the book itself seems confused on what story its trying to tell as its neither a good business book or book about the family. seems to discuss things so incredibly superficial that its useless information.

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1 person found this helpful