Walmart 1997 Annual Report Download

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A ‘global brand’: Hom etow n values circle t he globe
Future Stock
Future Stock
Price Plus!
The value of
SAM’S Club
mem bership
Message from
Miss Helen
Supercenters:
tom orrow ’s
success
stores

Table of contents

  • Page 1
    A 'global brand': Hom et ow n values circle t he globe M essage from M iss Helen Future Stock Supercenters: tomorrow 's success stores Price Plus! The value of SAM 'S Club m em bership

  • Page 2
    Keeping the FUN in QUALITY & VALUE! Every DAY available exclusively at

  • Page 3
    ... down town Looking up Wal-Mart's latest year was recordsh atterin g ...an d th e best is yet to com e, David Glass says in th e Presiden t's Message. See page 2. Making miracles Ou r associates' own "Ch ildren 's Miracle" 10 Letters 11 Trivia 12 Magic Wand Life in th e tech n ological fast lan...

  • Page 4
    ... our history and SAM'S Club showed solid improvement in comparable sales, membership, merchandise selection and income. Asset management and cash flow were key themes this year. We generated over $3 billion in free cash flow and increased our return on assets. With the growth in the Company's cash...

  • Page 5
    ...At t hat t ime, w e t hought t he goal w as quit e a st r et ch. Canada and Puerto Rico showing excellent results and Mexico achieving profitability in a difficult economy. Only three years after acquiring the Woolco stores in Canada, Wal-Mart has become Canada's highest volume discount retailer and...

  • Page 6
    ... look at the values these important members bring to our Wal-Mart family. Frederick Humphries bought his Prince tennis racket at Wal-Mart, along with another important outdoor item. "I have found a wonderful barbecue grill," he says. "I like the quality of goods there. " Humphries, the president of...

  • Page 7
    ... one of the 10 Most Influential People in Mass Retail Today by Discount Merchandiser in 1997, says Wal-Mart is a phenomenon that grew from "a desire to do something different, better, and more efficiently with a sense of vision, mission, and camaraderie. " 'Vision, mission a nd ca ma ra derie' 5

  • Page 8
    .... She's always admired Wal-Mart for low prices, top-quality products and, yes, customer service. This, she says, helps American families stretch their dollars for other goods and improves their standard of living. "There's nothing ordinary about this company," she says. Fa mily, friendship first...

  • Page 9
    ... 50 years of (business) experience to the benefit of Wal-Mart associates, customers and shareholders," he says. John Walton likes to have his "old van worked on" in the Wal-Mart automotive department while he shops. Walton enjoys the associates at his local Wal-Mart -they're almost family. "I've...

  • Page 10
    ... remodeling and just about any project in between. That's because Popular Mechanics tools are made to last and backed by a lifetime guarantee. From socket sets, wrenches and screw drivers to hammers, drills, extension cords and more- you name it, Wal-Mart's got the tools you need to get the job done...

  • Page 11
    ... the payoff for years of work by numerous people in the community who have refused to give in to drift and defeatism. With the new Wal-Mart, of course, Rutland added 140 new jobs and learned the Wal-Mart way of doing business. "Their philanthropy is legendary, not to mention their involvement in the...

  • Page 12
    ... service (that did not have to happen), Wal-Mart has earned a faithful shopper in me. Sincerely, Roberta DeLeon Chula Vista, CA Helen Walton, Wal-Mart's First Lady WAL-M ART DELIVERS On 1-9-97 I went to Wal-Mart in Chula Vista to purchase a ping-pong table. Juan Wood, an employee in sporting goods...

  • Page 13
    ... sell for the very first day it was traded? 1 3 . What year did the first Wal-Mart open? 1 4 . What year did Wal-Mart become a publicly owned company? 1 5 . Wal-Mart satellite network began broadcasting in what year? 1 6 . SAM'S Club was started in what year? 1 7 . Helen Walton holds a B.S. in what...

  • Page 14
    ... daily. So how do we do it? We wave a magic wand! That "magic wand" is actually a handheld computer, linked by a radio-frequency network to in-store terminals. It's a high-tech conduit to an internal information system that gives every associate a window on the world of Wal-Mart merchandise...

  • Page 15
    ...Earlier this year, we were recognized by Computerworld and Smithsonian Magazine as one of the top five innovators in information technology within business. The award recognized the Retail Link system, which provides sales data -by item, by store, by day -to our vendor-partners. That helps suppliers...

  • Page 16
    ...her job. After a long career with the Woolco chain in Canada, Seto is now a buyer with Wal-Mart Canada in Toronto. Wal-Mart acquired 122 Canadian Woolco stores in 1994, and immediately embarked on a multimilliondollar plan that saw the stores revamped and remerchandised in less than a year. Wal-Mart...

  • Page 17
    ...equal in this company-we just have different jobs to do. " Part of the credit for the worldwide expansion of Wal-Mart culture should go to the 170-some associates who are affectionately known as "expatriates" -associates who go to work in international locations for two or three years, sharing their...

  • Page 18
    TOM ORROW ' S SUCCESS STORES: SUPERCEN TERS LEAD THE WAY TO THE FUTURE O F RETAILIN G S U P ER C EN T ER S 16

  • Page 19
    ... Supercenter division. Her brother, Mike Brown, manages a SAM'S Club location. She has a mother-in-law who's a department manager and a brother-in-law who's a store manager too. "Truly a Wal-Mart family," as CEO David Glass told the 3,500 Wal-Mart associates at the meeting. "I grew up with Wal-Mart...

  • Page 20
    ... in the Supercenter division, where Wal-Mart "family values" combine with the industry's hottest shopping format to lead our company into the future of retailing. With its blend of a discount store with groceries and such additional services as restaurants, Vision Centers, Lube Express, hair styling...

  • Page 21
    the world changes. Our customers are constantly looking for new ways to meet their needs. That's why, after studying catalog shopping and TV shopping and a plethora of Information Age innovations, Wal-Mart has gone on line, testing one of today's most exciting ways to shop without shops. Internet or...

  • Page 22
    ... United States - an area extending from Lexington, KY, to Bangor, ME. Her work and her ideas help guide Wal-Mart's membership warehouse division as it continues an intensive program of creating more value than ever for SAM'S Club members. SM "While wholesale prices on quality merchandise drive our...

  • Page 23
    .... Among the ways SAM'S Club creates membership value: program offers a 1 percent rebate on everything they buy. •And the list of membership benefits just goes on and on...significant discounts on cruises through the Travel Department; discounts on rental cars, hotels, car and boat purchases...

  • Page 24
    E X CL U S I VE L Y A T

  • Page 25
    ... at any SAM'S Club today! Get behind the wheels of a S AM'S Club cart and suddenly SM Use this S AM'S Club one-day guest membership and see how great these values really are. One-Day Guest Membership Name: Address: City ⁄ State ⁄ ZIP Code: Phone #: you've got the purchasing power of more than...