Abstract
Sam Walton, an American business man, began his career in 1940 in the retailing market. For several years, he worked at retail stores and developed a business strategy in order to be very competitive. The discount department store concept was borne. That's why in 1962, he decided to open his own store in Arkansas under the name of Wal-Mart. The company grew very quickly and stores started to be opened in big cities of the US. The strategy, at that time, was the same as now: high sales volumes, low prices, profit margin reduced. In the mid 1970s, the company was quoted on the New York Stock Exchange and had developed its recognition and brand image through American customers. The brand started to diversify its offer by opening supercenters, pharmacies and even auto service centers. As competition was growing every day due to the globalization phenomenon. In the 1990s, the company started to develop several new strategies in order to remain a leader in its market and to export its model to the wild world. As a matter of fact, Wal-Mart opened in South America, Asia, Canada and so on. Today, Wal-Mart is still a retailing public Corporation, managed by Mike Duke, generating in 2009 $404.16 billion dollars. The company has known an amazing success since its beginning but is now facing several problems on the global scale, which involves a strategic reorganization in order to survive. In fact, the brand image has decreased and the international Wal-Mart model has been rejected in many countries where competitors have understood the local needs. In such a position, Wal-Mart has to identify how to maintain its global position in a very difficult and competitive market.
