Non Fiction Book Reviews Special Edition #11

IN SAM WE TRUST:

THE UNTOLD STORY OF SAM WALTON AND HOW WAL-MART IS DEVOURING AMERICA

by Bob Ortega

Samuel Moore Walton was born on March 28, 1918 and three years later his brother James L. Walton, nicknamed Bud, was born. In 1933, when Same started his sophomore year in high school, the Walton family moved to Columbia, Missouri. A popular boy in school, Sam worked part-time in a five-and-dime and delivered newspapers. He went to college at the University of Missouri, expanded his newspaper delivery business by hiring helpers, and, by his sophomore year, bought a car. tree days after graduation he accepted a job offer from J. C. Penny as a management trainee and reported to the Penny store in Des Monies, Iowa. Many of the management ideas he would use at Wal-Mart came from his time at Penny's. After eighteen months Sam quit, married his girlfriend Helen, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Navy. In August 1945 Sam was discharged as a captain, and with money from his father-in-law and got a Ben Franklin franchise in Newport, Arkansas on September 1, 1945. Soon Sam developed the idea of aiming for high volume sales and did that with anything he could get a good deal on. In only two-and-a-half years he paid off the loan from his father-in-law and opened up a tiny department stored called the Eagle Store and got his brother Bud to work for him. In five years his Ben Franklin Store was the top franchise in a six state region and then he lost the store because he didn't read his lease. With the help of his father-in-law Sam opened Walton's 5&10, actually a Ben Franklin franchise, in Bentonville, Arkansas. He converted another store into "self-service" and passed the savings on. In 1954 he opened a Ben Franklin store in Ruskin Heights that made a profit in its first year. But soon Sam was butting heads with the Butler Brothers (owners of Ben Franklin) and struck out on his own with stores called Wal-Mart. By bringing low prices to the masses he surpassed Sears, K-Mart, and crushed the mom-and-pop stores. Because of his wife Helen he encouraged employees to be shareholders, had enough power over employees to keep unions out, and have workers pledge to work harder in the name of Sam. But Wal-Mart's very success has troubled some and Wal-Mart's success does have some troubling aspects. Bob Ortega examines Wal-Mart, the history of retailing in the United States, and the dark side of Wal-Mart's success. Deeply fascinating.

REMEMBERING WOOLWORTH'S:

A NOSTALGIC HISTORY OF THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS FIVE-AND-DIME

by Karen Plunkett-Powell

For 118 years, the local Woolworth's "Red-Front" was known as everybody's store, the place one could find just about everything. For millions of customers, the Woolworth's tradition started early and continued to play a part in each stage of their lives. On Tuesday, April 13, 1856, Frank Winfield Woolworth was born in a modest cottage on the hill in Rodman, New York. Four years later, on August 1, 1856, his brother Charles Sumner was born. The farm that F. W. grew up on was a difficult place to grow up on and he grew up wanting more that the farm could offer. In 1868, sixteen-year-old F. W. began to study business while still working on the farm. At the age of twenty he was certified to do double-entry bookkeeping and went to look for a job. He performed odd jobs and on March 24, 1873 William Moore gave him a job at Augalbury and Moore's Drygoods. Although F. W. was a poor clerk, he shoed his dill at arranging the front display window. In 1875 he left William Moore's store only to return two years later. With a large stock surplus Moore decided to open a new store with F. W. as the manager. Due to the bad location the new store closed and F. W. was back at the original store. F. W. then set up a counter with five cents goods that was a sensation. This gave F. W. the dream that he could established his own five cent store and perhaps an entire chain of such stores. With the help of William Moore, F. W. opened his first store in Utica, New York on February 22, 1879 that he closed in May 1879. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania F. W. opened his first successful store on June 21, 1879 called "Woolworth's Great Five Cent Store" which was the beginning of an empire. When F.W. expanded he hired his brother to run the store which was also successful. Over the next five years the Woolworth's chain grew and F. W. moved to New York in 1896. With all the success F. W. helped William Moore when he was deeply in debt and would continue to. By January 1904, F. W. would own seventy-six stores in ten states and several in the District of Columbia. In January 1905, fifty-two year old F. W. arranged for his Woolworth Syndicate to go public being incorporated as "F. W. Woolworth & Company." On July 10, 1910 it was announced that F. W. was building a skyscraper that took thirty-six months to build. When the Woolworth Building opened on April 24, 1913 it was the tallest skyscraper until 1930. It had 30 high-speed elevators, was fully fireproof, was lighting and hurricane proof, and was one of the most luxurious buildings around. This "Cathedral of Commerce" was the finest building around all built on the profits from nickels and dimes. Sadly it has lost its glory since the demise of the company, but it is still a great place to visit. It wasn't until August 31, 1910 that Woolworth's had the lunch counter that everybody has fond memories of. And from the beginning the lunch counters were a success and widely copied. It was at a Woolworth's lunch counter on February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina that four students stood up for their civil rights. In 1911 Woolworth's stores went overseas and became as well-loved as they were in the United States. F. W. Woolworth died on April 8, 1919, just four days before his sixty-seventh birthday. But the company continued to grow with no end in sight. In 1979 F. W. Woolworth's Company celebrated its one hundredth anniversary, but the end was near. Woolworth's was being overshadowed by new discounts chains and in 1997 closed forever. The Woolworth Building was sold in 1998. All that remains are the memories of generations of shoppers and Remembering Woolworth's is the complete history of a very fine store.

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