Sam Walton: Made In America

by Sam Walton

But whatever it was, they just didn’t stay close enough to their business, they sort of chose to get over on the other side of the road. They expanded quickly without building the organizations and the support—such as distribution centers—needed to expand those companies. They didn’t get out into their stores to see what was going on. Then Kmart got their machine in gear and began to do it better and better. I remember going in their stores—I’ll bet I’ve been in more Kmarts than anybody—and I would really envy their merchandise mix and the way they presented it. So much about their stores was superior to ours back then that sometimes I felt like we couldn’t compete. Of course that didn’t stop us from trying. And Target came along and did a fine job, taking the whole idea a little more upscale. As these big operators became more organized, the competition grew a lot more difficult. That’s when all those guys who were failing to meet their customers’ needs and who didn’t build strong organizations—all those promoters—started to fall apart and, eventually, fall out.