I’m willing to bet there’s a lot to Walmart that you did not know about. As I was doing some research I too was also a bit surprised at some of the facts about Walmart. I hope you’ll enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing it! (Thanks to People of Walmart for the photo. No that’s not me!)

Walmart was started by a man named Sam Walton who purchased his first general store in Bentonville, Arkansas. He was inspired by the success of his competitors and shortly opened up the first Walmart store on July 2, 1962. In 5 years short years Walton had opened up 24 stores across the state and profited $12.6 million in sales! Now the retailers exceeds $316 billion in sales every year. That’s more sales than Kroger, Target, Costco and Walgreens COMBINED!

Walmart often gets the brunt of the beating when it comes to the work place. It’s often said that the employees aren’t compensated fairly and not enough benefits are being offered. The company now employees over 2.2 million associates worldwide and serves over 200 million customers every week in over 11,000 stores in 27 counties! As the largest employer of the United States it’s no surprise there’s often law suits and strikes!

What many folks don’t know is that Walmart is one of the largest retailers that comes to the aid of our country when we are in need. Did you know that Walmart was along side Lowe’s and Home Depot during Hurricane Katrina? In fact, these major retailer provided $20 million in cash, supplies and meals and responded to the aid faster than the government. It’s known now that Walmart donates over $1 billion dollars on a annual basis. Personally I love to give back to companies who give back!

Walmart is also committed to our environment. The retailer committed to spend $600 million per year to increase the fuel efficiency of their fleet of trucks. They are also reducing energy in their stores and cutting waste, so much so that they have a goal of zero waste! In fact Walmart did a study and it resulted that the big box stores could save $2.4 million in shipping costs which also results in saving 3,800 trees….how cool is that?

Are you a organic family? You may want to consider purchasing your organic milk simply because Walmart is the largest seller of organic milk which means lower prices for YOU!

Here’s a few other facts about Walmart that I thought was interesting:

• Walmart averages $1.8 Million Dollars every HOUR!
• 35 Million people shop Walmart EVERY DAY
• The average Walmart Supercenter sells over 140,000 items
• The Walton Family is to be estimated worth $150 billion…that’s more than Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Michael Bloomberg COMBINED
• 90% of Americans live within 15 minutes of a Walmart

Did these Facts About Walmart blow your mind? I’m all about supporting the retailer because as you can see the good far out weigh the bad.

What’s one fact that you found interesting?