Walmart Case Study

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates retail stores in various formats in the United States and internationally. It has two segments: The Wal-Mart Stores and The SAM'S CLUB. The Wal-Mart Stores segment includes Discount Stores, Supercenters, and Neighborhood Markets in the United States, as well as Walmart.com. It offers apparel for women, girls, men, boys, and infants; domestics, fabrics, and notions; stationery and books; shoes; housewares; hardware; electronics; home furnishings; small appliances; automotive accessories; horticulture and accessories; sporting goods; toys; pet food and accessories; cameras and supplies; health and beauty aids; pharmaceuticals; jewelry; and optical, as well as photo processing services. The Neighborhood Markets include dry grocery, meat, produce, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods, pharmaceuticals, photo processing, health and beauty aids, household chemicals, paper goods, general merchandise, and pet supplies departments. The SAM'S CLUB segment comprises the warehouse membership clubs in the United States and samsclub.com. It offers hardgoods, softgoods, software, electronics, jewelry, sporting goods, toys, tires, stationery and books, institutional-size grocery items, and selected private labels. As of July 31, 2005, Wal-Mart operated 1,276 Wal-Mart stores, 1,838 Supercenter, 92 Neighborhood Markets, and 556 SAM's Clubs in 50 states in the United States. The company operates various retail formats in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. It operates 261 Canadian Wal-Mart stores and SAM's Clubs, 11 units in Argentina, 150 units in Brazil, 88 units in Germany, 16 units in South Korea, 697 units in Mexico, 54 units in Puerto Rico, and 292 units in the United Kingdom, as well as 48 units in China under joint venture agreements. Wal-Mart has partnership with Diageo plc. The company was founded in 1945 and is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.