WALMART Gift Card - $50

Many trace discount retailing´s birth to 1962, the first year of operation for Kmart, Target and Wal-Mart. But by that time, Sam Walton´s tiny chain of variety stores in Arkansas and Kansas was already facing competition from regional discount chains. Sam traveled the country to study this radical, new retailing concept and was convinced it was the wave of the future. He and his wife, Helen, put up 95 percent of the money for the first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas, borrowing heavily on Sam´s vision that the American consumer was shifting to a different type of general store.

Today, Sam´s gamble is a global company with more than 1.8 million associates worldwide and nearly 6,500 stores and wholesale clubs across 14 countries. 

But it all started with an understanding of what consumers want from a retailer.

"The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want," Sam wrote in his autobiography. "And really, if you think about it from the point of view of the customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of good quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience.

"You love it when you visit a store that somehow exceeds your expectations, and you hate it when a store inconveniences you, or gives you a hard time, or pretends you´re invisible."

Wal-Mart had become a textbook example of managing rapid growth without losing sight of a company´s basic values. In Wal-Mart´s case, the basic value was, and is, customer service.

Come visit Walmart for just about everything you need!