Have any of you guys read "Sam Walton - Made in America"? It's been on my list for years since it came out in 1992, but the cheapskate that I am kept me from buying it till I saw it in a second hand bookstore last week. (Probably paid more for it than I would have in 1992)
I'm only just beginning the book, but here are some interesting quotes:
"In those days we would go on these buying trips with Sam, and we'd stay, as much as we could, in a room or two. I remember one time in Chicago when we stayed eight of us to a room. And the room wasn't very big to begin with. You might say we were on a pretty restricted budget" Gary Reinboth, early store manager
"We exist to provide value to our customers which means that in addition to quality and service, we have to save them money." Sam
"It turned out there was a lot to learn about running a store. And, of course, what really drove Sam was that competition across the street - John Dunham over at the Sterling Store. Sam was always over there checking on John. Always. Looking at his prices, looking at his displays, looking at what was going on. He was always looking for a way to do a better job." Helen Walton
"We did everything. We would wash windows, sweep floors, trim windows. we did all the stockroom work, checked the freight in. Everything it took to run a store. We had to keep expenses to a minimum. That is where it started, years ago. Our money was made by controlling expenses". Bud Walton
"Nowadays you hear a lot about fancy accounting methods like LIFO and FIFO, but back then we were using the ESP method, which really sped things along when it came time to close those books. It's a pretty basic method: If you can't make the books balance you take however much they're off by and enter it under the heading ESP which stands for Error Some Place." Sam
