The concept of five-and-dime stores, with low-margin high-turnover products,
grew out of the Depression. Where most stores carried a limited line of goods with significant markups, five-and-dimes sold everything relatively cheaply and relied on economies of scale to keep prices low. Sam Walton, a child of the Depression himself, took that concept to heart when he left his successful manager job at JC Penney to open his own five-and-dime store.

On this this day, July 2, in 1962 the first Wal-Mart Discount City opened at 719 Walnut Ave. in Rogers, Arkansas. No trace of it remains today, but one of Walton’s franchise “Ben Fraklin” variety stores in the nearby city Bentonville, Arkansas (originally called “Walton’s Five and Dime”), now serves as the Wal-Mart Visitor’s Center and an unofficial museum of the corporation.

From humble beginnings Wal-Mart now grew to the largest store in the U.S., in terms of area and volume. Wal-Mart stores sell more food than any grocery store, and more than Safeway and Kroger combined. In a single year, a combined 7+ billion checkouts go through the stores — that’s one for every man, woman, and child on earth, with about a half a billion still left over.