Chapter 8: Rolling Out the Formula Summary and Analysis

Now that Sam is out of debt, he feels he can really concentrate on executing his strategy for running large discount stores. His stores have been growing at a good rate, and he feels their success is partly due to placing stores in smaller towns rather than deal with the real estate issues, legal quandaries, and zoning problems that plague stores in bigger cities. Instead, Sam establishes a warehouse and then pulls out a map, filling in every area in that market region. They avoid the big city, but they establish a Wal-Mart on the boundaries of the city and watch as the communities grow to meet the store.

Placing stores in these small areas saves legal and distribution frustrations for Wal-Mart, but it also saves them a great deal in advertising. Since...