Walmart $WMT is the world's largest retailer by revenue, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company operates a network of discount department stores, warehouse clubs, and grocery outlets, selling everything from food and apparel to electronics and pharmacy products. Its business model is built on high sales volume at low prices, a strategy rooted in its founding principle of passing cost savings to consumers.
Sam Walton opened the first Walmart store in Rogers, Arkansas, in 1962. The company incorporated as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. in 1969 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1972. It adopted its current legal name, Walmart Inc., in 2018, a change that reflected the growing importance of its e-commerce and international operations alongside its physical stores.
In the U.S., Walmart operates several store formats. Walmart Supercenters — the most common format — combine a full grocery store with a general merchandise department under one roof and typically exceed 150,000 square feet. Walmart Discount Stores carry general merchandise without a full grocery section. Neighborhood Markets are smaller, grocery-focused locations. Sam's Club, a separate membership-based warehouse chain, is also a Walmart subsidiary.
Outside the U.S., Walmart has a major presence in markets including Canada, Mexico, China, and India. Its Mexican subsidiary, Walmex (formally Walmart de México y Centroamérica), is one of the largest retailers in Latin America. In India, Walmart owns a majority stake in Flipkart, one of the country's largest e-commerce platforms — an acquisition completed in 2018 that gave the company a significant foothold in a fast-growing digital retail market.