[sayemm]

Sam Walton's biography is one of the best business books I've ever read: http://amazon.com/Sam-Walton-Made-In-America/dp/0553562835

What's really instructive about his story is that he started his first retail store when he was in his mid-late 20s, sold that and earned his first stripes in his early 30s. And it wouldn't be a decade later until he started Walmart in his early 40s.

Walmart was a culmination of several decades of Walton's life that he dedicated to mastering, and dominating, retail.

[fred_durst]

One of the greatest(meaning influential) deals in the 2nd half of the 20th century, in my opinion, was Walmart's acquisition of Big K

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/23/business/kuhn-s-big-k-stor...

[hollerith]

I do not understand. When you write, "earned his stripes," what exactly do you mean?

[johndavidback]

It's a military reference. Sergeants (I think) have a striped insignia, and it would mean a bump in rank (experience, knowledge, skill).

Edit: Not to say he was in the military, it's a metaphor for how Walton gained experience and 'rank' in retail.

[jonnathanson]

Incidentally, he did serve in the military. :)

[sayemm]

That was his first success as an entrpreneur, selling a Ben Franklin franchise store - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Walton#The_first_stores