page_title: Walmart
section_title: Corporate affairs
hierarchical_section_title: Walmart / Corporate affairs
caption_attribution_description: English: The Wal-Mart Home Office sign in Bentonville, Arkansas Español: Letrero de la sede social de Walmart - Bentonville, Arkansas 中文（简体）‎: 沃尔玛总部 中文（繁體）‎: 沃爾瑪總部
context_page_description: Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated on October 31, 1969. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses. As of July 31, 2020, Walmart has 11,496 stores and clubs in 27 countries, operating under 56 different names. The company operates under the name Walmart in the United States and Canada, as Walmart de México y Centroamérica in Mexico and Central America, as Asda in the United Kingdom, as the Seiyu Group in Japan, and as Flipkart Wholesale in India. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Chile, Canada, and South Africa. Since August 2018, Walmart holds only a minority stake in Walmart Brasil, which was renamed Grupo Big in August 2019, with 20 percent of the company's shares, and private equity firm Advent International holding 80 percent ownership of the company.
  Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue, with US$514.405 billion, according to the Fortune Global 500 list in 2019.
context_section_description: Walmart is headquartered in the Walmart Home Office complex in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company's business model is based on selling a wide variety of general merchandise at low prices. Doug McMillon became Walmart's CEO on February 1, 2014. He has also worked as the head of Sam's Club and Walmart International. The company refers to its employees as "associates". All Walmart stores in the U.S. and Canada also have designated "greeters" at the entrance, a practice pioneered by Sam Walton and later imitated by other retailers. Greeters are trained to help shoppers find what they want and answer their questions.
  For many years, associates were identified in the store by their signature blue vest, but this practice was discontinued in June 2007 and replaced with khaki pants and polo shirts. The wardrobe change was part of a larger corporate overhaul to increase sales and rejuvenate the company's stock price. In September 2014, the uniform was again updated to bring back a vest (paid for by the company) for store employees over the same polos and khaki or black pants paid for by the employee. The vest is navy blue for Walmart employees at Supercenters and discount stores, lime green for Walmart Neighborhood Market employees and yellow for self check out associates; door greeters and customer service managers. Both state "Proud Walmart Associate" on the left breast and the "Spark" logo covering the back. Reportedly one of the main reasons the vest was reintroduced was that some customers had trouble identifying employees. In 2016, self-checkout associates, door greeters and customer service managers began wearing a yellow vest to be better seen by customers. By requiring employees to wear uniforms that are made up of standard "street wear", Walmart is not required to purchase the uniforms or reimburse employees which is required in some states, as long as that clothing can be worn elsewhere. Businesses are only legally required to pay for branded shirts and pants or clothes that would be difficult to wear outside of work.
  Unlike many other retailers, Walmart does not charge slotting fees to suppliers for their products to appear in the store. Instead, it focuses on selling more-popular products and provides incentives for store managers to drop unpopular products.
  From 2006 to 2010, the company eliminated its layaway program. In 2011, the company revived its layaway program.
  Walmart introduced its Site-To-Store program in 2007, after testing the program since 2004 on a limited basis. The program allows  walmart.com customers to buy goods online with a free shipping option, and have goods shipped to the nearest store for pickup.
  On September 15, 2017, Walmart announced that it would build a new headquarters in Bentonville to replace its current 1971 building and consolidate operations that have spread out to 20 different buildings throughout Bentonville.
caption: Home office in Bentonville, Arkansas in June 2009
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