Walmart is the largest retailer in America. Last year, it had sales of well over $550 billion. The company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962. His heirs are among the richest people in the United States, almost exclusively due to their shares in Walmart.

Walmart has 10,524 stores in 24 nations, although not every store it owns carries the Walmart name. The company employs over 2.2 million people, about half of whom are in the United States. (This is the largest employer in every state.)

These chains of physical stores are threatened by e-commerce, particularly Amazon. To combat this, Walmart has built a strong online presence of its own.

In America, Walmart operates under two divisions. The first is known as Walmart U.S., which has 4,740 locations. The other is membership warehouse Sam’s Club, which is used by businesses and individuals. Sam’s Club has 599 locations. Although the figure is challenged, some analyses claim that 90% of Americans live within 15 miles of a Walmart.

To reach many of the people close to a Walmart store, the company has added several services to its traditional in-store shopping. Walmart has a service that allows customers to order ahead and have curbside pickup. This became more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic. Walmart also delivers some items, the most notable of which is groceries.

Walmart’s store stronghold is in the southern states, although it has expanded elsewhere. It has a major presence in Florida (385 stores), North Carolina (216), Georgia (215), Tennessee (152), Alabama (144) and Louisiana (138).

The state with the largest number of Walmart stores is also in the south. Texas has 602. It is the second-largest state by population at 29,145,505, according to the Census Bureau. The largest state, California, has a population of 39,538,223, and it has the third-largest number of Walmart stores at 320. (This is how many people work at Walmart in every state and what they are paid.)

For the most part, Walmart has stopped growing in terms of physical stores. However, that has not halted its revenue growth. In the future, its growth will most likely be driven by e-commerce. Why add more stores when it has so many close to America’s population?

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