This is a testament to the discipline and focus of Sam Walton. He must have fended off hundreds of proposals to leap frog areas of the country to get to more lucrative areas.

In the early years they built up a network of hundreds of stores all within a few hours drive of Bentonville which allowed detailed management attention on every store until their model was optimized.

Building out from the center also allowed for optimized operations and supply chain management which is the key to a low price marketing strategy.

Great point, Andy.