Make That Sale, Mr. Sam Wal-Mart's

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When a Wal-Mart discount store opens in your town -- which could happen soon if it has not already -- keep an eye out for a gray-haired 69-year-old wearing a flannel shirt and khaki pants. He may suddenly appear behind any Wal-Mart checkout counter to help the clerk approve a personal check. Or you may see the same grandfatherly figure driving his red-and-white 1984 Ford pickup through the parking lot, counting customers' cars as he goes. Or he may show up at the loading dock with a bag of doughnuts for a surprised crew of workers. Or, at a new-store opening, he may round up the employees for a pep rally at which he will serve as head cheerleader. "Give me a W! Give me an A!" he will yell, all the way to the last T. "Wal-Mart, we're No. 1!"

Who is this tireless senior citizen? He insists on being addressed as just Sam -- or Mr. Sam, if you must -- but people who have assessed his net worth call him America's richest man. He is Sam Walton, and the fortune he has amassed as founder and chairman of Wal-Mart Stores is estimated at $4.5 billion and growing. But Walton spends virtually no time counting his money, or even bothering to spend it. He is too busy as one of America's most restless and evangelical corporate leaders. Thanks to his uncanny ability to motivate employees and slash expenses, the chain of discount stores Walton started just 25 years ago has become the fastest-growing and most influential force in the retailing industry. "It's the best-managed company I've ever followed, and I've looked at hundreds," says Margaret Gilliam, a vice president at the First Boston investment firm.

Wal-Mart's growth is phenomenal. The company has been able to expand for the past decade at a dizzying annual pace exceeding 35%, more than triple the rate of the retail industry as a whole. Last year Wal-Mart posted profits of $450.1 million on sales of $11.9 billion, up from only $2.4 billion five years earlier. The company, which ranks as the fourth largest U.S. retailer, is poised to supplant the No. 3 chain, J.C. Penney (1986 sales: $14.7 billion), and is moving up fast on the industry behemoths, K mart ($23.8 billion) and Sears ($44.3 billion). This week Wal-Mart plans to open eight more stores in towns ranging from Canon City, Colo., to Hickory, N.C., bringing its total to 1,031.

Right now Sam Walton's company is at a critical turning point as it expands beyond its regional, Sunbelt base to become a truly national presence. Can a folksy company with headquarters in the Ozark hill town of Bentonville, Ark. (pop. 9,900), cater to customers from California to New York? So far, shoppers say yes. The chain has opened stores in 23 states, having recently crossed into the Frost Belt states of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Indiana.

At the same time, Wal-Mart is expanding in other directions. It has opened 52 outlets of Sam's Wholesale Club, which are warehouse-style stores of 100,000 sq. ft., or about 2 1/2 acres, that serve mainly as one-stop suppliers for small businesses. Next, taking a cue from Europe's successful hypermarkets, Walton plans to open a chain of Wal-Mart Supercenters, which will offer consumers everything from groceries to hardware in one sprawling 220,000-sq.-ft. emporium. The first one, a test model, will debut this fall in a Dallas suburb.