August 8, 2025 • 22 mins
Join Visit Bentonville and the Walmart Museum Director as we share the untold stories that bring Walmart's history to life at the Walmart Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas! Whether you're a first-time visitor or a frequent traveler, this episode is packed with heartwarming memories and tips for visiting this main attraction.
Come on over to see Bentonville's first museum and experience Bentonville's culture like a local! walmartmuseum.com
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome back to A New American Town.
I'm your host, natalie, andtoday I'm joined by Kurt from
the Walmart Museum as one of ourfirst tourist attractions here
in Bentonville.
The Walton 5 and Dime and theWalmart Museum are a city staple
.
This iconic building is whereit all started for Sam Walton,
the founder of Walmart, which isnow the Fortune One company in
the world and headquarteredright here in Bentonville.
(00:33):
Today we're excited to tell youabout what's new inside the
museum, what you can expect whenyou visit and a few behind-the
scenes stories that bring theWalmart legacy to life, from
interactive exhibits to theclassic Spark Cafe.
It's more than just a museum.
It's a time capsule of Americanretail and small town roots.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, kurt.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, thanks for having me, Natalie.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I'm so excited to talk more about the Walmart
Museum.
When I first moved here toBentonville two years ago, it
was still under renovation andso I wasn't able to see it until
earlier this last spring, andit's just blown my world, blown
my socks off.
I love it and I feel like ourcommunity has totally embraced
it all over again and it's sospecial.
So I don't know just, can yougive us a little quick snippet
(01:17):
of what people can expect whenthey come to the Walmart Museum?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, we really excited to finish what was more
than a renovation.
As a lot of people know, we putin a lot of time, effort and
energy and really rebuilding theTerry Block building and the
visitor center so that it'llstand the test of time and be
here for another hundred years,which is really exciting.
(01:45):
We have twice the exhibitionspace.
We still have the Five and Dimethat everyone loves, we have
the Spark Cafe with amazing icecream yarnels from Arkansas that
people love, and then we haveold-time favorites, sam's Office
, sam's Truck, and a lot of newexhibits too and new
storytelling.
So it's been great so far.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, it's so special because the upstairs you get
into the whole new era in the2000s and the newer storytelling
and, oh my gosh, there's justso much we could talk about.
Like, right, when you walkthrough the front door you step
into what was the Five and Dime,and is that what it originally
looked like?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, the Five and Dime gift shop variety store we
have today is designed to evokewhat variety stores were like in
the 1950s.
So you see a lot of you knowdark wood.
You see the red and green tiledfloor.
Sam Walton was famously frugalwhen he was renovating the store
in 1950.
(02:39):
One of the local tile salesmenhad a whole bunch of red and
green tile and was willing tosell it to Sam for dirt cheap.
And so Sam's like great, let'sdo it and we even have some.
He had mismatched colorsbecause he got a real deal on it
.
So you see the red and greentile when you come in.
It's not a design choice, itwas entirely for low cost.
(03:01):
And you see a lot of nostalgicproduct products, vintage
candies the candy's um you knowenamel, coffee mugs, all kinds
of like old-time toys and um,people love that experience and
it really sets the tone for whatthe 50s were like.
And then you walk through theglass doors and start to
experience the walmart museumstory and it starts in the 50s.
(03:24):
Well, we talk a little bit aboutSam Walton's childhood.
He grew up, he was born inOklahoma in 1918.
He was really a child of theGreat Depression and he learned
the value of a dollar reallyearly on in life.
So we just really set the tonewith that story.
We talk about the role thatHelen Walton and Bud Walton and
the Robson family played in thecreation of you know, both Mr
(03:46):
Sam's retail passion and thecompany.
And then kind of at the end ofthat story you see his office
preserved as it was in 1991.
Then the museum sort of takesoff and tells the story you know
chronologically from there.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
The office space is so magnificent.
It's crazy to me.
I mean, you really do step backinto time.
You guys have preserved thespace so well, and I remember
hearing a specific story about awoman that documented every
single item.
Can you tell our listeners moreabout that?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, it's a really cool story because when Sam
Walton passed away yeah, it's areally cool story because when
(04:47):
Sam Walton passed away, we hadan associate who worked at the
Visitor Center.
Her name was Betty Holmes she'sBetty Kazire now and she said
you know, I think visitors wouldwant to see Mr Sam's office.
And somebody said, okay, well,you got to go talk to David
Glass.
David Glass was the CEO at thetime.
He said great, you have a week,call Walmart maintenance.
And so Betty, having worked atthe visitor center, went to
Sam's office, used a camcorderbig VCR camcorder and a bunch of
photos and documentedeverything.
There.
We have 788 items that werepreserved.
She knew where every singlething goes, but if it wasn't for
(05:09):
her idea, frankly we probablywouldn't have a museum today.
She realized the importance ofMr Sam, his office space and
what visitors would want to see.
At Walmart we talk about.
Our best ideas come from ourassociates and I've got to meet
Betty on a couple of occasions.
I'm grateful for her because ifit weren't for her, I probably
(05:29):
wouldn't get to do this amazingdream job.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Wow, I love that.
Oh, my goodness, you guys havelike a little touch screen that
you can walk up to and look atevery single item and what it
meant to Sam and what it meantto Walmart, and it really is so
inspiring to see the thought outdetail and that you guys have
continued to pay homage to whatBetty did and you don't just
(05:54):
ever look that, and that istruly the Walmart legacy.
It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, her fingerprints are all over the
museum.
She was the one that drove MrSam's truck inside the museum in
the early 90s.
Oh my gosh, we've got a reallycool video of that, the desk
detective game that we haveoutside Sam's office.
One of the things that's coolabout the museum is, as digital
technology gets better, we cancontinue to update how we tell
(06:21):
the stories and how interactivethey are with visitors with very
little disruption and rework,and so that's one thing I'm
really excited about is likewe're already starting to think
through what's the next way wetell this story, how do we
continue to make the visitorexperience better?
And you know, we've been openless than six months and we're
(06:42):
already thinking through like,hey, what else can we do to make
the visit awesome forassociates, our community
tourists et cetera.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Why are you not surprised?
Why does that just totally feellike a Walmart thing?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
That's the thing is like you know, most companies
probably would spend this muchtime and energy building a
museum and they'd be like we'renot touching it Right building a
museum and they'd be like we'renot touching right.
And at walmart, like we getsomething, we get it in place,
and then we immediately are likeand these things we want to go
make better um it's a lot of fun, yeah, yeah learn fast, super
exciting.
Make improvements, keep goingyeah.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Is there any sneak peeks you can give us about some
upgrades you guys are lookingto do in the future, or is it
still just?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
nothing, nothing official, but I really do think
that how we tell some of the keystories and how we make the
visitor experience a little bitmore self-service, um, I think
people will see over the nextthree or four months like small
changes yeah that make a bigimpact in how we tell our
stories.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
That's so cool, yeah, so right after Sam's office.
That's when you so the WalmartMuseum.
You really walk through thedecades and you go over time of
when the first super centeropened up all the way to present
day, which is why the secondstory expansion was so exciting
and because there was just somuch more space to talk about
(08:03):
everything that Walmart has donefor the world.
Really, um, my favorite partbecause I'm a communications
girl is all the oldadvertisements oh yeah, in the
stairs yes, oh my gosh.
And like the 70s, like thedisplay case that you guys have
on the corner of, like lookingat what it looked like when old
Coke cans would be displayed andwent versus, you know, as
(08:25):
palettes, versus.
I'm not going to use any of theright terminology, but do you
have a favorite item on thefirst floor?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Ooh, that's a good question.
Well, I'll say more.
I love seeing people comethrough the galleries and talk
about what the merchandise meantto them.
You can almost pick out how oldpeople are by which toys
resonate with them.
You see a grandmother with agrandson and she's explaining
(08:57):
what these products were in the50s or the 60s or the 70s or the
60s or the 70s, or even, likeme, like I hadn't thought about
micromachines in forever until Isaw old, legit micromachines in
the, I think the 80s case orthe 90s case, and so that's
really fun to see how peopleconnect with the merchandise
itself From an artifactstandpoint.
(09:19):
In the 60s we have this floorplan.
Clarence Lease was our storemanager at store number one.
Store number one was kind offamously unorganized with
merchandise kind of spread allout.
And Clarence for store numbertwo when it opened in Harrison,
arkansas, he hand drew, hedrafted out.
He clearly had taken a draftingclass hand drew a floor plan
(09:43):
and you look at it today it's 63years old.
If you were to put grocery onthe right-hand side of that,
you'd have apparel in the middle, you'd have service counters
for beauty and things like thatand you'd have toys and
electronics and automotive.
It looks just like a supercenter.
And so it's so cool to see.
Like you know, the layout ofWalmart over 60 years started
(10:07):
with a person who had animportant role to play at
Walmart also had an importantrole to play in the community.
Multiple generations of kidsand grandkids have worked at
Walmart, and so that's the storythat I love to tell.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Like the start of consumer shopping intelligence
right there.
Wow, yeah, and it's kind oflike you know at Walmart.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We've got a campaign for our marketing team about who
knew, and it's like who knew.
The layout of the Walmart youlove to shop in today can be
traced all the way back to ahand-drawn drawing in 1964-ish.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Is it the original version?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
in the museum it's it's like so that that one's
cool.
Um, in the 70s we have a can ofspray paint.
The the first everydaylow-priced item at walmart was a
can of spray paint, and youknow why yeah, yeah, six times a
year spray paint is sold.
historically, in the 60s wassold, or in the 70s was sold, or
in the 70s excuse me, it wassold two for a dollar.
(11:05):
So, like during the holidays,spray paint was 50 cents a can.
The rest of the year it wasabout $1.40 a can and that's
really hard to manage inventoryand sales and having enough
space to sell that much spraypaint.
And Jack Shoemaker, who's areally important leader for
Walmart through our wholehistory, he said you know what?
(11:26):
We just priced this at 88 centsall year round.
And that's really part ofWalmart's secret sauce, which is
how do we make sure we servecustomers in the best way at the
lowest prices consistently?
I was telling this story and alady who was on the tour was
probably about 70.
(11:46):
She goes oh my gosh.
That's why we always had towait until things were on sale
before we bought stuff.
You know, towels and linenswere always on sale at a certain
time, hardware and applianceswere at a different time.
Electronics, toys, et cetera,et cetera, everyday.
Low price totally allowedpeople to shop whenever they
(12:07):
need something at a low price.
So the spray paint is a superinteresting story where people
just don't realize howrevolutionary it was to go from
high prices and big sales to alow price all year round.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You've just blown my mind Something that we all take
for granted, wow.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
And some retailers still play the high-low game.
Some you know President's Day,sale and everything's 40% off.
I'm like kind of off that, butyou don't think about like how
revolutionary it was to just gooh, I need spray paint, I can
count on that being available atthe lowest price whenever I
need it, not waiting until Imight need it and then I go buy
(12:49):
more than I need.
Yeah, In the nineties we have umSam Walton wrote his book made
in America with John Huey and wehave a manuscript where Sam has
written notes, where he'scrossed out words and made
adjustments and stuff.
And what sticks out to me is hechanges a lot of words to we
and our um.
(13:10):
He always thought about it asyou know, us as a company, all
of the associates, it wasn't him, it wasn't him and bud, or him
and Helen, it was all of us.
And it's really cool to kind ofsee that in the moment and his
writing and in his thoughts.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
That is really cool.
I love that portion.
Right across from it is Sam'sold truck, which people just
love to look at, and you guyshave like three or four trucks.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
And there's not very many people that obsessively
collect 1979 Ford F-150s withred and white paint jobs, but
we're in the business of those.
Sam Walton's original truck isinside.
It's a 79.
It's got about 65,000 miles onit.
Sam was famously not a greatdriver.
It's definitely well used.
(13:57):
Also, there was no plan to savethe truck.
One of his grandkids wasdriving it after he passed away.
It was in a warehouse for awhile.
It was going to go to SouthTexas and then Betty, who we
talked about earlier.
Betty was like hey, we should.
People would love to see histruck too.
And the truck is more about, Ithink, Sam's humility, kind of
(14:21):
his everyman mentality.
There's this famous quote thathe said, which is you know, why
do people expect me to drive aRolls Royce?
What am I going to haul my dogsin?
You know his hunting dogs werealways with him.
It's a work truck.
Um, our truck.
The steering wheel has beenchewed on by many a dog.
(14:42):
Um, that's how you know.
It's the original we have.
Um, our replica outside.
We named betty in honor ofbetty, who's like the reason we
get to tell these amazingstories.
Um, one of betty's co-workers,um, veronica.
So we have another replica overthat sits by the visitor center
on the home office on 8thstreet and then, yeah, you know,
(15:06):
if we come across another one,that's an amazing condition.
Like they're really great toolsto to tell the Sam story and to
take them on the road todifferent Walmart meetings.
And and then we have some redand white Ford Lightnings.
So we have the modern dayelectric, fully sustainable
version that we use forprogramming.
(15:27):
Take people around campus, takethem around the region, that's
pretty fun.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yeah, that is fun.
I love that you can see thetruck through the ice cream shop
.
Peace Bar Cafe.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, in the old museum you could only see one
side of the truck because it wasup against a wall and so we
rotated the truck 90 degrees andnow you can see three sides.
And as you come in the SparkCafe, as you're walking up to
order, you see one whole side ofthe truck that wasn't available
to see before.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, I love that intentionality before.
Yeah, I love thatintentionality.
So I just have to ask why theSpark Cafe?
What was the original point ofhaving it used to be Spark Soda
Fountain correct?
Was that just a common thing atFive and Dimes or discount
shops back in the day?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, and more probably a little bit less so in
variety stores than likepharmacies often had like a soda
fountain or a soda counter.
And so you know, every goodmuseum has three things they
have an amazing museum, theyalso have an amazing gift shop
and they have a really goodrestaurant or food option.
And so the way we've thoughtabout programming is the Five,
and.
Dime is kind of our gift shop.
We also welcome you into thegift shop, first to kind of set
(16:44):
the tone, and then the SparkCafe.
I mean Yarnell's ice cream atsuper low prices.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I know it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I mean it's always busy.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
That's why it's packed.
It's always packed.
People are down the roadwaiting for hours to get like
$1.30 ice cream.
That's good, it's so good, andyou guys have amazing offerings.
You have gluten-free cones, youhave dairy-free ice cream.
You are very um versed in yourofferings.
It's really great.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I'm really proud of um the, the team that
runs the spark cafe.
Like I mean, it has been fullgas since we opened the doors
yeah and they've done a reallyamazing job.
To just like walmart, right.
Keep fine-tuning your processes, keep making things smoother
and more efficient.
We actually edited down themenu a little bit.
(17:33):
We took some things off themenu to make it much easier for
both our visitors and ourassociates behind the counter,
and we're really crankingthrough the people, which is fun
, Even if you, you know,standing in a line outside the
door 15 minutes maybe to thefront of the line and you know.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I guess it looks like you'll stand there for an hour.
No, you guys are really quick.
Yep, that's awesome.
So last thing while we wrap up,do you have any last minute
tips for visitors that come tothe Walmart?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
museum.
Definitely Number one is go tothe second floor.
Um, so many people are used toit only being in one floor they
kind of think the story's overon the first floor.
Um, as you walk up the stairs,you're just surrounded and
enveloped by all these vintagenewspaper circular ads.
By all these vintage newspapercircular ads.
(18:28):
I love watching visitors,especially children, point to
old toys or old video games, oryou can see some of the styles
that were popular that arecoming back.
And then people point to theprices and they're like oh man,
things are even cheaper todaythan they were back in the day,
which is kind of cool.
Yeah, so you walk up and thenthe whole second floor is really
reimagined in this bright andairy experience where we talk
about Walmart you know, we tellthe story of Katrina and
(18:52):
sustainability, we talk aboutour supply chain.
We have a really cool exhibitabout celebrities I'm not going
to spoil who the celebrity is,but super popular and then, up
on the second floor too, we havethe Hologram Theater where you
can hear from Sam Walton in areally impressive digital
rendering about things he saidand knew.
(19:14):
You can talk to him?
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, you can ask him questions.
Yeah, so cool.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
And then we also celebrate the Presidential Medal
of Freedom.
Sam Walton was awarded thatMedal of Freedom nearly three
weeks before he passed away andat the end of that he said a
couple things that resonate withme.
One he said I thought we werequietly, humbly living our lives
(19:39):
down here in Arkansas.
He always viewed himself askind of a humble, sort of you
know, almost introspectiveperson.
I don't think he nearlyrecognized like the magnitude
and impact that he really had.
The other thing he talks aboutis our secret is, at the time,
(20:00):
all 3 380,000 associates workingtogether.
Um, I think that's still truetoday.
Like Walmart is not any oneperson.
It's our culture, it's ourpurpose, um, it's our like.
I hope we can help lower thecost of living and help people
save money so they can live abetter life all over the world.
We'd barely gone into Mexicoand Canada, but he really
(20:32):
understood the ethos of thiswhole company is our purpose,
which is to save money and livebetter, and so we really
celebrate that.
Up on the second floor and atthe end there's a really fun
exhibit for kids where they candesign a Walmart Spark sticker.
We've printed probably 100,000stickers already Super popular.
You can see them all over now.
(20:53):
So the second floor is reallyreally great.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yeah, I agree, it's so special.
I hope every visitor gets tosee it.
You guys have awesome hours too.
You're open super early.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, we're pretty friendly we open 10 am to 9 pm.
That's awesome 10 to 10 onFriday and Saturday and noon to
6 on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Wow, so there's no reason people should miss this
thing.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Come on down?
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, cool, cool.
Well, is there any way peoplecan get connected with you guys?
Should they get tickets online?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
No need for tickets, it's always free.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yes, it is, we love that.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Come on in anytime.
The doors are open.
Walmartmuseumcom.
You can also learn a little bitmore about us there and, yeah,
anytime you're there.
One of the things I'm mostproud of we get a lot of comment
cards, and probably four out ofevery five talk about how
awesome our museum guides are.
I take great joy in seeing ourstaff interact with all the
(21:49):
visitors, associates, peoplefrom out of state, out of
country.
Our guides are amazing and anyquestions you have, any stories
you want to tell or have told toyou, engage with them and
they'll make your visit evenbetter.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
I agree, yay, well, thank you so much for joining us
on the podcast today.
Kirk yeah of course it was sogreat as always.
If you guys are coming to visitBentonville, don't forget to
check out visitbentonvillecomfor more visitor information and
follow us online atvisitbentonville.
See you in.
Welcome back to A New American Town.
I'm your host, natalie, andtoday I'm joined by Kurt from
the Walmart Museum as one of ourfirst tourist attractions here
in Bentonville.
The Walton 5 and Dime and theWalmart Museum are a city staple
.
This iconic building is whereit all started for Sam Walton,
the founder of Walmart, which isnow the Fortune One company in
the world and headquarteredright here in Bentonville.
(00:33):
Today we're excited to tell youabout what's new inside the
museum, what you can expect whenyou visit and a few behind-the
scenes stories that bring theWalmart legacy to life, from
interactive exhibits to theclassic Spark Cafe.
It's more than just a museum.
It's a time capsule of Americanretail and small town roots.
Thank you so much for joiningme today, kurt.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
Yeah, thanks for having me, Natalie.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
I'm so excited to talk more about the Walmart
Museum.
When I first moved here toBentonville two years ago, it
was still under renovation andso I wasn't able to see it until
earlier this last spring, andit's just blown my world, blown
my socks off.
I love it and I feel like ourcommunity has totally embraced
it all over again and it's sospecial.
So I don't know just, can yougive us a little quick snippet
(01:17):
of what people can expect whenthey come to the Walmart Museum?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah, we really excited to finish what was more
than a renovation.
As a lot of people know, we putin a lot of time, effort and
energy and really rebuilding theTerry Block building and the
visitor center so that it'llstand the test of time and be
here for another hundred years,which is really exciting.
(01:45):
We have twice the exhibitionspace.
We still have the Five and Dimethat everyone loves, we have
the Spark Cafe with amazing icecream yarnels from Arkansas that
people love, and then we haveold-time favorites, sam's Office
, sam's Truck, and a lot of newexhibits too and new
storytelling.
So it's been great so far.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Yeah, it's so special because the upstairs you get
into the whole new era in the2000s and the newer storytelling
and, oh my gosh, there's justso much we could talk about.
Like, right, when you walkthrough the front door you step
into what was the Five and Dime,and is that what it originally
looked like?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, the Five and Dime gift shop variety store we
have today is designed to evokewhat variety stores were like in
the 1950s.
So you see a lot of you knowdark wood.
You see the red and green tiledfloor.
Sam Walton was famously frugalwhen he was renovating the store
in 1950.
(02:39):
One of the local tile salesmenhad a whole bunch of red and
green tile and was willing tosell it to Sam for dirt cheap.
And so Sam's like great, let'sdo it and we even have some.
He had mismatched colorsbecause he got a real deal on it
.
So you see the red and greentile when you come in.
It's not a design choice, itwas entirely for low cost.
(03:01):
And you see a lot of nostalgicproduct products, vintage
candies the candy's um you knowenamel, coffee mugs, all kinds
of like old-time toys and um,people love that experience and
it really sets the tone for whatthe 50s were like.
And then you walk through theglass doors and start to
experience the walmart museumstory and it starts in the 50s.
(03:24):
Well, we talk a little bit aboutSam Walton's childhood.
He grew up, he was born inOklahoma in 1918.
He was really a child of theGreat Depression and he learned
the value of a dollar reallyearly on in life.
So we just really set the tonewith that story.
We talk about the role thatHelen Walton and Bud Walton and
the Robson family played in thecreation of you know, both Mr
(03:46):
Sam's retail passion and thecompany.
And then kind of at the end ofthat story you see his office
preserved as it was in 1991.
Then the museum sort of takesoff and tells the story you know
chronologically from there.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
The office space is so magnificent.
It's crazy to me.
I mean, you really do step backinto time.
You guys have preserved thespace so well, and I remember
hearing a specific story about awoman that documented every
single item.
Can you tell our listeners moreabout that?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, it's a really cool story because when Sam
Walton passed away yeah, it's areally cool story because when
(04:47):
Sam Walton passed away, we hadan associate who worked at the
Visitor Center.
Her name was Betty Holmes she'sBetty Kazire now and she said
you know, I think visitors wouldwant to see Mr Sam's office.
And somebody said, okay, well,you got to go talk to David
Glass.
David Glass was the CEO at thetime.
He said great, you have a week,call Walmart maintenance.
And so Betty, having worked atthe visitor center, went to
Sam's office, used a camcorderbig VCR camcorder and a bunch of
photos and documentedeverything.
There.
We have 788 items that werepreserved.
She knew where every singlething goes, but if it wasn't for
(05:09):
her idea, frankly we probablywouldn't have a museum today.
She realized the importance ofMr Sam, his office space and
what visitors would want to see.
At Walmart we talk about.
Our best ideas come from ourassociates and I've got to meet
Betty on a couple of occasions.
I'm grateful for her because ifit weren't for her, I probably
(05:29):
wouldn't get to do this amazingdream job.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Wow, I love that.
Oh, my goodness, you guys havelike a little touch screen that
you can walk up to and look atevery single item and what it
meant to Sam and what it meantto Walmart, and it really is so
inspiring to see the thought outdetail and that you guys have
continued to pay homage to whatBetty did and you don't just
(05:54):
ever look that, and that istruly the Walmart legacy.
It's so cool.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, her fingerprints are all over the
museum.
She was the one that drove MrSam's truck inside the museum in
the early 90s.
Oh my gosh, we've got a reallycool video of that, the desk
detective game that we haveoutside Sam's office.
One of the things that's coolabout the museum is, as digital
technology gets better, we cancontinue to update how we tell
(06:21):
the stories and how interactivethey are with visitors with very
little disruption and rework,and so that's one thing I'm
really excited about is likewe're already starting to think
through what's the next way wetell this story, how do we
continue to make the visitorexperience better?
And you know, we've been openless than six months and we're
(06:42):
already thinking through like,hey, what else can we do to make
the visit awesome forassociates, our community
tourists et cetera.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Why are you not surprised?
Why does that just totally feellike a Walmart thing?
Speaker 2 (06:54):
That's the thing is like you know, most companies
probably would spend this muchtime and energy building a
museum and they'd be like we'renot touching it Right building a
museum and they'd be like we'renot touching right.
And at walmart, like we getsomething, we get it in place,
and then we immediately are likeand these things we want to go
make better um it's a lot of fun, yeah, yeah learn fast, super
exciting.
Make improvements, keep goingyeah.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Is there any sneak peeks you can give us about some
upgrades you guys are lookingto do in the future, or is it
still just?
Speaker 2 (07:23):
nothing, nothing official, but I really do think
that how we tell some of the keystories and how we make the
visitor experience a little bitmore self-service, um, I think
people will see over the nextthree or four months like small
changes yeah that make a bigimpact in how we tell our
stories.
Speaker 1 (07:42):
That's so cool, yeah, so right after Sam's office.
That's when you so the WalmartMuseum.
You really walk through thedecades and you go over time of
when the first super centeropened up all the way to present
day, which is why the secondstory expansion was so exciting
and because there was just somuch more space to talk about
(08:03):
everything that Walmart has donefor the world.
Really, um, my favorite partbecause I'm a communications
girl is all the oldadvertisements oh yeah, in the
stairs yes, oh my gosh.
And like the 70s, like thedisplay case that you guys have
on the corner of, like lookingat what it looked like when old
Coke cans would be displayed andwent versus, you know, as
(08:25):
palettes, versus.
I'm not going to use any of theright terminology, but do you
have a favorite item on thefirst floor?
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Ooh, that's a good question.
Well, I'll say more.
I love seeing people comethrough the galleries and talk
about what the merchandise meantto them.
You can almost pick out how oldpeople are by which toys
resonate with them.
You see a grandmother with agrandson and she's explaining
(08:57):
what these products were in the50s or the 60s or the 70s or the
60s or the 70s, or even, likeme, like I hadn't thought about
micromachines in forever until Isaw old, legit micromachines in
the, I think the 80s case orthe 90s case, and so that's
really fun to see how peopleconnect with the merchandise
itself From an artifactstandpoint.
(09:19):
In the 60s we have this floorplan.
Clarence Lease was our storemanager at store number one.
Store number one was kind offamously unorganized with
merchandise kind of spread allout.
And Clarence for store numbertwo when it opened in Harrison,
arkansas, he hand drew, hedrafted out.
He clearly had taken a draftingclass hand drew a floor plan
(09:43):
and you look at it today it's 63years old.
If you were to put grocery onthe right-hand side of that,
you'd have apparel in the middle, you'd have service counters
for beauty and things like thatand you'd have toys and
electronics and automotive.
It looks just like a supercenter.
And so it's so cool to see.
Like you know, the layout ofWalmart over 60 years started
(10:07):
with a person who had animportant role to play at
Walmart also had an importantrole to play in the community.
Multiple generations of kidsand grandkids have worked at
Walmart, and so that's the storythat I love to tell.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
Like the start of consumer shopping intelligence
right there.
Wow, yeah, and it's kind oflike you know at Walmart.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
We've got a campaign for our marketing team about who
knew, and it's like who knew.
The layout of the Walmart youlove to shop in today can be
traced all the way back to ahand-drawn drawing in 1964-ish.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Is it the original version?
Speaker 2 (10:44):
in the museum it's it's like so that that one's
cool.
Um, in the 70s we have a can ofspray paint.
The the first everydaylow-priced item at walmart was a
can of spray paint, and youknow why yeah, yeah, six times a
year spray paint is sold.
historically, in the 60s wassold, or in the 70s was sold, or
in the 70s excuse me, it wassold two for a dollar.
(11:05):
So, like during the holidays,spray paint was 50 cents a can.
The rest of the year it wasabout $1.40 a can and that's
really hard to manage inventoryand sales and having enough
space to sell that much spraypaint.
And Jack Shoemaker, who's areally important leader for
Walmart through our wholehistory, he said you know what?
(11:26):
We just priced this at 88 centsall year round.
And that's really part ofWalmart's secret sauce, which is
how do we make sure we servecustomers in the best way at the
lowest prices consistently?
I was telling this story and alady who was on the tour was
probably about 70.
(11:46):
She goes oh my gosh.
That's why we always had towait until things were on sale
before we bought stuff.
You know, towels and linenswere always on sale at a certain
time, hardware and applianceswere at a different time.
Electronics, toys, et cetera,et cetera, everyday.
Low price totally allowedpeople to shop whenever they
(12:07):
need something at a low price.
So the spray paint is a superinteresting story where people
just don't realize howrevolutionary it was to go from
high prices and big sales to alow price all year round.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You've just blown my mind Something that we all take
for granted, wow.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
And some retailers still play the high-low game.
Some you know President's Day,sale and everything's 40% off.
I'm like kind of off that, butyou don't think about like how
revolutionary it was to just gooh, I need spray paint, I can
count on that being available atthe lowest price whenever I
need it, not waiting until Imight need it and then I go buy
(12:49):
more than I need.
Yeah, In the nineties we have umSam Walton wrote his book made
in America with John Huey and wehave a manuscript where Sam has
written notes, where he'scrossed out words and made
adjustments and stuff.
And what sticks out to me is hechanges a lot of words to we
and our um.
(13:10):
He always thought about it asyou know, us as a company, all
of the associates, it wasn't him, it wasn't him and bud, or him
and Helen, it was all of us.
And it's really cool to kind ofsee that in the moment and his
writing and in his thoughts.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
That is really cool.
I love that portion.
Right across from it is Sam'sold truck, which people just
love to look at, and you guyshave like three or four trucks.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
And there's not very many people that obsessively
collect 1979 Ford F-150s withred and white paint jobs, but
we're in the business of those.
Sam Walton's original truck isinside.
It's a 79.
It's got about 65,000 miles onit.
Sam was famously not a greatdriver.
It's definitely well used.
(13:57):
Also, there was no plan to savethe truck.
One of his grandkids wasdriving it after he passed away.
It was in a warehouse for awhile.
It was going to go to SouthTexas and then Betty, who we
talked about earlier.
Betty was like hey, we should.
People would love to see histruck too.
And the truck is more about, Ithink, Sam's humility, kind of
(14:21):
his everyman mentality.
There's this famous quote thathe said, which is you know, why
do people expect me to drive aRolls Royce?
What am I going to haul my dogsin?
You know his hunting dogs werealways with him.
It's a work truck.
Um, our truck.
The steering wheel has beenchewed on by many a dog.
(14:42):
Um, that's how you know.
It's the original we have.
Um, our replica outside.
We named betty in honor ofbetty, who's like the reason we
get to tell these amazingstories.
Um, one of betty's co-workers,um, veronica.
So we have another replica overthat sits by the visitor center
on the home office on 8thstreet and then, yeah, you know,
(15:06):
if we come across another one,that's an amazing condition.
Like they're really great toolsto to tell the Sam story and to
take them on the road todifferent Walmart meetings.
And and then we have some redand white Ford Lightnings.
So we have the modern dayelectric, fully sustainable
version that we use forprogramming.
(15:27):
Take people around campus, takethem around the region, that's
pretty fun.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
Yeah, that is fun.
I love that you can see thetruck through the ice cream shop
.
Peace Bar Cafe.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yeah, in the old museum you could only see one
side of the truck because it wasup against a wall and so we
rotated the truck 90 degrees andnow you can see three sides.
And as you come in the SparkCafe, as you're walking up to
order, you see one whole side ofthe truck that wasn't available
to see before.
Speaker 1 (15:55):
Yeah, I love that intentionality before.
Yeah, I love thatintentionality.
So I just have to ask why theSpark Cafe?
What was the original point ofhaving it used to be Spark Soda
Fountain correct?
Was that just a common thing atFive and Dimes or discount
shops back in the day?
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah, and more probably a little bit less so in
variety stores than likepharmacies often had like a soda
fountain or a soda counter.
And so you know, every goodmuseum has three things they
have an amazing museum, theyalso have an amazing gift shop
and they have a really goodrestaurant or food option.
And so the way we've thoughtabout programming is the Five,
and.
Dime is kind of our gift shop.
We also welcome you into thegift shop, first to kind of set
(16:44):
the tone, and then the SparkCafe.
I mean Yarnell's ice cream atsuper low prices.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
I know it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I mean it's always busy.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
That's why it's packed.
It's always packed.
People are down the roadwaiting for hours to get like
$1.30 ice cream.
That's good, it's so good, andyou guys have amazing offerings.
You have gluten-free cones, youhave dairy-free ice cream.
You are very um versed in yourofferings.
It's really great.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
Yeah, I'm really proud of um the, the team that
runs the spark cafe.
Like I mean, it has been fullgas since we opened the doors
yeah and they've done a reallyamazing job.
To just like walmart, right.
Keep fine-tuning your processes, keep making things smoother
and more efficient.
We actually edited down themenu a little bit.
(17:33):
We took some things off themenu to make it much easier for
both our visitors and ourassociates behind the counter,
and we're really crankingthrough the people, which is fun
, Even if you, you know,standing in a line outside the
door 15 minutes maybe to thefront of the line and you know.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
I guess it looks like you'll stand there for an hour.
No, you guys are really quick.
Yep, that's awesome.
So last thing while we wrap up,do you have any last minute
tips for visitors that come tothe Walmart?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
museum.
Definitely Number one is go tothe second floor.
Um, so many people are used toit only being in one floor they
kind of think the story's overon the first floor.
Um, as you walk up the stairs,you're just surrounded and
enveloped by all these vintagenewspaper circular ads.
By all these vintage newspapercircular ads.
(18:28):
I love watching visitors,especially children, point to
old toys or old video games, oryou can see some of the styles
that were popular that arecoming back.
And then people point to theprices and they're like oh man,
things are even cheaper todaythan they were back in the day,
which is kind of cool.
Yeah, so you walk up and thenthe whole second floor is really
reimagined in this bright andairy experience where we talk
about Walmart you know, we tellthe story of Katrina and
(18:52):
sustainability, we talk aboutour supply chain.
We have a really cool exhibitabout celebrities I'm not going
to spoil who the celebrity is,but super popular and then, up
on the second floor too, we havethe Hologram Theater where you
can hear from Sam Walton in areally impressive digital
rendering about things he saidand knew.
(19:14):
You can talk to him?
Speaker 1 (19:16):
Yeah, you can ask him questions.
Yeah, so cool.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
And then we also celebrate the Presidential Medal
of Freedom.
Sam Walton was awarded thatMedal of Freedom nearly three
weeks before he passed away andat the end of that he said a
couple things that resonate withme.
One he said I thought we werequietly, humbly living our lives
(19:39):
down here in Arkansas.
He always viewed himself askind of a humble, sort of you
know, almost introspectiveperson.
I don't think he nearlyrecognized like the magnitude
and impact that he really had.
The other thing he talks aboutis our secret is, at the time,
(20:00):
all 3 380,000 associates workingtogether.
Um, I think that's still truetoday.
Like Walmart is not any oneperson.
It's our culture, it's ourpurpose, um, it's our like.
I hope we can help lower thecost of living and help people
save money so they can live abetter life all over the world.
We'd barely gone into Mexicoand Canada, but he really
(20:32):
understood the ethos of thiswhole company is our purpose,
which is to save money and livebetter, and so we really
celebrate that.
Up on the second floor and atthe end there's a really fun
exhibit for kids where they candesign a Walmart Spark sticker.
We've printed probably 100,000stickers already Super popular.
You can see them all over now.
(20:53):
So the second floor is reallyreally great.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Yeah, I agree, it's so special.
I hope every visitor gets tosee it.
You guys have awesome hours too.
You're open super early.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Yeah, we're pretty friendly we open 10 am to 9 pm.
That's awesome 10 to 10 onFriday and Saturday and noon to
6 on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Wow, so there's no reason people should miss this
thing.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Come on down?
Speaker 1 (21:14):
Yeah, cool, cool.
Well, is there any way peoplecan get connected with you guys?
Should they get tickets online?
Speaker 2 (21:21):
No need for tickets, it's always free.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yes, it is, we love that.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Come on in anytime.
The doors are open.
Walmartmuseumcom.
You can also learn a little bitmore about us there and, yeah,
anytime you're there.
One of the things I'm mostproud of we get a lot of comment
cards, and probably four out ofevery five talk about how
awesome our museum guides are.
I take great joy in seeing ourstaff interact with all the
(21:49):
visitors, associates, peoplefrom out of state, out of
country.
Our guides are amazing and anyquestions you have, any stories
you want to tell or have told toyou, engage with them and
they'll make your visit evenbetter.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
I agree, yay, well, thank you so much for joining us
on the podcast today.
Kirk yeah of course it was sogreat as always.
If you guys are coming to visitBentonville, don't forget to
check out visitbentonvillecomfor more visitor information and
follow us online atvisitbentonville.
See you in.
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