If you don’t like the weather in Oklahoma, wait a few minutes and Wal-Mart will build a store nearby and you can go inside. Well, that’s not exactly how the saying goes, but there’s a kernel of truth in it.
If it seems like we’ve got a lot of Wal-Marts in Oklahoma, it’s because we do. After the company was founded in Arkansas, Oklahoma was one of the first states it built in. Now data analyst Nathan Yau has produced a fascinating look at the explosive growth of the world’s largest retailer.
Like Kudzu, the growth is concentrated in the South.
Other than its native Arkansas, Wal-Mart may be most closely aligned with Oklahoma.
Wal-Mart built its first Sam’s Club in Midwest City. The company employs more than 33,000 Oklahomans as associates. The average wage for Wal-Mart’s regular, full-time hourly associates in the Sooner state is $10.31. The company operates 71 Supercenters; 14 discount stores; 16 neighborhood markets, eight Sam’s Clubs and two distribution centers in Oklahoma.
In it’s most recent fiscal year, Wal-Mart spent more than $655 million on merchandise and services with Oklahoma suppliers. In that same period, the company collected more than $483 million in sales taxes in Oklahoma, and paid more than $23.1 million in state and local taxes in Oklahoma.
I would add that despite the thousands of Oklahoma associates, only about 5 percent of the cash registers seem to be in operation at any Wal-Mart I visit even during the busiest shopping times.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer