Retail Revolution

The definitive account of how a small Ozarks company upended the world of business and what that change meansWal-Mart the world''s largest company roared out of the rural South to change the way business is done. Deploying computer-age technology Reagan-era politics and Protestant evangelism Sam Walton''s firm became a byword for cheap goods and low-paid workers famed for the ruthless efficiency of its global network of stores and factories. But the revolution has gone further: Sam''s protégés have created a new economic order which puts thousands of manufacturers indeed whole regions in thrall to a retail royalty. Like the Pennsylvania Railroad and General Motors in their heyday Wal-Mart sets the commercial model for a huge swath of the global economy. In this lively probing investigation historian Nelson Lichtenstein deepens and expands our knowledge of the merchandising giant. He shows that Wal-Mart''s rise was closely linked to the cultural and religious values of Bible Belt America as well as to the imperial politics deregulatory economics and laissez-faire globalization of Ronald Reagan and his heirs. He explains how the company''s success has transformed American politics and he anticipates a day of reckoning when challenges to the Wal-Mart way at home and abroad are likely to change the far-flung empire. Insightful original and steeped in the culture of retail life The Retail Revolution draws on first hand reporting from coastal China to rural Arkansas to give a fresh and necessary understanding of the phenomenon that has transformed international commerce.