(Neg. #N009034)

FIRST WAL-MART STORE, 1962

The very first Wal-Mart Discount City store opened in Rogers at the corner of Walnut and Eighth Streets on July 2, 1962. Before the doors opened, more than 500 people were waiting in line to check out the new store with 16,000 square feet of floor space (about one-tenth the size of current Sam's warehouses).

As Sam Walton's new retailing concept grew and prospered, Rogers' Wal-Mart moved to larger quarters in the Walnut Plaza Shopping Center in November 1973, and then to its current Supercenter location at 2110 West Walnut in February 1991. The original building now houses Shelby Lane Antiques.