TR: an Arkansas shopping trip
John C. Peterson
The late Sam Walton had a dream: using the billions he made with his
Wal-Mart empire he would buy the entire state of Arkansas and rule it
as a king. Although he never finished buying all of Arkansas, he did
construct the store from which he planned to govern. This store is called
"Sam's Throne" and lies atop a high mountain in the Ozarks not far
from corporate headquarters in Bentonville. One Wal-Mart to rule them
all.
While visiting New Paltz I found a shopping guide that described
the wonders of Sam's Throne and provided detailed maps to the area. It
showed exactly where the best goods were to be found and even listed
their prices. I had to check it out. We were on a family vacation
passing through scenic Branson, MO when I asked everyone "Would you
rather see the new Lawrence Welk show or go to Sam's Throne". Sam's
Throne won, but just barely.
We arrived at Sam's Throne in mid-July. It turns out that this store
is so big that there isn't enough electricity in the state of Arkansas
to air condition it so we had to endure temperatures in the 80s. The
locals told me that smart customers wait until fall or even winter for
their shopping trips - live and learn I guess. Another minor
complaint was the parking situation. The lot was a total mess - mud
everywhere. I decided the main lot was under construction and parked
a ways down the road where we could walk along the edge of the store
to the entrance.
Fortunately we found a greeter stationed at the entrance to answer
some of our questions. Our store map was a bit hard to follow and he
gladly pointed out the various departments and showed us the best way
to get in. The ramp going into the store was a bit steeper than other
Wal-Marts I've been to but since we are all hard core shoppers we
didn't let things like that slow us down. We put on our special
"shopping shoes" and headed in.
Once inside, we were quite impressed with the size of the store.
There were hundreds of items available - maybe thousands even. The
walls were high - probably 60 or 70 feet - and ran literally for
miles. Goods of all assortments littered the aisles and were
definitely priced to sell. Also, unlike a store we had visited in
Kentucky, most of the items were traditional American fare instead of
the inferior bolted-together euro stuff.
Our first stop was in the toy department. My youngest son, Jay,
wanted to see some stuffed animals. I picked out a rhino, colored
white instead of the usual gray. At just $5.70 is was a real deal and
all four of us grabbed one. We all felt it was probably worth more
than the sticker price but I guess that's how Wal-Mart gets its
customers. Jay especially loved the rhino's horn and spent a lot of
time grabbing and hanging from it. Our only complaint was that a leak
in the roof had left the lower part of the rhino a little moist.
Next we mosied past a plaque commemorating Sam Walton and through a
fun little alley to arrive in the Hardware department. The wall
was covered with some of the finest buckets we had ever seen: this was
the fun way to shop! At just $5.60 it was another steal and we all
lined up to check out this amazing deal. Certainly our favorite part
of the store.
It was getting late so we headed back toward the entrance. Just to
the right of the ramp we came in on was the poultry department. One
wall was was stacked with nothing but chicken heads - a very unusual
sight. On impulse, we sampled (just $5.60 again) these and were soon
at the exit.
All in all we would recommend a trip to the Sam's Throne Wal-Mart to
everyone. Although it's a bit out of the way, the great deals and the
wide assortment of merchandise will bring us back soon. Plus we
haven't seen the Lawrence Welk show yet.
John Peterson,
Ayatollah of Ragged Mountain
N42461
> This store is called
>"Sam's Throne" and lies atop a high mountain in the Ozarks not far
>from corporate headquarters in Bentonville. One Wal-Mart to rule them
>all.
Very clever writing. Thanks!
nathan sweet
David Collins
> passing through scenic Branson, MO when I asked everyone "Would you
> rather see the new Lawrence Welk show or go to Sam's Throne". Sam's
> Throne won, but just barely.
Thanks for the excellent and enjoyable TR. I bet Boxcar Willie would
have beaten Sam's Throne if he was still alive and playing in his
theatre. Whatever you do next time DO NOT waste any time tasting the
local wine.
David Collins