Wal-Mart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton (1). Wal-Mart grew to two hundred and seventy-six stores in its first decade of service (1). Wal-Mart's plan was to sell low-cost products while ensuring exceptional service and customer relationships (1). Wal-Mart also believed that it could appeal to more customers if it offered convenient working hours (1). Wal-Mart currently operates in fifteen countries around the world, providing different needs, preferences, and services depending on local retail habits (2). Serving each geographic location in its own way and meeting the needs of a particular area, they seem to do very well (2). Wal-Mart adjusts and adapts to the local culture and serves the community in such a way that customers are accustomed to being served (2). Wal-Mart usually enters a foreign country by purchasing an existing chain and simply changing the name to Wal-Mart, while retaining key personnel such as management who are already familiar with the culture (2). Wal-Mart spends a lot of time researching and planning before entering a new market. Sometimes it takes years to open a new market abroad (Class notes). First, they try to learn the culture, language and habits of the citizens of a particular culture. They then study products that seem to work well in each different environment and try to target these products to these cultures at low prices around the world (Class Notes). Over the past two decades, Wal-Mart has taken advantage of the technological advances of the Internet to change the way many companies do business around the world (3). Wal-Mart's size allows the company to purchase in large quantities at lower prices, allowing discounts on retail prices offered to customers (3). Wal-Mart is able to sell all products in large volumes and in exchange the supplier cuts some of the costs due to the quantity of product sold. Wal-Mart has excellent marketing and management plans before entering a market that allows the company to do very well in many different countries and cultures (3). Wal-Mart has also been instrumental in helping manufacturers realize the benefits of customer satisfaction through quality (3). For all of Wal-Mart's international success, they have also learned some valuable lessons, especially in South Korea and, probably the biggest debacle of all, in Germany (class notes). When Wal-Mart decided to move to Germany in 1997, the potential for success seemed quite promising (4). The company entered the German market by purchasing the "Wertzkauf" which included twenty-one locations (4).