Empower people and have fun with merchandise: Enduring wisdom from Sam Walton

At the beginning of last year, I issued a challenge to our store managers: Sell more Hot Wheels cars, and if your store has the biggest unit increase, I will come and wash your car.

I recently made good on my promise, and I met the associates at Store 2423 in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Store manager Irving Fournier and his team increased their sales of Hot Wheels by more than 900 percent over last year!

And to show my appreciation to the Carolina team, I scrubbed Irving’s car from top to bottom.

Why Hot Wheels?

First, a little backstory: they were my favorite toy growing up and it was the 50th anniversary of the brand so I wanted to help them celebrate! From Walmart’s earliest days, Associates have competed to sell products in their stores, selecting items they believed weren’t reaching their sales potentials and then merchandising them to appeal to customers. This healthy competition boosts sales and makes work more fun. We call these hand-picked items Volume Producing Items, or VPIs. Some popular VPIs over the years have included antifreeze, toothpaste, detergent, mattress covers and Thermos bottles.

Of course, the most famous of all VPIs was when Sam Walton decided to drive sales of the Moon Pie.

Today, Associates are encouraged to pick VPIs and improve their sales. We’re all merchants, and it’s amazing what a difference you can make by getting behind an item.

Associates had great ideas for merchandising Hot Wheels and those ideas pushed the volume beyond my expectations. The Hot Wheels Legends Tour even made stops at Walmart stores across the country. Sam Walton knew that for Walmart to be successful, its people had to be empowered to make decisions and to have fun at work. Those values help drive our business every day.

And that’s why Irving is driving to work in a clean car.