Birthplace Of Walmart - Inside The First Store & Museum / Grave Of Sam Walton
A visit to Bentonville Arkansas , the birthplace of Wal Mart . Stopped by the Walton's 5 and 10 variety store , as well as the first full sized Wal Mart in Rogers and also the grave of Sam Walton.
Transcript
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you have no doubt heard of or possibly
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even shopped at a Sam's Club or
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neighborhood market but just as with
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every big business there must be a
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starting point and that brings us to
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Bentonville Arkansas
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welcome everyone Adam the Wu here
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it's very cold very rainy but that will
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not stop me from diving deep not into
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the Empire it has become but how it
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began and a man by the name of Sam
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Walton join me shall you it is
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appropriate however to show a
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Supercenter gigantic retail
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establishment that have pretty much
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taken over every nook and cranny every
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state in the good old US of A the very
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mecca of massive consumerism if you will
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and now gas stations where you can get
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your convenience store fix but it wasn't
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always that way not back in 1950 when a
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little store here in the town square
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opened right over there
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Waltons 5 and 10 where you could
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purchase products for a dime or a nickel
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hence the name may 9th to be exact and
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this placard was dedicated in 1983 and
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just below it is a replica of Sam's
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truck he used to drive I think I'm a
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little over the weight limit I'm a
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little heavier than 50 pounds so I won't
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be jumping in that after stepping in
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you'll notice it is a museum dedicated
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to the man himself
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this is his high school yearbook he's
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pictured bottom right corner second
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photo up on the left there he was the
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youngest Eagle Scout in Missouri and in
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1932 he rescued his friend from drowning
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now five years before opening this place
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bearing his name he managed and operated
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a Ben Franklin store and they have that
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door
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on site you could even call this a
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memento of his pre entrepreneurial
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beginnings there it is right there but
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let's be honest
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there ain't no Franklin Mart's this is
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the store I'm currently standing in the
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third self-service variety establishment
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anywhere in the country when it opened
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look at the crowds that showed up for a
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Christmas event that opening year in
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1943 he married his wife Helen on
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Valentine's Day they just so happened to
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have the wedding dress at the time of
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his death in 1992 the home office they
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photographed all the items in their
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proper place and now they are sitting
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here behind this glass wall this is
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where he worked this is where he did his
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business you can just picture him
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sitting there making telephone calls and
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there's his best friend right there on
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the coffee table down below everything
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meticulously recreated in the exact spot
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including his father's cane hanging on
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the wall you might also notice that
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baseball cap back there on the shelf
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that he would always wear and the
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football was given to him by Mike Ditka
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of the Chicago Bears it's hard to
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imagine all the history in there if that
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furniture could talk in 1992 he was
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given the Presidential Medal of Freedom
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giving this statement upon receiving it
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if we work together we'll lower the cost
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of living for everyone we'll give the
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world an opportunity to see what it's
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like to save and have a better life
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taking great pride in his work and his
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company as I started to grow and he
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would go to different stores he would
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take legal pads and you can see the tape
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recorder on the desk and he would jot
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down or record notes onto each of those
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items that the associates would tell him
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or that he just saw throughout the store
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that needed to be fixed in 1962 the
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first Walmart opened its doors
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this is the ad I hope to go by there a
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little bit later and check it out
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promising plenty of parking and 22
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different departments
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I never realized at one point there was
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a promotional name idea called action
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alley and there he is standing down the
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rows of discounted items that were at
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each location his guarantee stated that
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if you purchased something and didn't
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want it for any reason you could return
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it basically no questions asked even if
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your outdoor thermometer did not give
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the correct time and I like that his bus
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is standing there looking in almost
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saying the customer needs to be
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satisfied just just take it back just
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return it in October of 1970 the company
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went public this is a certificate of a
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hundred stocks each share valued at only
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10 cents it's a little more by today's
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standards you must look very closely on
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the ticker tape but there's all the
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details printed on there profit sharing
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always a big part of their operation any
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questions just just browse through that
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eventually leading to a billion dollar
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year America's richest man lives here
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always staying humble however this news
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article states a $5 trim for a 2.8
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billion dollar head he continued going
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to the same barber even years after his
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success sitting in this very chair for a
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short while in the 90s there was even an
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appliance store named after his brother
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simply called bud's
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oh dang the 10 foot rule I almost forgot
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about this one if a customer gets within
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10 feet of you make eye contact and ask
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you can I help you and while I'm on the
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subject depends that's what each and
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every one of these are that's a heck of
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a lot of them
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Wow our people make the difference
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we really do sell for less every day you
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know Walmart cares the proof is in the
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prices
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this is his truck sixty-five thousand
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miles on the odometer it's the kind of
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guy he was just cruising around in a
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pickup his sunglasses keys and
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registration from inside just the way he
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left it this is pretty dang cool I can
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just picture him and his dog old Roy
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cruising around which if you've ever
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been to a store and purchased Zaire dog
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food
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it's named after old Roy and a little
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secret fact teeth marks of the pooch can
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be seen right there on the steering
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wheel
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true story after just a week from
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receiving his presidential medal he
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passed away at the age of 74 and one of
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his last written messages thanking his
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associates for love and friendship even
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though he was the head guy you'd still
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wear a name badge and those are his
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business cards there to the right
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I just noticed the lights on the front
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of the truck are are still on it's kind
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of neat they have a Santa sleigh out not
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only for the holidays but it reminds me
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of that photo inside of the Christmas
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celebration they had here way back in
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the day in the middle of the street and
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there was a Santa sleigh in that photo
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ended up getting a souvenir in magnet
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form was like these little mementos for
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my fridge and on the back it states
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Walmart even though technically it is a
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Waltons five and ten and one year after
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it opened in 1950 the tile on the floor
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was put in and that is still here today
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all these years later
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the family plot very humble headstone
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for such an incredibly wealthy man I
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guess he wanted to be remembered and
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death the same way he was in life his
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son is also laid to rest here as well as
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his wife by his side Sean Thomas 2005
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Helen passed away in oh seven and
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underneath Sam's it does state that he
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was the recipient of the Presidential
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Medal there is a button weather-worn
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says share a smile
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and Rogers Arkansas at 7:19 West walnut
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it's an antique store called somewhere
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in time which if you could go back in
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time you would see the Opening Day
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festivities as people lined up to go
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into what was the first store called
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Walmart designated that name not the
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variety store we were out earlier but an
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actual Walmart the first one you can see
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the Rogers water tower peeking up over
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the top of the structure that is still
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here one thing I'm noticing from this
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photo above the people who are
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congregating to go in notice the lining
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under the roofline and how there is an X
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formation
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up top you can see those X formations
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are still here the building is the same
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would have taken up about two-thirds of
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the property the far-right was an IgA
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grocery store you can see it designated
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there on the side which means the IgA
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was right there where the two buildings
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meet to the far right was the grocery
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store and everything to the left is
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Walmart not much has changed from the
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roads point of view look at the sidewalk
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right there as it goes from the road
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there there's that sidewalk and there's
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the angle of the photograph I was just
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showing and after the letters wal starts
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a little overhang of the signage for
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whatever reason but it's still here
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awesome
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so the wal was on the left and then
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right where that metal signage overhang
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is which protrudes up is where the rest
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of the lettering was the glass door
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frames on either side of a brick pillar
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yeah those also still intact been
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repainted but the doors still in the
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same spots which means that not only
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that antique store but inside this
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abandoned area
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his retail history so cool back in the
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mid 90s I worked for the company st.
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Cloud Florida was opening a super center
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and I was hired on as well as quite a
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few other people to set up the shelving
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bring in the product and then after the
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grand opening I worked in the grocery
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department for quite some time so today
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has been a throwback for me some
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memories of my past and I know just like
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anyone who starts a business and then
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time goes on it takes on its own life
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its own entity especially when that
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certain company grows so large that it
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becomes almost uncontrollable from the
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person and their ideals and ideas it's
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very interesting to see what one man
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started and what it has become thanks
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