- The small town of Bentonville, Arkansas, has been the headquarters of Walmart for 50 years.
- Longtime residents, leaders, and real-estate agents say the town has changed a lot.
For 50 years, the small town of Bentonville, Arkansas, has been known as the home of Walmart headquarters. Now, the town that the Census Bureau reports has grown by more than 50% since 2010 is building a new reputation as a place for tourists and young professionals.
This reputation has hundreds of millions of dollars behind it, thanks to Walmart, the Walton Family Foundation, and individual members of the Walton family. Local leaders, however, told Insider that the entire community has embraced the changes.
"When I moved here in 2005, people bought a meal coming into a meeting at Walmart and bought a meal leaving that meeting," Kalene Griffith, the president of Visit Bentonville, whose job is to bring tourists to a town that's historically been known as a corporate center, told Insider. "We had one retailer and two restaurants downtown. Now, we have 16 restaurants and eight retailers."
With 63 miles of mountain-biking trails, Bentonville leaders declared the city the "mountain-biking capital of the world." Other attractions include two state parks located within 30 minutes of the town and an annual half-marathon. Bentonville's mayor, Stephanie Orman, said the city's museums "bring in more tourists than biking." Visit Bentonville estimated that 500,000 people visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art annually, compared to 250,000 cyclists on the town's trails.
The first five miles of bike trails were added in 2007 — the same year voters approved a 10-year bond to expand the municipal airport, build and improve parks, and provide general infrastructure upkeep.
According to data collected by Visit Bentonville, the number of homes in the town has increased by 150%. The prices have also shot up, Trina Hammond, who heads a team at Keller Williams Realty, told Insider. She owns a home in downtown Bentonville and has been a realtor for 15 years.
"One of the biggest real-estate changes is that downtown home prices have more than doubled in the last five years. People want to be able to walk to the bars, restaurants, museums, and bike paths," Hammond said, adding that northwest Arkansas is reshaping how people view the state. "The big surprise that transplants from places like California have is that they expect cheap land and housing, but as the city has boomed, it has pushed them to more affordable housing in the suburbs."
The decades-long rebrand has attracted visitors who in the past may have driven by Bentonville without giving it a second thought. Chris Moody, a roving freelance writer who travels thousands of miles a year with his wife in a self-built camper van, told Insider the pair recently made a detour just to see Bentonville after hearing about the city's expansion and investment in the arts, particularly the Crystal Bridges Museum.
"We had a great time visiting the museum. It was worth the trip," Moody said. "Bentonville is making a clear play to attract young families looking for a modern quality of life without having to live near a big city."
Walmart is still a major influence in the city's growth and evolution
Walmart is the elephant in the room with any discussion about Bentonville's growth. Service-providing companies are the largest employers in Bentonville, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Orman attributed this to Walmart building its new corporate headquarters in the town; additionally, more than 1,600 Walmart suppliers had offices in the town as of 2018, up from 445 in 2001.
And even funding for community projects that doesn't come from Walmart often comes from its founders. OZ Trails and the holding company Runway Group, which have taken leading roles in trail and biking development in northwest Arkansas, including in Bentonville, are run by Sam Walton's grandsons, Steuart and Tom. In a 2018 press release, the Walton Family Foundation said that it had invested $74 million to build 163 miles of trails in the region.
Walmart and many Waltons also support the city's museums: The Crystal Bridges Museum was founded by Alice Walton and received $20 million from Walmart in 2011 to cover free admission to the museum, while the Momentary, a contemporary art space, opened in 2020 with financial support from the Walton Family Foundation.
Another Walton nonprofit, the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, has funded a three-year grant at NorthWest Arkansas Community College for the nation's first bicycle assembly and repair technician program to be accredited by the Bicycle Industry Employers Association, which creates educational partnerships for bike technicians.
The program is intended to support the influx of competitive and casual cyclists. The first cohort of 23 students started last fall, Megan Bolinder, the college's dean of workforce and economic development who heads the technician program, told Insider. "Students will take nine classes to receive the certificate, and then if they choose, the coursework can be used for an associate's degree in general technology at NWACC, which then transfers to two universities in Arkansas," she said.
Longtime residents have mixed feelings about the town's growth
Jack Lloyd has spent his entire life in Bentonville, as have his children and grandchildren. Born in 1964, he told Insider he estimated the town's population was around 3,500 people at the time — which is barely larger than the student population he now oversees as principal of Bentonville High School.
"Bentonville really began changing around 2004," when Walmart vendors began moving operations to the town, Lloyd said. He added that while the growth has been explosive, "outgrowing anything that could be planned," it was very well-managed.
"You couldn't build roads and homes fast enough, and we were adding 100 to 200 students per year at the high school," he said. But Bentonville's rural environment worked in its favor. "Sleepier communities and farms that weren't developed became places for new homes and businesses without causing major issues," he said.
While Lloyd said a lot of locals complain about increased traffic and housing prices, it's a matter of perspective. "People from Sacramento think this is nothing. And for locals, you can earn more money than other parts of Arkansas. I've spent 32 years as a teacher, vice principal, and principal, and I've never seen so many opportunities for students to work with the businesses that have come to town," he said.
"When I was a kid, the town center was where things happened," Lloyd added. "That changed a few decades ago, when Walmart built new headquarters near the highway. But with the museums, restaurants, and bike trails all centered on downtown, it's now the happening place again."
Elizabeth Ganey has mixed views on Bentonville's rapid growth. She and her husband moved to the town to work at Walmart 11 years ago, when the company offered them jobs after they recieved their MBA degrees. "There are opportunities here that my kids wouldn't have had 10 years ago," she told Insider. "But I'm also not a crowd person, which is something you have to deal with in Bentonville."
To avoid the increasingly crowded neighborhoods and downtown streets, Ganey and her husband moved with their three children to an 11-acre property between Bentonville and nearby Siloam Springs. She said living outside of the town proper allows the family to "pick and choose" which parts of northwest Arkansas they visit for different needs. "The Bentonville library is the best in the area. Our kids go to a private school one town over, and we take the kids to Siloam Springs for non-crowd fun," she said.
Ganey is now the marketing coordinator for St. Stephen Catholic Church in Bentonville, while her husband works at a tech startup. She said his choice is common for alumni of Walmart's corporate headquarters. "There are a lot of consumer-data startups in the area because they can provide service to Walmart's corporate headquarters, Walmart stores in the area, and Walmart vendors," she said.
Conor Brown and Shane Smith live near Bentonville and told Insider they're regulars on its trails as active members of the region's mountain-bike community. They welcomed the town's new brand.
"It's not a secret that Walmart is trying to attract young people to their corporate headquarters," Brown said. "Creating a high-quality environment and brand to live, work, and play is part of that strategy."
"Bentonville's aspirations are clear, but so is their investment in all aspects of the town," Smith added. "They've gone from a few trails to a massive infrastructure, which services recreational and experienced bikers alike, and my girlfriend and I enjoy regularly partaking of what Bentonville offers."
Griffith and Orman stood behind their "world capital" claim. "Eighty percent of mountain bikers are leisure cyclists," Griffith said. "Our trails feature art installations, family-friendly and competitive options, and a trailhead that goes straight into downtown. Places like Cherokee, North Carolina, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, contact us about building their own trail networks. We're happy to help share our experience with them."
"The 2016 World Summit basically put us on the cycling map," Orman added. "We have one of the few trailheads that doesn't require a car to get to. Our trails are open year-round, which is very attractive to mountain bikers from snowy regions."