It was a little more than 15 years ago when the now top-ranked business chain in the world first broke ground in State College. Back then Wal-Mart nipped at the heels of other chains, vying for its place in successful retail history.

We jump to today, where it's hard to even imagine a life without "rollback" prices.

Today former Wal-Mart employee turned motivational speaker and author Michael Bergdahl will be at the Penn State Bookstore in the HUB-Robeson Center from 1 to 4 p.m.

He will be on hand to share his experience with this very subject, and sign a few copies of his recent book, What I Learned from Sam Walton: How to Compete and Thrive in a Wal-Mart World.

Bergdahl worked closely with the late Sam Walton, Wal-Mart's founder. Through this interaction he learned the keys to Wal-Mart's success, which he explains in his book through the idea "P.O.C.K.E.T.S."

Each of the letters in the acronym represents a chapter concept based on the notion that to succeed in a Wal-Mart world, you have to carve out a "niche" or "business pocket."

"Wal-Mart employees have unquestioned loyalty and are very driven," Bergdahl said. "Wal-Mart hires average people and is able to get above-average performances out of them."

Bergdahl's editor David Pugh said small businesses need to be prepared for when Wal-Mart springs up by them and that How to Compete successfully expresses these ideas.

"Fundamental lessons from Sam Walton apply to anything," Pugh said. "[It] shows the importance for small businesses to carve out niches to survive even when Wal-Mart is coming to town."

Even though the purpose of his book is to explain valuable business strategies to other retailers, Bergdahl's intention is to help smaller companies, not hurt Wal-Mart.

"It's not like I'm giving out the PSU playbook to the opposing team," Bergdahl said. "I'm also not dissing the company in any way. I wrote it for retailers and non-retailers."

Bergdahl's literary agent, Sam Fleishman, feels college students would benefit greatly by reading the book.

"Anybody in the business program should be required to read this as a primary text," Fleishman said.

"I would require that every student read it."

The author will also be giving a speech to graduate students from 10 a.m. to noon today at the Business Administration Building.