BENTONVILLE -- Gene Ivy couldn't foresee that Sam Walton would create the world's largest retailer when he decided to keep two doors from Walton's first store about 50 years ago.
But he kept them, and now one is on permanent display at The Walmart Museum at 105 N. Main St. in Bentonville, and the other will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington.
In 1945, Walton opened his first store -- a Ben Franklin franchise -- in Newport in Jackson County. The lease was not renewed in 1950. At that point, Walton opened Walton's 5&10 in Bentonville.
Ivy Brothers Construction, of which Gene Ivy was co-owner, renovated Walton's former store in Newport in the mid-1960s.
"Daddy was kind of a pack rat, so he hung onto the doors," said Terri Ramsey, his daughter.
Ivy stored the doors in his business warehouse until he retired, then he moved them to his garage. Ivy died in 2014, and his family recently donated the doors to The Walmart Museum.
"This just seemed like where they needed to be since this is where [Walton] started," Ramsey said about donating the doors rather than keeping them in the family or using them elsewhere. "Also, a lot more people would be able to enjoy them."
Ramsey, her husband, two daughters and sons-in-law, as well as two of her grandchildren, visited the museum Friday to see the door on display.
The door is illuminated by lights in a pristine case on the south wall in the north gallery.
Nicks and scratches scar the wood frame. The wood is worn on the right side, evidence of customers's use. In the middle of the narrow door reads: "Ben Franklin."
Having a door from Walton's first store means a lot because there hasn't been anything else kept from that initial venture, said Alan Dranow, Walmart Heritage Group senior director. The museum has two small pieces of wood that have Walton's name and "Newport" stamped on them, "but we don't even know what they're from," he said.
"It means that the very beginning of Sam's journey is represented here," Dranow said of the museum.
Also, it's an appropriate honor for Walton to have a door archived at the Smithsonian museum, Dranow said.
Wal-Mart is "a big part of America," he said. "This is where it started."
Dranow and Ramsey's family talked about Walton's success as an example of the American dream, and how the historic door represents possibility for all museum visitors to see.
Metro on 12/11/2016