The Words of a Retail Visionary Guide Beaver Lake Aviation

ROGERS, Arkansas – In the heart of Northwest Arkansas’ picturesque Ozark Mountains, a visionary retailer who happened to be a pilot set a lofty standard for serving customers, and it’s one that the team at Beaver Lake Aviation happily pursues.

Drawing a diverse blend of customers from aviation enthusiasts and leisure travelers to business flyers from around the globe, this general aviation facility serving Rogers Executive Airport (KROG) happens to be owned by Walmart Inc., one of the largest retailers, whose founder Sam Walton famously repeated, “There is only one boss: the customer.”

Many days, Beaver Lake Aviation, located just down the road from Walmart’s home office in Bentonville, has numerous bosses on-site. When the retailer holds a supplier summit – keep in mind that there are 2,400 Walmart vendors in the United States alone – Beaver Lake Aviation can be as crowded as a Walmart Supercenter during the holidays. FBO team members better be on their toes, ready to handle packed ramps, a myriad of aircraft requiring marshalling and fueling, and uninterrupted requests from customers for rental cars, lodging and, occasionally, even special requests like fresh laundry.

“It is really a group effort among our team to make sure every aspect of our customers’ needs is taken care of – every little detail,” explains Samantha Martin, Senior Manager I, Aviation Operations for Beaver Lake Aviation. Fittingly, that approach reflects Sam Walton’s customer philosophy: “‘Exceed your customers’ expectations; give them what they want – and a little more.’”

Martin explains, “We try to do what we can to make sure that our customers’ flights go as smoothly as possible and that they don’t have to do more than what they already do for their aircraft.”

Local roots, international reach

Beaver Lake Aviation, a Phillips 66^â branded FBO, is a bit unique in the general aviation world. For one, taking a page from Walmart’s everyday low pricing strategy, the FBO doesn’t charge certain fees pilots often encounter.

“There’s a lot of shock value when someone asks, ‘What are your fees?’ and we gladly tell them, ‘We don’t have any landing, ramp or facility fees, anything of that nature,’” says Martin. “You can see the relief on a pilot’s face. We pride ourselves on being different in that aspect.”

Instead of typical FBO offerings like avionics, maintenance and flight school, Beaver Lake Aviation is razor-focused on fueling, safely marshalling aircraft and providing amenities and services to pilots, flight crews and passengers. And fueling is something this FBO knows well.

Pumping some quarter-million gallons of aviation fuel monthly, Beaver Lake Aviation serves far more than Walmart’s corporate fleet, powering large numbers of transient aircraft, plus dozens of others based at Rogers Executive Airport.

Partnering with Phillips 66 Aviation provides an advantage, says Martin. “Their customer focus is just as important to them as it is to Walmart; they share the same values,” she explains. “We are always able to get what we need, and if we ever have any issues, there’s always somebody to help.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the airfield adds another distinctive dimension. Certainly, that’s a convenience for Walmart’s vast network of worldwide suppliers (the retailer does business with 100,000 international vendors). But the ability to clear customs is also a plus for locally based companies with broad global business, like Tyson Foods or Simmons Foods, that have customers across 40 countries.

Being able to relate to diverse customers from Mexico, Canada, Europe, and beyond is vital. Martin points to Walmart’s cultural inclusion program for its managers as foundational. Martin’s business card includes “Mitigator, Inclusive Leader and Culture Champion” for good reason.

“There is always a different style of how international business people work,” explains Martin. “You learn how to accept those differences and work with each other, to come up with a good plan for how to operate a business, be more effective and understand your customers better.”

Fun atmosphere

Northwestern Arkansas’s range of cultural and recreational attractions also draws a diverse assortment of customers. People fly in to hear major touring acts at Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers, visit Bentonville’s renowned Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, or explore the sprawling, 28,000-acre Beaver Lake, featuring hundreds of miles of shoreline, soaring limestone cliffs, forested hiking trails and celebrated bass fishing.

For Martin – who began her 24-year career at the FBO when she was 19 – serving everyone from business executives and bass anglers to rock bands like Phish makes for a fun atmosphere. “That’s the interesting part of this business, you get to work with different groups of people from the U.S. and internationally.”

A facsimile of Sam Walton’s first “corporate” aircraft, a pint-sized, aluminum 1946 Ercoupe, hangs in the atrium of Beaver Lake Aviation, a tribute to the aviation heritage encompassing Walmart and the city of Rogers. A pilot himself, Walton grew his business from the skies, flying to scout future retail locations, meet suppliers and drop in on stores – sometimes literally.

Once, flying over a store and spying a near-empty parking lot, Walton grew alarmed. The story goes, he performed an impressive maneuver with his prop plane and landed on a driveway-sized patch of asphalt just to ask the store manager what was wrong.  (Turns out nothing; the town was attending a school festival, the manager assured Walton.)

But whether landing in a store parking lot or pampering a crew and their passengers during one of Beaver Lake Aviation’s busiest times, it’s all about exceeding customer expectations.

“I think what sets us apart is the ability to not only handle a fleet of aircraft for a corporation, but also transients, and making sure that everybody walks away feeling like they had a really great experience here,” Martin says.

For more, visit beaverlakeaviation.walmart.com.