Several dozen suppliers walked away from Walmart Inc.'s Open Call event Wednesday with deals to put their products on store shelves. And the retailer offered every business pitching shelf-stable items the opportunity to sell on its e-commerce site.
Walmart said in a Thursday news release that more than 100 companies that presented products at the full day of meetings with buyers moved on to "the next step" in their partnership with the retailer. In addition, all of the entrepreneurs got feedback on their products from the buyers they met with at the company's Bentonville headquarters, the release stated.
The two-day event attracted more than 500 businesses from 48 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Mexico and Australia to Northwest Arkansas. Walmart began hosting Open Call annually in 2014 as part of its commitment to invest an additional $250 billion in products made, grown or sourced in the U.S. by 2023.
Nicole and Hugh Jarratt of Fayetteville, owners of Jarratt Industries LLC, got a deal to place their Bug Blocker Socks in 100 or more stores to test sales before taking the product to stores nationwide. They were on a list Walmart released Thursday of a few of the companies that got deals with the retailer.
The list also includes: Boat Bling of Phoenix, hot sauce; Sweety Ice Cream of Monterey Park, Calif., matcha green tea mochi ice cream; Sierra Sage Herbs of Lyons, Colo., organic hand moisturizer; Kira Labs Inc. of Pompano Beach, Fla., anti-aging retinol shower gel; Iya Foods LLC of North Aurora, Ill., spicy fried rice seasoning; Foppers Pet Treat Bakery of Logansport, Ind., dog bones; and Michigan Ladder Co. of Ypsilanti, Mich., fiberglass stepladder.
Others include: Plastilite of Omaha, Neb., biodegradable foam cooler; Magic Ninja Dust of Flemington, N.J., liquid chalk for gymnasts and climbers; FTI Brands LLC of Columbus, Ohio, shoe scuff mark remover; 503 Distilling of Oregon City, Ore., canned cocktail; Alamo Candy Co. of San Antonio, strawberry candy strips; Jody's Gourmet Popcorn of Norfolk, Va., caramel corn; Ivy City Smokehouse of Washington, D.C., smoked salmon jerky; and Medella Laboratories of Wausau, Wis., natural children's probiotics.
Business on 06/21/2019