By Debbie Cockrell
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Ready to pitch your product to Walmart? An upcoming contest could land you the opportunity to get your product on Walmart shelves locally or even across the country.
Tacoma, Wash.
Attention, small vendors and entrepreneurs: Walmart might want to do business with you.
The retail giant is holding its Open Call event June 13 in Bentonville, Arkansas, where company buyers hear pitches from entrepreneurs for U.S. manufactured goods.
To apply for consideration, go to walmart-jump.com. The deadline is May 4.
According to Walmart: “Attendees at this year’s Open Call could secure deals ranging from a handful of stores in a local market, to supplying hundreds or even thousands of stores, Sam’s Club locations and Walmart.com.
The daylong event informs, empowers and encourages all who attend while providing a great networking opportunity for local entrepreneurs.”
In 2013, Walmart announced its plan to boost United States-based jobs and manufacturing through buying an additional $250 billion in products that support American jobs over 10 years.
Walmart noted that in 2017 it spent $2.7 billion with Washington suppliers, supporting 114,947 jobs.
Last year, SpringStar of Woodinville secured a deal for three of its nontoxic insect traps to be sold in about 3,800 Walmart stores. SpringStar’s president, Michael Banfield, said in a recent Walmart news release that the deal helped sales for his business to rise by about 30 percent in the past year.
Walmart recently announced more stores and remodels coming to Washington state, including order pickup towers, as part of an estimated $56 million in its Washington retail efforts.
