Walmart Hosts Largest Open Call Event Yet
Walmart held its annual Open Call event on Thursday, which saw creators of more than 330 products earn deals to have their items sold at Walmart and Sam’s Club locations, as well as online.
More than 1,100 businesses pitched their American-made, -grown, or -assembled products at the ninth annual Open Call. Outside of the 330 products that earned deals, business owners of more than 280 products are continuing conversations with merchants for potential deals in the future.
For the first time in the event’s history, Walmart offered an exclusive early-access period for existing Walmart Marketplace sellers to submit their applications. More than 4,500 entrepreneurs applied, and over 13,000 products were registered.
“Investing in U.S. manufacturing is not only the right thing to do for the country’s long-term economic health, it's the right thing to do for customers today who are dealing with historic inflation,” said Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc. “We’re excited that more and more great products at strong price points are being produced in the U.S. Our $350 billion investment in items made, grown or assembled in the U.S. helps deliver our customers the goods they need, when they need them, at affordable prices, while supporting the creation of more than 750,000 jobs.”
In 2013, Walmart pledged to spend $250 billion over 10 years on products made, grown or assembled in the U.S., a milestone the company announced this week it has already reached. Last year, Walmart committed to invest an additional $350 billion on products made, grown or assembled in the U.S. by 2031.
“We’ve met so many amazing small business owners through Open Call over the years, and this year is no exception,” said Scott Gutche, senior director, U.S. Manufacturing. “From Catrina’s Kitchen Southern Seasoned Flour to EZ-gro’s Spicy Salad Mix, Microgreen growing kit, we’re so excited about the new products and people that will be joining the Walmart supplier family.”
Walmart serves 230 million customers weekly, with shoppers visiting Walmart’s more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites under 46 banners in 24 countries.