Made in U.S. theme of Wal-Mart's event

KC Walker (left), with the Electus film production company in California, talks with Joseph Ertl, president of Dyersville Die Cast of Iowa at Wal-Mart’s supplier event Tuesday in Bentonville.
KC Walker (left), with the Electus film production company in California, talks with Joseph Ertl, president of Dyersville Die Cast of Iowa at Wal-Mart’s supplier event Tuesday in Bentonville.

BENTONVILLE -- Wal-Mart conducted its first-ever "open call" event for suppliers Tuesday, giving about 500 product-makers and inventors a chance to get their American-made products on the retailer's shelves and online.

The event was intended to push Wal-Mart's "Made in the USA" commitment to buy an additional $250 billion worth of products made, assembled, grown or sourced in the United States through 2023. About two-thirds of what Wal-Mart sells is already made here. The goal is to expand the suppliers' U.S. manufacturing operations and create more jobs across the country.

"For the first time in a generation or more, it's more efficient and effective for us to make products closer to the point of consumption," Wal-Mart U.S. President and CEO Bill Simon told suppliers gathered in the auditorium in the home office before the meetings began.

"We're going to buy some stuff today," he said.

Afterward and throughout the day, more than 200 buyers for Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and walmart.com met with suppliers who had new products to pitch. The only criteria for vendors was that they not present goods already sold at Wal-Mart -- though they could offer different items in other categories -- and that the products pitched were produced or could be made stateside. About half the meetings were with suppliers who had never before done business with Wal-Mart.

Among new products taken Tuesday by Wal-Mart was the Trash-Ease clamp-on garbage bag holder made in Detroit by JPC Products LLC. The Trash-Ease currently is sold at camping, restaurant and hardware outlets and promoted for use at tailgate parties. The company's website boasts "Proudly made in the USA."

On Tuesday, John Cundy, inventor of Trash-Ease, received an order for 50,000 units -- his biggest order to date and more than twice the size of his previous largest order. He had never made a pitch to any retailer before Tuesday.

"It was an amazing moment," he said later. "I'm actually floating right now."

Wal-Mart also placed an order with Fayetteville-based Jarratt Industries LLC for 1 million plastic plates that are formed to keep tacos from spilling their contents. The retailer also picked up the Broo hair-care product line, which is made in Asheville, N.C., and has handcrafted beer as its main ingredient; and the Buddeez Pet Food Storage Container, now sold at Bed Bath & Beyond and PetSmart, among other places.

Simon and other executives popped in and out of the meetings as presentations were made. A peek in the slim windows of the dozens of buyer-supplier meeting rooms revealed an array of products including dish detergent, shower curtains, games and sporting goods.

Michelle Gloeckler, executive vice president of consumables and U.S. manufacturing, said she was impressed by the suppliers' level of preparedness. She said many suppliers had visited Wal-Mart stores to learn what was carried and "how their products would compete and be differentiated and certainly differentiated if it's made in the U.S."

Products ordered at the open call could be found on store shelves and online within the next 60 days, she said, depending on the capacity of the supplier and factory.

Potential suppliers had to apply online beforehand and were vetted before being allowed to attend Tuesday's event. Some suppliers presented more than one item, taking the number of 30-minute merchant meetings to about 800.

Managers met with the buyers last week to give them a sense of what the retailer is looking for in terms of new American-made products. The buyers were encouraged to lean toward purchasing the products, said Cindi Marsiglio, vice president of U.S. manufacturing for Wal-Mart.

She said the company wanted to give its existing suppliers a chance to meet buyers in other categories. For instance, Burt Hanna, owner and founder of Hanna's Candle Co. and Greenland Composites Inc., has been selling product to Wal-Mart for more than 25 years: first his homemade candles, then raised-bed gardens. On Tuesday, he was set to pitch a game called Stack Party, his take on the Jenga game.

Mel Redman, whose Rogers-based Redman & Associates LLC has sold toddlers' ride-on toys to Wal-Mart for years, was at the event to help present five new products by other companies. One item, called the Wedjie, is a safety guard for door hinges that keeps toddlers from getting their fingers smashed. Redman said he sold the product to Wal-Mart as an import about four years ago (his company was a broker as well as a toy-maker back then), but it never made it to store displays.

He also was to pitch a yet-to-be-named monitoring system that is somewhat like a baby monitor but made to keep an eye on the elderly. The product is made in the United States by a person who has a license to make goods under the Kodak name, Redman said.

About 10 product-makers approached Redman with items made in the United States, and his team picked five to pitch to Wal-Mart. He said he'd been rehearsing their presentations.

The open call was important to Arkansas in that it brought many companies to the state for the first time, said Grant Tennille, executive director of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission. He attended the opening meeting with Gov. Mike Beebe.

"Wal-Mart's all about first impressions," Tennille said. "You've heard them talk about how they like to delight their customers. We want to delight these vendors, to show them just how great a place Arkansas is."

And there's an unspoken benefit to being close to the world's largest retailer and the No. 1 placeholder on Forbes' Fortune 100 list.

Earlier, Beebe said: "Trust me, Wal-Mart likes you better if you're in Arkansas."

Business on 07/09/2014

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