BENTONVILLE — Julie Burgamy of Anchorage, Alaska, and Tara Musall of Vanderbilt, Mich., shouted gleefully when Mayor Bob McCaslin handed them a small lapel pin adorned with a capital B for Bentonville and welcomed them to the city Thursday.
The two joined thousands of other Walmart associates in town for the company’s annual shareholders meeting. Burgamy and Musall spent much of their day touring Walmart’s Home Office and the Walmart Visitor Center, where they met McCaslin.
“Can we take a picture with you?” Burgamy asked McCaslin. She and Musall made small talk about the hot and humid weather while they stood next to McCaslin.
A line of Walmart associates from around the country lined up to take their picture with McCaslin by the time Burgamy and Musall were finished talking to him. McCaslin happily obliged each, thanking them for visiting Bentonville and offering to answer any question.
“It adds a nice touch just to come and say ‘Hi,’” McCaslin said, noting shareholders week is a perfect marketing opportunity for Bentonville.
“When that many people can have a good experience and take it back to where they’re from, it’s nothing but good for the city,” McCaslin said.
Jenny Malmborg of Sandy, Utah, said she enjoyed Bentonville so much she will to return with her family after Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opens Nov. 11.
Malmborg carried a bright green shareholders T-shirt Thursday. She asked everyone she met to sign the shirt. She had more than 70 signatures from people from Arizona, California and Colorado as well as China and Japan by 11 a.m. Thursday.
The T-shirt will serve as a reminder of her trip, of the people she met and the lessons she learned from Walmart, Malmborg said.
The annual shareholders meeting will be held today at the University of Arkansas’ Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville.