‘Arkansas’ Own’ rolled out by Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart executives are taking the retailer’s “store of the community” seriously these days across Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Products like Norman Lures of Greenwood, Mainstay Candles made in Fayetteville, Cavender’s Greek Seasoning of Harrison are among some of the 1,700 products displayed in Northwest Arkansas Walmart stores under the banner “Arkansas’ Own."

A similar program is also under way in Oklahoma and Missouri, according to Glenda Fleming-Willis, an operations manager at Wal-Mart. She said products go through a rigorous check to ensure they are made in-state.

Carol Johnston, senior vice president of store development, said there are 47 suppliers and 79 brands flagged as “Arkansas’ Own” providing items that are made or processed in the Natural State. Johnston said it’s a sense of pride and part of the global retailer’s efforts to focus on the local communities they serve and help sustain jobs across the state.

The “Arkansas’ Own” flagged displays went up Memorial Day weekend in a few stores across Northwest Arkansas and the placement will continue to expand in the coming weeks.

Jack Sinclair, executive vice president of Wal-Mart’s grocery division, said sourcing fresh and locally is essential in food.

“A hammer is a hammer, but food preference is a very local thing. By using big data and other analytics we are getting from Nielsen and others is helping to assess what brands local communities want,” Sinclair said during a media tour of Walmart Store No. 5260 in Rogers on Thursday (June 6).

He said ice cream was an item where grocery has focused to broaden assortments with local and regional brands throughout the country.

“We have added 1,100 sku's (items) of ice cream alone this year and will be doing the same thing with cheese. meats and other products in the future,” Sinclair said.

Wal-Mart made big headlines when it announced it would source an additional $50 billion of products made in the U.S. over the next five years. This is in addition to the fact that two-thirds of the items in Walmart stores are today are made in America.

“Arkansas’ Own” is one-closer step to localization and while the retailer did not commit to a timeline or the scale of the state initiative across the country, it is well under way in the local three-state area. Other products tagged as “Arkansas’ Own” include: Mainstays Mops, Great Value Chips, Riceland Rice, Forrester Chicken, Alliance Rubber bands, Fisher Honey, Dewafflebakkers Pankakes, Biffs Coffee, Westrock Coffee, Medlaion Chips, Yarnell’s Ice Cream, Stopby’s Cheese Dip and Petit Jean Meats.

While the buyers have the final say which products get on Wal-Mart shelves, Michelle Gloeckler, senior vice president of Walmart home, said media attention to the “source local campaign” has caused some suppliers to reach out to Wal-Mart about their products.

“Many times suppliers don’t realize that they don’t have to furnish product to all the stores and we are finding more small companies are calling us since we have launched this program,” Gloeckler said.