The Supply Side: Anderson Merchandisers expands in Bentonville

Plano, Texas-based Anderson Merchandisers, a retail-services agency, recently hung a new shingle in Bentonville within close proximity of Wal-Mart Stores and its suppliers, according to company officials.

The third party service provider joins the likes of competitors Crossmark, Acosta, Retail Integrity and Advantage Sales & Marketing who continue to grow their local businesses in Northwest Arkansas’ retail/supplier sector.

Anderson, founded in 1917, recently opened a new office 1700 SW Commerce Drive, Suite 4, less than a mile from Wal-Mart’s home office. While the company has had a presence in Northwest Arkansas for at least six years, this new office allows for expansion. The new 8,000-square-foot space in Bentonville Commerce Center accommodates 25 employees and supports more than 4,000 field representatives who work in retail stores on behalf of Anderson’s client base which includes Sony, Pfizer, Proctor & Gamble and Wal-Mart Stores.

“This new location is a testament to Anderson Merchandisers’ continuous growth, diversification and our 4,000-plus associates that consistently and flawlessly execute for our clients,” said CEO Charlie Anderson. “We cherish our 36-year commitment to Walmart and its suppliers and look forward to many years to come.”

The timing of Anderson’s expansion in Bentonville coincides with Wal-Mart’s efforts to run cleaner, more organized and well-stocked supercenters. The retail giant has already begun revamping the way inventory is tracked and where it is held within the supply chain. In an effort to clean out the back of the stores, more inventory is being held further up the supply chain in distributions centers. This means product suppliers will likely need more merchandising services in the near future for their Wal-Mart account. 

That’s where Anderson hopes to help.

“Because Anderson Merchandisers is privately held, we have the ability to tailor and deliver results with a level of transparency, flexibility and customization unmatched in our industry,” said Scott McDaniel, president of Anderson Merchandisers. “And when it’s time to execute, we have the unique ability to pack, ship, audit, replenish and polish in half the time of our competitors.”

Anderson’s sweet spot is the in-store retail execution services for consumer goods categories than span big-box retailers like Wal-Mart — for grocery consumables to general merchandise. Company execs say Anderson can also implement a marketing program in stores across the country in a day’s time.

One of Anderson’s recent supplier success stories involves contract work with Pfizer who needed a partner to help with its largest over-the-counter launch of Nexium OTC antacids on May 27, 2014. Anderson said its merchandisers were sent out to Walmart stores nationwide to physically place in one day the signing, display and product sets. With Anderson’s help, Nexium achieved a 98% on-shelf availability rate for Walmart stores on the first day.

The company said it also has worked with Walmart to meet the demand of shoppers on Black Friday in recent years. Within two days, Anderson merchandisers visited more than 3,600 Wal-Mart stores to locate and secure one-hour guarantee point of purchase, applied appropriate signage and identified weekend fulfillment needs, according to the website. The result was stores were fully prepared for the midnight madness blitz.

While the opportunities to grow are evident amid Wal-Mart’s renewed store focus, there are some challenges associated with merchandisers expanding into Northwest Arkansas, according to supplier consultants. Given that in-store merchandiser jobs in this area are part-time with wages between $8.25 and $12 per hour, there are always job openings. The same goes for many other regions across the country.

The local region is approaching full employment with a 4.3% unemployment rate in July and there are more than a dozen part-time merchandising job openings on any given day in the Bentonville market. That said, one reason why supplier service providers choose to locate a branch office in Northwest Arkansas is because of the close proximity to hundreds of Wal-Mart product suppliers who also have offices in the region.