Following the retail supplier community
More than 20 years after the death of Sam Walton, nearly 1,300 suppliers have set up offices within a 27-mile radius of Wal-Mart’s home office in Bentonville.
The supplier community provides roughly 5,800 high-income jobs and brings further socio-economic development and cultural diversity to the region.
Having the supplier offices in Northwest Arkansas is one of the catalysts that buoys income levels and home prices higher than in surrounding counties. This sector also creates a critical mass of top talent from a vast array of industries related to products, services and supply-chain logistics. Not only does this sector support Wal-Mart, but many of the suppliers in Northwest Arkansas also do business with other large national and regional retail companies.
Talk Business & Politics, through the sponsorship of Propak, intends to enhance its coverage of this important economic sector. (Please submit your story tips, ideas and feedback here)
by - September 17, 2018 4:17 pm
With the shift of many retail categories to online, suppliers who typically have served brick-and-mortar stores are facing somewhat uncharted territory, according to Chris Moore, vice president of sales and…
by - August 13, 2018 9:41 am
Fayetteville brothers Austin and Quinn Simkins believe a family recipe handed down for four generations is their key to a national business. At ages 8 and 4, their grandmother began…
by - August 9, 2018 5:37 pm
With more households using subscriptions for consumables, services and entertainment, there is less need to shop in stores. Retailers of all sizes have felt the squeeze from Amazon and its…
by - August 1, 2018 3:16 pm
Leon Nicholas, vice president of retail insights at WestRock, believes consumers bolstered by a strong economy are calling the shots in retail by demanding best prices and ultimate convenience options….
by - July 26, 2018 2:29 pm
The start of the new school year is still a few weeks away. But with half of summer break already gone, retailers from Apple to Walmart have been busy announcing…
by - July 19, 2018 1:57 pm
Growing sweet potatoes for Walmart is a full-time, year-round job for Terris and Kim Matthews of Wynne, a city tucked away in Cross County near the northeastern edge of Arkansas….
by - July 16, 2018 5:08 pm
Salsa never looked back after it was crowned king of the condiment category over ketchup more than 25 years ago. Increased consumer demand for Hispanic food sparked the growth, according…
by - July 9, 2018 5:06 pm
Amazon’s move into the over-the-counter (OTC) drug business began late last summer when it launched its private label Basic Care, which included about 60 items such as ibuprofen and allergy…
by - July 5, 2018 11:41 am
When Walmart launched its Made in the USA agenda five years ago to support manufacturing jobs by sourcing an additional $250 billion in U.S.-made products, there were plenty of naysayers…
by - July 2, 2018 2:34 pm
The digital currency system Bitcoin is just one application of blockchain technology. And while it garners much attention, future retail applications are almost certain, according to Marshall Cohen, chief retail…
by - June 21, 2018 1:41 pm
Wine consumption is on the rise, with U.S. sales topping $62.7 billion last year. Walmart wants a part of that market and has spent the past year working to curate…
by - June 11, 2018 9:27 am
Last year, roughly 31% of U.S. consumers were likely to purchase groceries online. Overall, U.S. grocery stores rang up $641.04 billion in sales last year, with roughly $14.2 billion originating…
by - June 7, 2018 2:48 pm
When executive recruiter Cameron Smith first “hung out his shingle” in Northwest Arkansas in 1994, he said 48 Walmart supplier companies had offices in the area. Many of those teams…
by - May 21, 2018 2:30 pm
Retail-ready packaging or shelf-ready packaging is the standard at Walmart as the retail giant looks to simplify merchandising displays while also accelerating product sell-through without adding to the labor. Walmart…
by - May 9, 2018 12:39 pm
Consumers are driving radical changes in shopping behaviors, leaving brand manufacturers and retailers scratching their heads. There is no crystal ball or algorithm that truly knows when and why each…
by - May 2, 2018 5:39 pm
Competition will be stiff again this year as Walmart supplier companies and other organizations take a day off work on May 4 to take part in the fourth annual Corporate…
by - April 25, 2018 6:28 pm
Voice commerce is seen as the third wave in a retail evolution that began with e-commerce more than two decades ago, and the second wave being the growth of mobile…
by - April 24, 2018 12:45 pm
Blockchain technology is now much like the internet was in its early years. Its impact is hard to understand and predict. It’s like the Wild West, with few laws and…
by - April 11, 2018 1:23 pm
At about 1,300 in number, Walmart supplier companies have a strong presence in Northwest Arkansas. They are here to make sure the retailer has what it needs, but their involvement…
by - April 10, 2018 3:21 pm
Walmart Chief Merchandising Officer Steve Bratspies sent a memo to suppliers on Monday (April 9) detailing changes with “On-Time-In-Full” (OTIF) delivery requirements. The changes are retroactive to March 31. “As…
