Walmart Surprises Local Entrepreneuers with Invitation to 5th Annual Open Call Event

(CBS Detroit/BUSINESS WIRE) Walmart recently surprised local business owners with an invitation to Open Call, an annual event in which hundreds of entrepreneurs get the chance to pitch their products to Walmart buyers for a chance to land on Walmart store shelves and walmart.com.

The unsuspecting business owners were asked to come to their local Walmart store prepared to pitch their product to a store manager, while the store manager was waiting for the opportunity to share that their spot at the coveted event had already been secured.

Open Call is scheduled for June 13 at Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Four local entrepreneurs from the Metro Detroit area made the cut:

Customers can join the celebration and wish their local entrepreneurs luck on their journey to Open Call by joining conversations on social channels using #MadeinUSA and #WalmartOpenCall.

In all, 17 businesses were surprised – including women-, diverse-, and veteran-owned businesses. Hundreds more received an e-mail notification of acceptance to Open Call shortly after the surprise announcements. Invitees will travel to Walmart's headquarters next month from 48 states and Puerto Rico for one-on-one meetings with Walmart buyers. Some deals will happen on the spot, while others may take more time with follow-ups between buyers and potential suppliers after the event has ended.

© 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.           

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