NEW ORLEANS (press release) – Walmart, in collaboration with Greater New Orleans, Inc. and Techplug yesterday hosted the 2026 Walmart Road to Open Call in New Orleans at The Shop at CAC, connecting local entrepreneurs directly with Walmart. The event gave over 20 small businesses the chance to pitch American-made, shelf-ready products to Walmart merchants and advance toward Walmart’s annual Open Call, scheduled for Oct. 6–7 in Bentonville, Arkansas.
“There is no bigger platform for getting local products in front of customers than Walmart,” said Michael Hecht, president and CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc. “Greater New Orleans has extraordinary entrepreneurs and companies producing world-class products. Yesterday, some of them took a major step toward putting those products in the hands of millions of consumers while gaining the experience of pitching to a global retail leader.”
During the event, five companies earned a Fast Pass — an invitation to pitch their products directly to Walmart buyers at the 2026 Open Call event at the company’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, for a chance to get their products on store shelves.
Part of a nationwide event series, Road to Open Call identifies and helps provide resources for small businesses to scale with Walmart. The New Orleans stop marked the second event in the series, with additional stops planned in Dallas, Los Angeles, Orlando, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Salt Lake City, and Atlanta.
Leading up to the event, Walmart, Greater New Orleans, Inc. and Techplug selected small businesses, many from the Greater New Orleans region, across categories including food and beverage, beauty, safety, and consumer goods. Entrepreneurs pitched directly to Walmart merchants and received immediate feedback on product readiness, scalability, and next steps.
“Supporting small businesses is central to Walmart’s commitment to U.S. manufacturing,” said Mark Espinoza, senior director of Public Affairs at Walmart. “Road to Open Call creates a direct path for entrepreneurs to connect with our merchants and move closer to becoming Walmart suppliers.”
Since launching in 2014, Walmart Open Call has helped hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses become Walmart suppliers, supporting local communities and accelerating innovation. The program is part of Walmart’s broader commitment to strengthening U.S. manufacturing, investing in American-made products, and creating jobs across the U.S.
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