Louisiana Entrepreneur Hoping to Land Product on Walmart Shelves

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — On June 30, more than 900 small businesses from across the country pitched their U.S.-made products to Walmart and Sam’s Club merchants at the company’s annual “Open Call” event. 

Of those businesses, 167 are advancing to the next stage in hopes of landing a deal with Walmart or Sam’s Club, and another 705 are receiving further consideration. One small business from Louisiana, Houdini Lock Lube manufactured by Protexall Products, Inc., is among those advancing to the next round with hopes of landing its product on Walmart and Sam’s Club shelves.   

Based in Pearl River, Houdini Lube Lock is a premier lock lubricant used by professional locksmiths for more than 40 years. Historically sold only to the trades, it is now available to consumers through select retailers for use in repairing household locks including electronic key locks.

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“Houdini Lube Lock is a clean, citrus scented lubricant that clears gunk other lubricants can attract,” said company owner Mark Alleman. “We would love to get our product into the hands of more consumers, giving them a premier product to handle the most precise maintenance applications. Our brand is well-positioned for the next level of growth and expansion, and Walmart is the ideal partner to get us there.”            

“Open Call supports Walmart’s overall commitment to U.S Manufacturing and small businesses. In March, Walmart announced an additional spend of $350 billion on items made, grown or assembled in the U.S. over the next ten years,” said Laura Phillips, senior vice president, customer and business development and U.S. manufacturing for global sourcing at Walmart. “We also announced our American Lighthouses concept, which strives to accelerate progress on this commitment.”

Walmart’s Lighthouses are a plan to unite key stakeholders in specific regions of the country to identify and overcome top-down barriers to U.S. production. They will focus on these categories: textiles; metals and motors; food processing; plastics; pharmaceutical and medical supplies.

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Businesses who advanced during Open Call will continue working with merchants on opportunities to sell their products in Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs. All businesses who took part in Open Call are eligible to sell their shelf-stable products on Walmart’s various online platforms Walmart.com, Walmart Marketplace or Samsclub.com

Open Call supports Walmart’s overall $350 billion commitment to U.S. Manufacturing. In addition to an increase in spending and support for small businesses and diverse suppliers, the company estimates the commitment will support the creation of more than 750,000 new American jobs and will help avoid 100 million metric tons of CO2 emissions by sourcing closer to customers.

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