April 16, 2026 (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.”