Does anyone out there in the ether have experience working for a company that either sells heavily to Walmart or licenses brands from Walmart? I would love to hear your experience ( positive or negative). What have you found to be different from other licenses or other companies ? Curious as I see a few jobs out there that are looking for this type of designer.
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I used to work at a private label company that sold quite a bit into Walmart for swimwear and coverups. I actually never had a problem working with Walmart as a designer… Of course I know the margins are razor thin, and so we were always trying to find ways to tweak the design so it could cost into their narrow pricing brackets. (re-space so there are less rhinestones, add CB seams, etc).
Overall the design experience was a lot like other private label… lots of cooks in the kitchen, lots of tiny adjustments constantly, and lot of samples (though I’m guessing they now probably require more 3D designs, to cut down on samples). You’re basically at WalMart’s beck and call to adjust linesheets etc at their every whim, so patience and the ability to be on top of these adjustments are key.
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It’s a lot of work for (a lot of time) very little $ reward for the company. But as a designer, it’s just like @twirlgirl said. Lots of little changes constantly, lots of cooks in the kitchen. It’s a full time job, I found it hard to do any other accounts when I was doing Walmart. And depending on the structure of your company, lots of imputing things into their PLM.
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Which categories are you referring? Womens? Mens? Tween? Kids? Baby?
Li & Fung, Earthbound, Adjmi, Garan is ones I can think of Walmart dedicated/strong relationship companies. Also other companies/brands do Walmart(they have national brands) not just their own private labels.
Based on job search/interview/offer/experience/friends who works, its very vary by brands/division.
Walmart buying team all sounded like notorious with constant changes/updates/last min/chasing… and expect vendors comply right away…
Plus, working with their design team(sounded less fun as designer) or offering full line to could play the different for workwise-
Their unit is so… rewarding, so lots of companies all want their business- competitive, costing challanges…
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