Crossmark Center for Collaboration Debuts

Sales and marketing services company Crossmark has opened its new Center for Collaboration in Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s hometown of Bentonville, Ark. In fact, the center is just a few feet away from the mega-retailer's headquarters. Featuring the latest collaborative technology, Crossmark's new facility is aligned with Walmart's aim of working more closely with its suppliers.

"This center facilitates collaborative discussions in close proximity to Walmart, with rooms intended for joint business planning, product presentations, virtual modulars and the facilitation of innovative ideas," noted Ben Fischer, CEO of Plano, Texas-based Crossmark, at the facility's July 10 grand opening, which was attended by more than 150 Walmart officials and key suppliers.

"The Crossmark Center for Collaboration provides an ideal venue to have cross-functional meetings with Walmart," added Paul Wood, Samsung VP-Walmart and Sam's Club Team, at the same event. "Historically, it's been very difficult to get everyone in the same room, at the same time and in front of live product. Now that's not an issue."

Additional features of the 18,562-square-foot center include nine joint business-planning rooms with flat-panel displays, a presentation kitchen where food samples can be displayed in a consumer/home environment, a solutions center focusing on on-shelf availability and shopper research, two rooms with 8-foot-by-16-foot PRYSM digital touchscreen walls, and one large second-floor space that can accommodate more than 100 people.