With back-to-school season in full swing, Canadian families are getting ready for the new school year ahead with fresh notebooks, tech, backpacks – and that perfect back-to-school outfit. When they shop at Walmart, it’s Marlise, Walmart’s Senior Merchandising Director, Baby and Kids, who is responsible for the trend-focused, quality apparel they see on shelves.  We connected with her to hear more about her career journey, how we source apparel and her top picks for back-to-school kids’ clothing.

“Having the opportunity to fight for Canadians to get them the absolute best value in product gives me a strong sense of purpose and makes me feel proud to work here,” said Marlise Wilson, Senior Director, Merchandising, Kids and Baby.  “As a mom, I know how important quality and durability are to parents – especially because of how hard kids are on their clothes. That’s something we’re so mindful of. I want more customers to know about the love, care and attention that goes into the entire lifecycle of the products we sell.” 

For more than 15 years, Marlise has been part of Walmart’s apparel team, starting in women’s clothing and accessories and later moving to kids and baby. Earlier in her career, Marlise also worked for Asda in the UK, a former subsidiary of Walmart, where she was a Senior Buyer for Walmart’s private clothing brand, George. 

Marlise now leads a team of merchants in the kids and baby category and has a strong sense of pride in the processes her team takes to ensure parents are clothing their kids in quality products that last. And Canadians love what they source:  if you were to stack all the t-shirts we sell in one year at Walmart Canada into a pile in would be three times as tall as the CN Tower!

Those tees are a favourite of Marlise’s for back-to-school – and all year round! “As a mom of two, I “pantry load” on our $5 graphic tees since the value is amazing and the kids love them. While you’re in store, definitely buy our kids’ puffer jackets, too – they’re the perfect in-between season weight. They’re normally $18, which is an incredible value, but they’re currently on Rollback for $15.”

An inside look at the role of a Walmart Canada apparel merchant

Marlise describes the attention and care that goes into the entire lifecycle of Walmart’s kids and baby apparel with a sparkle in her eye, “We’re working hard for our customer every day – not just to get them the best price, but for the quality of the product we’re selling as well.”

Marlise and her team, work hand in hand with the Product Development department at Walmart Canada to understand trends in apparel including colour, fabric, themes, shapes and more, identify themes for Walmart, source products, and get them into stores. 

The Walmart Brands team is also focusing on sourcing key items more sustainably. Walmart Canada is working to source cotton in our private brand apparel and home textiles more sustainably. Plus, many items, like our kids puffer coats, are made from recycled materials. 

“During the design iteration process we’re testing the clothing to ensure no harmful chemicals are used and leveraging needle detection machines to test for performance and washability of the fabric,” Marlise explains. “We really stand behind the durability of our kids’ apparel at Walmart Canada. That’s why we have our Kids Quality Guarantee – if your child outwears an item of our private brand clothing before they outgrow it, we’ll replace it.” 

Check out Marlise’s top picks for back-to-school apparel – all available at our every day low prices: