You may hear a buzz in the air soon within a mile of 11 Dallas-area Walmart stores, but it’s not the sound of an early electric Santa sleigh. It’s another sign that commercial drones are becoming more and more a part of our daily lives.

Walmart has expanded its drone delivery partnership with Virginia-based DroneUp into Texas—and all 11 stores in the expansion are right here in the Dallas area. Last May, the big-box giant announced plans to bring drone delivery to 4 million U.S. households in six states by the end of this year: Texas, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Utah, and Virginia.

Now it’s putting that plan in practice from Walmart stores in Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Garland, Mesquite, Murphy, Rowlett, and The Colony.

‘Thousands’ of ‘futuristic’ Walmart drone deliveries have already been made

DroneUp employee watching a Walmart delivery drone in action. [Photo: Walmart]

Walmart says it has successfully executed thousands of same-day drone deliveries to date. The company is so high on the service, it invested in DroneUp last June.

“Drone delivery makes it possible for our customers to shop those last-minute or forgotten items with ease, in a package that’s frankly really cool. Being on the forefront of that innovation at Walmart is something we’re proud of,” Vik Gopalakrishnan, VP of innovation & automation for Walmart U.S., said in a statement. “It may seem like a futuristic option, but it’s giving our customers what they’ve always wanted, and that’s time back to focus on what is most important to them.”

The DroneUp deliveries are overseen by a team of certified pilots operating within FAA guidelines to safely manage flight operations, Walmart says. Deliveries will be made to the safest location at each customer’s home—whether it’s the front yard, back yard, or driveway. 

How it works

To use the service, customers must live within a mile of the participating stores on the list below. They can place orders through www.droneupdelivery.com from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., ordering from more more than 10,000 eligible Walmart items weighing up to 10 pounds.

The drones deliver delicately, so Walmart says people can even order fragile items like eggs, with deliveries arriving out of thin air in as little as 30 minutes. The delivery fee is $3.99, with no order minimums. By using promo code FreeDeliveryTX, customers using the drone delivery for the first time will have the delivery fee waived.

The items are packaged and loaded into a drone at each Walmart location. But customers won’t see a drone land in their yards. Instead, the drone will hover above their yard and lower the package via a cable to the ground below.

“Our mission is to set the gold standard for drone delivery and by partnering with Walmart, bring the incredible benefits that drones offer to local communities, organizations, and businesses,” Tom Walker, CEO of DroneUp, said in the statement. “Our approach is unique; we practice safety above all else and incorporate state-of-the-art technology. Our strong relationship with the FAA has also been critical to our success as we build an infrastructure that supports growth and great career programs for operators now and in the future.”

Stores delivering by drone in the Dallas area

If you live within a mile of the Walmart stores below, you can use the drone delivery service. But to be sure, you can confirm the service is available at your address by visiting the DroneUp website:

• Neighborhood Market #3015
  2827 S Buckner Blvd, Dallas, TX 75227
• Neighborhood Market #5021
  2275 Gus Thomasson Rd, Dallas, TX 75228
• Neighborhood Market #2975
  3959 Broadway Blvd, Garland, TX 75043
• Walmart Supercenter #3224
  555 W Interstate 30, Garland, TX 75043
• Walmart Supercenter #1800
  1801 Marketplace Dr, Garland, TX 75041
• Walmart Supercenter #2973
  115 West Fm 544, Murphy, TX 75094
• Neighborhood Market #5657
  3100 Custer Rd, Plano, TX 75075
• Neighborhood Market #2974
  1501 Buckingham Rd, Richardson, TX 75081
• Neighborhood Market #2976
  915 N Town East Blvd, Mesquite, TX 75150
• Walmart Supercenter #3225
  2501 Lakeview Pkwy, Rowlett, TX 75088
• Walmart Supercenter #426
  4691 State Highway 121, The Colony, TX 75056

Service was celebrated today at a Southern Dallas school

To celebrate today’s drone delivery launch, Walmart and DroneUp held an event this morning at Piedmont G.L.O.B.A.L. Academy in Southern Dallas. The companies offered a hands-on drone flight and delivery demo and additional simulated activities for Advanced via Individual Determination (AVID) students. During the event, Walmart donated $5,000 to the school along with graphing calculators to be used in the classroom.

Drone delivery has already been happening in DFW

Flytrex delivery drone over Granbury. [Photo: Flytrex]

These aren’t the first drone deliveries to touch down in Dallas-Fort Worth. In October 2021, Walgreens partnered with Alphabet-owned Wing to make drone deliveries in Frisco and Little Elm. Wing also partnered with Hillwood to deliver Blue Bell ice cream, pet meds, and first-aid products from Frisco Station. Last March, Brinker International partnered with Israel-based Flytrex to drone-deliver wings from a Chili’s in Granbury. 

And just this week, Wing—a sister company of Google—opened its second U.S. drone delivery “remote operations center” in the Dallas suburb of Coppell, north of DFW Airport.

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