Walmart Shareholders

10 • Walmart Shareholders • 2022 Democrat-Gazette Staff Walmart Inc. gave a tour and demonstration last November of its new drone operations in Pea Ridge. e retailer has been testing drone delivery in other states with different companies, but this is its first collaboration with Zipline. e Pea Ridge drones launch from a platform atop a bright blue, 25-foot tower behind the town's Neighborhood Market. An employee loads the drone with a box containing a customer's order. e drone, which looks like a small airplane with red wings, speeds down a runway and takes off for its target destination. When it reaches the customer's home, it releases the box, with a parachute, to drop into the backyard. Customers can track the device's status through the Zipline app. Walmart said Zipline drones can serve homes within a 50-mile radius and can deliver orders of "select" health and wellness items in as little as 30 minutes. "Zipline's aircra can help provide immediate access to needed items for both hard-to-reach and at-risk populations, such as rural communities and elderly customers," said Tom Ward, senior vice president of last-mile delivery for Walmart U.S. Pea Ridge, in northern Benton County, has a population of 6,559 and about 2,000 households, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2020 census. e drones' service area encompasses many small towns and unincorporated communities, as well as larger cities. Rogers is 8 miles from Pea Ridge, and Bentonville is 9 miles away. e Pea Ridge launch and landing structure, which the companies say is the first of its kind, houses several Zipline drones as well as a flight operations crew. e Bentonville-based retailer announced its plans for a Northwest Arkansas pilot program in September 2020, the same time it started testing drone delivery in Fayetteville, N.C. Walmart also said at the time that it was already using the autonomous devices for small "food pack" deliveries in Grand Forks, N.D. In the same month, Walmart began using drones to deliver covid-19 at-home testing kits in North Las Vegas, Nev., and Cheektowaga, N.Y. ose earlier trials use drone manufacturers Flytrex, an Israeli firm, and DroneUp, in which Walmart recently invested an undisclosed sum. By working with Walmart, Zipline will Walmart advances drone use NWA Democrat-Gazette/CHARLiE KAiJO Caleb Marston, maintenance technician with Zipline, (from left) and Frantz Lucien, maintenance and airworthiness technician with Zipline, disassemble a drone, Thursday, November 18, 2021 behind the Walmart Neighborhood Market on 240 Slack St. in Pea Ridge. Walmart demonstrated its new drone station in Pea Ridge in a media tour. The device by Zipline takes off from a 25-foot tower behind the Neighborhood Market. Although they have been testing drone delivery in other states, this is their first time using the company Zipline, which uses "propriety technology."

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