up in the air

Walmart picks Houston for expanded drone delivery service

Walmart is bringing drone delivery to Houston.

Courtesy of Walmart

Coming soon to Houston-area skies: drones delivering Walmart purchases to customers.

The retailer is expanding its drone delivery service to five markets: Houston; Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Orlando, Florida; and Tampa, Florida.

Walmart already offers drone deliveries in Dallas-Fort Worth and Bentonville, Arkansas, where it’s based. In DFW, Walmart is adding supercenters to the region’s current 18-store lineup.

The drone service in the five new markets will launch at 100 Walmart supercenters. Walmart has yet to specify when the drone deliveries will begin in the new cities.

“As we look ahead, drone delivery will remain a key part of our commitment to redefining retail. We’re pushing the boundaries of convenience to better serve our customers, making shopping faster and easier than ever before,” said Greg Cathey, senior vice president of Walmart’s U.S. transformation and innovation arm.

Teaming up with drone provider Wing, Walmart delivers purchases to customers’ homes within a six-mile aircraft range of a store.

“This is real drone delivery at scale,” said Adam Woodworth, CEO of Wing, which is owned by Google’s parent company. “People all around the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex have made drone delivery part of their normal shopping habits over the past year. Now we’re excited to share this ultra-fast delivery experience with millions more people across many more U.S. cities.”

Today, Wing makes thousands of Walmart deliveries per week in the DFW and Bentonville markets, with an average order fulfillment time of less than 19 minutes.

In Houston and the other new markets, Walmart customers will be able to choose from thousands of items that can be sent via drone. Wing explains that before completing the checkout process on its delivery app, a Walmart customer can pinpoint a location for their delivery, such as their home’s front yard or backyard.

“Then your items will be packed into a specialized box before a Wing delivery drone takes off at your local Walmart store, retrieves the order, and then cruises up to 65 mph to your home. The drone then gently lowers the package to the ground just minutes after takeoff,” Wing says on its website.

To find out more about the availability of Walmart drone deliveries in the Houston area, visit wing.com/walmart.

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beyond the stacks

Texas public libraries generate billions in economic impact, report finds

Houston Public Library/Facebook

Houston shines brighter with its public library system.

A new statewide study examining the economic impacts of public libraries has revealed they have generated over $3.8 billion in value to local communities — a return of $4.74 for every $1 invested.

The report, "Beyond the Stacks: Measuring the Economic and Community Value of Texas Public Libraries" was conducted by third-party consultancy JBK Economics Group in partnership with the Texas Library Association. About 300 of the total 513 public libraries in Texas participated in a survey for the report.

A major finding from the survey revealed that public libraries create billions in economic value for the communities they serve at a fraction of what it costs to pay employee wages and benefits, operating expenditures, and capital expenditures. About 11,200 jobs were directly and indirectly supported by public libraries, the report found.

The report found its $4.74 to $1 ratio by adding up the total value of the services provided by these institutions (an estimated $2.48 billion), and comparing it to total expenditures ($808.6 million).

"Public libraries had about the same economic footprint as the Texas motion picture and sound recording industry ($2.9 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024) or the Texas paper manufacturing industry ($4.0 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024)," the report said.

Many Houstonians are already familiar with Houston Public Library's expansive catalog and programming, but there are many more services the library provides that might fly under the radar. A few examples include access to subscription-based research databases and news outlets, and the Library of Things, a collection of cookware and bake ware, musical instruments, craft kits, and other tools or activity materials that are available for cardholders to borrow. Individual branches also provide free Wi-Fi, computer access, and meeting spaces.

Houston-area residents also have access to services at several other local libraries depending on their address, such as the Harris County Public Library, Montgomery County Memorial Library System, or Fort Bend County Libraries, just to name a few.

These are additional services and partnerships that Texas public libraries commonly provide, per the survey results:

93 percent provide voter registration and/or serve as voting locations
84 percent provide partnerships with local social services agencies
82 percent provide job application assistance
68 percent facilitate applications for government benefits
38 percent provide on-site social services
30 percent provide telehealth rooms and/or resources

"Public libraries are practical, welcoming and rooted in the communities they serve — they are unmistakably Texan," said Texas Library Association executive director Shirley Robinson in a press release. "This study puts a dollar value on the opportunities libraries create every day. Whether someone visits a library to apply for a job, access the internet, learn a new skill or simply find a new favorite book, those services create real value for Texans and their communities."

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