Walmart, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, is expanding by constructing a new corporate campus on the east side of town. While the company's current building seems unassuming, the new campus, designed like a college campus, consists of twelve buildings spread over 350 acres and is estimated to cost $1 billion. Bentonville, often referred to as Vendorville, has a close-knit relationship with Walmart and its vendors. The town, with a population of over fifty thousand, has experienced exceptional growth, closely tied to the expansion of Walmart. However, this growth has brought about significant wealth disparity.
The Walton family, the richest family globally, with an estimated net worth of $225 billion, has been instrumental in shaping Bentonville. Their extensive contributions include the construction of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and a new medical school, both bearing the Walton name. Additionally, Sam's grandchildren have invested in the city, funding an art and music festival and promoting Bentonville as the "mountain biking capital of the world."
Despite these contributions, there's an underlying disparity within Bentonville. Statistics reveal that nearly half of the children in Northwest Arkansas are growing up in families with low incomes, while the top 1% of households in the region earn an average of $2 million annually, making it one of the most unequal regions in America. This stark wealth contrast is exacerbated by Walmart's business practices.
Walmart's expansion strategy, including the construction of new buildings and, at times, the abandonment of older stores, has led to economic challenges in the communities it operates in. The company's actions, such as implementing restrictive covenants in old buildings and exploiting tax loopholes, have further fueled inequality and deprived local communities of essential tax revenue.
Moreover, Walmart's employment practices, historically marked by low wages and resistance to unionization, have had a profound impact on workers. The company's influence on the labor market has been so significant that it has driven down wages in the areas where it establishes its Supercenters. Furthermore, many Walmart workers are reliant on government public assistance programs, effectively shifting the burden onto taxpayers.
While Walmart's dominance in the grocery sector has resulted in a substantial portion of SNAP dollars running through its cash registers, the exact amount the company receives from SNAP remains undisclosed due to a Supreme Court ruling. Walmart's exploitation of these programs underscores the complexities of its impact on local communities and the broader national economy.
The Waltons, through their extensive wealth and influence, have shaped Bentonville's landscape. Their contributions, however, are juxtaposed with the underbelly of wealth disparity, labor exploitation, and the leveraging of government programs. The dynamics of power and influence within Bentonville raise critical considerations about the societal and economic impact of corporate giants like Walmart and the responsibilities they hold towards the communities they operate in.
WALMART, Chick-fil-A, and 7-11 are rolling out new technology that aims to deliver items to customers in a matter of minutes.
The three mega-brands will be the first companies to launch a new drone delivery service with the Virginia startup DroneUp.
DroneUp CEO Tom Walker introduced the company's proprietary autonomous drone "ecosystem" on Tuesday, saying it could revolutionize last-mile logistics.
The system differs from existing drone delivery because it includes a climate-controlled locker, referred to as DBX, where drones pick up packages.
The DBX is said to be smaller than a single parking space, allowing smaller retailers to use the new technology too.
The lockers can serve as delivery hubs on college campuses and in cities, giving more people access to drone delivery.
The company says the secure lockers will help ward off porch pirates and can be used by customers seeking to make returns as well.
When making deliveries, the drones automatically know where to go in the sky, and have the power to avoid any aircraft along the way.
They travel 60 miles per hour within a 30-mile range and pick up packages using a claw-like grabber that can carry up to 10 pounds safely.
HOW IT WORKS
The first step in the drove delivery is a customer placing an order online.
Retail or restaurant staff will then box up the customer's order and attach a specific barcode to the package.
Once the box is scanned into the system, an employee will place it into the DBX locker, where it is weighed and shelved for pickup.
The locker is climate-controlled, meaning the items are kept at the right temperature.
When the item is ready, a drone is dispatched to the landing pad on top of the DBX.
The drone lands on top of the locker and the item is loaded onto the drone via a platform that raises from the top of the DBX.
The company says that the drones are remotely piloted for speed and efficiency as the item heads to its dropoff location.
The entire process is shown in a video on DroneUp's website, which notes that each drone can make 50 deliveries per hour.
"Order goes from store to customer in a matter of minutes," the company said.
The customer then grabs the box from the dropoff point, whether it be their front step or another convenient location.
'DEMOCRATIZING AIRSPACE'
DroneUp has been working with retailers and quick-service restaurants for years, gaining valuable insight into the speed and convenience that customers want from drone delivery, the CEO said.
Walker believes that combining "flying robots" with ground-based automation will allow retailers to lower the cost of delivery.
The average cost of drone delivery is $38 per trip, but 80% of that cost is due to labor, according to Walker.
"When we put in a DBX, all that labor cost comes out. So overnight, my delivery cost goes from $38 to sub-$10," the CEO told Axios.
"I'm now competitive with every other last-mile provider, but I'm faster and more reliable."
Walker believes that this solves many common problems involved in the delivery process.
"We're going to democratize the airspace," he said.
"You could be Joe's Tailor Shop and you can have access to this for the same price that a Walmart has access to it.
"All you have to do is print out the barcode and put the barcode on the package."
DroneUp has already rolled out the DBX in Virginia Beach and Dallas and plans to expand to other markets in late 2024.
