Walmart's drone delivery program has crossed the Mississippi into Florida for the first time, with Alphabet's Wing launching operations at an Apopka, Florida store on August 3, 2026 as the opening move in a five-store rollout across greater Orlando. The retailer says the wider partnership is on track to add 150 drone-enabled stores over the coming year, with St. Louis, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Miami named as next targets.
Eighteen drones live in Apopka on day one
Wing's Apopka launch site brought 18 delivery drones online at opening, according to Supermarket News. Four more Orlando-area Walmart stores are set to follow, giving the retailer roughly 30-minute delivery for tens of thousands of homes, apartments, and businesses in Central Florida. Wing said its "top 25% of customers" in the earlier Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta markets are now ordering drone deliveries three times a week, and total volume tripled in the first six months.
St. Louis expansion in the works
Wing is in active discussions with city officials in Manchester, Maplewood, St. Charles, and Glen Carbon on launch sites for a St. Louis expansion, with a public business-plan presentation scheduled in St. Charles. Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Miami round out Walmart's near-term wish list. "By expanding drone delivery to new major metro areas, we are helping more customers solve their last-minute needs faster than ever before," Walmart senior vice president of digital fulfillment transformation Greg Cathey said in a Wing blog post.
Regulatory tailwinds behind the ramp
The expansion arrives in a year of accelerating US drone-delivery activity. DoorDash secured its own FAA Part 135 certificate in late July for an in-house drone fleet, while Zipline continues to build its healthcare book with Cleveland Clinic and BayCare among other partners covered in recent Zipline coverage. Wing's incremental push through Walmart still puts the Alphabet subsidiary at the head of the US retail drone delivery race by store footprint.
Reporting based on coverage from Supermarket News, Supply Chain Dive, and Wing.