Tacoma residents may eventually be able to order a forgotten dinner ingredient, household essential or over-the-counter medicine—and watch it descend from the sky minutes later.
Representatives for Walmart and its drone-delivery partner, Wing, submitted a building-permit application September 9 for the Walmart Supercenter at 1965 South Union Avenue. The proposal calls for installing fencing and storage equipment for drone operations in a section of the store’s parking lot.
Documents submitted with the application show that the operation would occupy approximately 26 existing parking spaces. Plans include a six-foot fence, drone-storage pods, landing and charging equipment, and battery-powered generators.
The permit lists an estimated project value of $10,000 and a tentative November construction date. Those dates frequently change during the permit process, however, and the application was still undergoing the City of Tacoma’s initial screening and intake review when the proposal became public.
In other words, Tacoma does not have drone delivery yet—and the permit does not guarantee that it will.
If the project proceeds, customers would place orders through the Wing Drone Delivery app and select a precise drop-off location, such as a driveway or backyard. Walmart says thousands of smaller products can qualify, ranging from groceries and household necessities to games and health products.
Once an order is prepared, the package is secured beneath a drone that rises to a cruising altitude of approximately 150 feet. The aircraft can travel at about 65 mph and has an approximate six-mile range from the store.
When the drone reaches the customer’s home, it hovers roughly 20 feet above the selected location and lowers the package on a tether. The package releases automatically when it touches the ground, allowing the drone to return to the store without landing in the customer’s yard.
Wing advertises deliveries in as little as 30 minutes. Walmart reported in May that its various drone partners had completed more than one million deliveries, with an average delivery time of 23 minutes.
Tacoma would represent a new market for the service. Wing currently operates with Walmart in several metropolitan areas and lists numerous additional cities as coming soon, but Tacoma does not yet appear on its public market list. Walmart and Wing have not announced a Tacoma launch date or confirmed precisely which neighborhoods would qualify.
City officials told KOMO News that they were unaware of any Tacoma municipal restrictions specifically addressing retail drones. Any operation would still need to comply with state requirements and federal aviation regulations. Wing operates commercial deliveries under a Federal Aviation Administration air-carrier certificate.
The proposal is likely to produce questions as well as curiosity. Similar drone projects elsewhere have prompted discussions about noise, privacy, safety and the effects of repeated flights over residential neighborhoods.
For now, Tacoma shoppers should keep looking for delivery drivers rather than delivery drones. But the permit application offers the clearest indication yet that Walmart believes Tacoma could be ready for packages arriving by air.
Watch a demonstration of how it works here.
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