Walmart begins test of grocery service
Walmart Inc. is testing a subscription service for grocery delivery, a spokesman confirmed Monday. Called Delivery Unlimited, the pilot program is underway in Houston; Miami; Tampa, Fla.; and Salt Lake City.
Customers can choose a $98-per-year subscription plan or pay $12.95 per month. Both plans include a 15-day trial period, according to Walmart's website.
"We're always looking for new ways to serve our customers and are constantly testing new concepts," the spokesman said. "We know they love Grocery Pickup and Delivery and we're exploring options for a program that allows customers to pay a fee for an unlimited number of grocery deliveries."
The Bentonville-based retailer already provides same-day delivery of online grocery orders of $30 or more for $9.95 per delivery in nearly 1,000 locations. It also offers free pickup of grocery orders placed online, sometimes referred to as click and collect, at about 2,450 stores.
In addition, Walmart recently said it will offer in-home grocery delivery, directly to refrigerators, in Kansas City, Mo.; Pittsburgh; and Vero Beach, Fla., starting this fall. The service will expand to about 70% of the U.S. over the next 12 months, the retailer said.
-- Serenah McKay
Arkansan gets post in agriculture group
Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward was elected vice president of the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture for 2019-20 at its annual conference held last week in Fort Worth.
"I am proud to represent Arkansas within the organization and look forward to helping lead the ... states and territories in promoting southern agriculture at the federal level," Ward said in a news release Monday.
Commissioners, secretaries and directors of agriculture from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and the U.S. Virgin Islands comprise the Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
Ward will host the group's annual conference in Arkansas in 2021.
Ward is from Lake City, about 10 miles east of Jonesboro, and has a bachelor's degree in agricultural business and a law degree with an emphasis in agriculture and food law. He also serves in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve as a captain and civil affairs officer.
He was appointed by the governor in March 2015.
-- Nathan Owens
Index gives up 2.83, finishes at 408.04
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Monday at 408.04, down 2.83 points.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 06/18/2019