FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020, file photo, signage is pictured at a Walmart store in Oklahoma City.
Walmart announced Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2021, that it plans to build warehouses at its stores where self-driving robots will fetch groceries and have them ready for shoppers to pick up in an hour or less.
Walmart declined to say how many of the warehouses it will build, but construction has started at stores in Lewisville, Texas; Plano, Texas; American Fork, Utah; and Bentonville, Arkansas, where Walmart’s corporate offices are based.
Walmart hopes the warehouses will speed up curbside pickups, where orders are brought outside to shoppers' cars.
The wheeled robots carry crates of apple juice, cereal and other small goods to Walmart workers, who then bag them for shoppers.