Walmart dropping $35 order minimum on delivery
Out of milk, eggs, and other essential items you need quickly?
Walmart on Monday announced it is removing the $35 minimum order requirement for customers who use its 2-hour service.
Walmart’s Express delivery allows members to order items, including food, produce, general merchandise, essentials, toys and electronics. The service uses Walmart’s personal shoppers and prices are the same as what’s on store shelves.
Express delivery costs $10 on top of the existing delivery charge. But customers who pay either $12.95 a month or $98 annually to be a Walmart+ member pay only the $10 Express fee.
Walmart+ also offers free two-day and next-day shipping on items with no order minimum. There’s also free delivery of groceries if you’re in a delivery area.
It is one of several no-contact pickup and delivery options, including:
Pickup: Free curbside pickup where customers reserve a time and pickup location.
Delivery: Orders delivered to a customer’s door with a fee of $7.95 or $9.95 per delivery.
Free delivery: Walmart+ delivery as soon as same day for a $98 annual or $12.95 monthly fee.
Walmart’s Express delivery expanded last May as the coronavirus changed shopping habits. More consumers flocked to grocery delivery and curbside pickup services.
Walmart’s Express delivery is like Amazon’s Prime Now for Prime members. Prime Now offers 1-hour delivery and free 2-hour delivery, depending on the items.
Contact Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky and send food and restaurant news to: 313-222-6872 or sselasky@freepress.com. Follow @SusanMariecooks on Twitter.
TAMPA, Fla. — Alan Greene glanced at the scoreboard in George M. Steinbrenner Field, scanned the batting order and realized his son, Riley, was about to come up to bat for the Tigers.
Alan was watching the game on Monday afternoon with a group of friends — and one sunburned reporter — on a porch, down the third-base line, high over the field.
Alan hustled down the cement
bounding from one level to the next. He still looks and moves like an athlete — lean, muscular and fit. He works as a hitting coach and he has instructed more than 800 clients across Florida. He waved at an usher, walked briskly around the stadium, the nervous energy building, a universal emotion shared by all parents — we want our babies to succeed, even when they are young men — and he found a seat behind home plate, in the lower bowl, a perfect spot to watch his son.
It was Alan’s second trip from the porch to the concourse — Riley had already batted once, drawing a walk against three-time All-Star Gerrit Cole.
Alan pulled out his cell phone, crouched over, bracing his elbows on his knees to get a steady shot. His feet bounced with nervous energy. His black Nikes pumped like pistons — up and down, up and down.
Riley was in the batter’s box after getting his first start of the Grapefruit League season.
“Come on baby,” Alan thought. “Hit the ball. Please! Please!”
Can you imagine what it’s like to be the parent of one of the Tigers top prospects? Living in Florida and being able to take off a day of work, drive across the state early in the morning, hang out with friends and watch your kid play against the New York Yankees?
“Come on Riley!” somebody screamed from the stands.
Riley started wiggling — a little dance during his pre-hit routine, which he does to relax.
Alan built that swing after about “4 million swings,” and he still offers suggestions and tweaks. On Sunday night, Alan went through videos of Riley’s swing a few hours after the first game of the season and offered a couple of suggestions to his son — get your foot down. He sent Riley a picture of his stance and typed in notes.
“Don’t miss,” Alan thought. “Don’t miss.” Niko Goodrum took off from first base — a hit and run — and Greene drilled a 91 mph fastball up the middle for a clean, sharp base hit.
Alan didn’t flinch. He kept filming. No reaction. Not even when Riley stole second base.
“He's talented,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch would say about Riley after the game, a 5-4 loss to the Yankees. “I thought both of his at bats today were really impressive ... I think these new experiences for Riley are building blocks for him to get a little more comfortable in this environment.”
Consider him comfortable.
A father's pride
After the inning, Alan walked around the stadium and climbed the steps.
“Whew!” he said to a group of friends and shook his head.
They had switched from beer to water. It had already been a long day in the sun.
“We’ll take that line drive, won’t we Greenie,” Freddy Engel said.
Engel started coaching Riley in T-ball and remains a close family friend. They are all baseball people, pulled together by a love of this sport.
“That’s it — I’ll let him come home now,” Alan joked.
A Tigers scout texted Alan: “Great at bat.” Alan read the note and that got him going on the Tigers.
“The Detroit Tigers, the entire organization, is a class act,” he said. “Hinch is brilliant. This is awesome for Riley, just being around these guys.”
An eye for talent
Between breaks in the action, Alan’s friends start to repeat some of Alan’s coaching phrases:
“Stand tall.”
“Finish up.”
“Front foot 45.”
“Wait long, hit strong.”
“Hide your hands.”
I was jotting them down.
“How many are these things does Riley do?” I ask.
“Almost all of them,” Alan said.
But it was a walk that impressed me the most on Monday. He took a pitch with two strikes.
“Riley created a strike zone that is pretty incredible,” Alan said. “He knows those corners big time.”
“How do you think he got that eye?” I ask. “A lot of at-bats,” Alan said.
“That’s God given,” Engel argued.
“No, it’s not,” Alan said. Then he thought about it. “OK. It is God given. But it was a lot of work.”
'He's not gonna miss'
When Riley was 11, he hit seven home runs in one tournament.
On the way home, Alan asked him: “Riley, what makes you so good?”
“What?”
“Why don’t you miss?” Alan asked.
Riley explained that he was playing for his teammates, and he didn’t want to let them down. He wanted to win for them. So he had to get a hit. He had to drive in runs. For them.
And Alan says he thinks that will happen with the Tigers.
“I really feel as the camaraderie gets better — the coaches and players — he’s going to be even better,” he sad said. “He’s not gonna miss. He’s going to want to do it for them.”
I left the porch and walked toward the press box.
One thought kept coming back. I kept thinking about those rolls.
Riley wanted to lose weight, and even though those rolls were right in front of him — and this family loves to eat — he kept pushing them away. Wanting to lose weight. Determined and strong.
That says all you need to know about this kid.
The Pistons had one of their worst performances of the season on Sunday, coming out of the gate cold against the New York Knicks and losing by 19 points at home.
Based on just that game, nearly everyone’s stock is down. But even as losses have piled for the Pistons in recent weeks, they’ve seen some encouraging signs.
Stock up
Dennis Smith Jr.
The fourth-year point guard is beginning to hit his stride with the Pistons. His 17-point, sixassist outing Friday against the Kingsfelt like a breakout performance for him. It was his best scoring night since he scored 17 with the Knicks on Dec. 1, 2019. His dunk in the second quarter, which made rounds on NBA Twitter, was his first in exactly a year.
“My last was against Charlotte, I seen it because it popped up on my Facebook memories this morning,” Smith said Saturday. “It’s been exactly a year, but it was kinda like an energizer for the team, it felt like. We started to make a run at that time, our energy picked up on both ends. Just allowed us to be a little more competitive, I feel like.”
In his last three games before Sunday, Smith averaged 14.0 points, 4.7 assists, 1.3 steals and a block while shooting 52.7% from the field and 45.5% from 3. Until Delon Wright returns, likely after the All-Star break, from his groin strain, it appears the starting point guard spot is Smith’s to lose.
Saben Lee
The emergence of the rookie point guard this past week has been a welcome surprise for the Pistons. Lee is averaging in his last four games 13.5 points, 3.3 assists and 1.8 steals in 26 minutes per game while shooting 60% from the field. Prior to last week, he had only played spot minutes and appeared in eight games.
Very few defenders in the NBA can keep up with his first step, and Lee hasdone a good job at finding his shooters after drawing defenders on drives. He went 4-for-4 from deep against the Orlando Magic and New Orleans Pelicans last week, though he didn’t attempt a 3-pointer against the Kings on Friday and Knicks on Sunday.
“Saben this week, to go from not playing at all on a two-way contract, not having the G League and then stepping in playing in the NBA against (De’Aaron) Fox, who is one of the quickest point guards in the league,” Casey said Saturday. “Both of those young men got baptized by fire, Dennis not as much because he’s been in the league. With Saben, he’s done an excellent job. He’s a student of the game, he’s got a high basketball IQ and the future is going to be bright.”
Josh Jackson
Other than Jerami Grant, Jackson has arguably been Detroit’s best and most aggressive scorer in the month of February. He reached double figures in all but one game and has buoyed the second unit offensively. From Feb. 14 until Feb. 27, he averaged 16.9 points per game on 44.8% field goal shooting, with 46% of his shots coming at the rim, according to Cleaning the Glass. “With that second unit, he’s gotta be a spark plug,” Casey said. “He’s kinda our go-to guy with good decisions in that second group. He’s very capable of creating his own shot. He and I talk about it all the time, we watch film together on making the right decisions. That’s the key. He looks good... he’s learning.”
Stock down
Wayne Ellington
The veteran sharpshooter had a bounce-back game on Sunday, knocking down four of his six 3-point attempts. It was his first time making more than two 3-pointers in a game since Jan. 28.
Ellington was one of the hottest shooters in the NBA in January, but was shooting just 21.2% from 3 in February before his outing against the Knicks. Casey opted to move him to the bench Sunday in favor of Svi Mykhailiuk, and Ellington ended up having the better night. He and the Pistons are hoping his shooting woes are finally behind him.
Holding leads
After Sunday’s blowout loss to the Knicks, the Pistons have now lost six of their last seven games. Their two home losses over the weekend were a regression, as they had previously won four of their last five games at Little Caesars Arena.
Quarter-to-quarter consistency has been an issue all season. They led the Pelicans by 13 last Wednesday, but lost by 10. They led the Magic by 14 last Tuesday, but lost by nine. They led the Grizzlies and Chicago Bulls by 20-plus points the week before, and lost both games. Learning how to close out wins has been an ongoing process.
Raptors game pushed to Wed.
The NBA announced that the Pistons' road game against the Toronto Raptors, initially scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed to Wednesday due to ongoing contact tracing within the Raptors' organization.
The league is calling Wednesday's date “tentative,” and is pending on additional test results from Toronto.
TEMPE, Ariz. – J.J. Watt has agreed to a two-year contract with the Arizona Cardinals, showing that the franchise will be aggressive once again in their push to snap a five-year playoff drought.
The team announced the deal with the freeagent edge rusher on Monday. Watt was released last month by the Houston Texans, for whom he won three NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards.
A person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press that the total package is worth $31 million. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team did not reveal any terms.
A five-time All-Pro, Watt – who turns 32 in three weeks – has been one of the NFL’s best players for a decade, but asked out in Houston, which is undergoing a roster upheaval. Watt joins another former Texans star, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, in Arizona. Hopkins was acquired by the Cardinals in a one-sided trade a year ago.
Irv Cross, NFL player, pioneer Black analyst, dies at 81
PHILADELPHIA – Irv Cross, the former NFL defensive back who became the first Black man to work full-time as a sports analyst on national television, died Sunday. He was 81.
The Philadelphia Eagles, the team Cross spent six of his nine NFL seasons with, said Cross’ son, Matthew, confirmed his father died near his home in Roseville, Minnesota. The cause of death was not provided.
From Hammond, Indiana, Cross starred in football and track and field at Northwestern. He was drafted in the seventh round by Philadelphia in 1961, was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 1966 and returned to the Eagles in 1969 as a player coach for his final season. The two-time Pro Bowl cornerback had 22 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries, eight forced fumbles and a pair of defensive touchdowns. He also averaged 27.9 yards on kickoff returns and returned punts.
Cross joined CBS in 1971, becoming the first Black network sports show anchor. He left the network in 1994, and later served as athletic director at Idaho State and Macalester College in Minnesota. In 2009, he received the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle RadioTelevision Award.
Prince Philip moved to specialized London heart hospital
Prince Philip was transferred Monday to a specialized London heart hospital to undergo testing and observation for a preexisting heart condition as he continues treatment for an unspecified infection, Buckingham Palace said.
The 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II was moved from King Edward VII’s Hospital, where he has been treated since Feb. 17, to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, which specializes in cardiac care. As Philip was moved into a waiting ambulance for the transfer, people held up open umbrellas to shield him from photographers and the public.
The palace says Philip “remains comfortable and is responding to treatment but is expected to remain in hospital until at least the end of the week.’’
Philip was admitted to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London after feeling ill. His illness is not believed to be related to COVID-19. Both he and the queen, 94, received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in early January.
Foster fulfills promise to thank Packers QB at Globes
Jodie Foster thanked Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers at the Golden Globes, fulfilling a promise the actress had made before she won.
Foster clarified Sunday night that she did not introduce Rodgers to actress Shailene Woodley, who recently confirmed her engagement to the NFL’s MVP.
“I have never met Aaron Rodgers, but it is possible that I do like to talk about how much I love the Green Bay Packers,” Foster said in virtual comments backstage.
Foster won for supporting actress in a motion picture for “The Mauritanian,” in which she co-stars with Woodley.
A public back-and-forth between Foster and Rodgers began in early February, when he thanked her after being named MVP. Rodgers casually dropped in the news that he was engaged during his acceptance speech.
Foster later said on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” that she would thank Rodgers if she won a Globe, and she kept her promise.
Acho to host ‘Bachelor’ recap following racism allegations
Former pro football player Emmanuel Acho will step in as host of the special episode capping this season’s “The Bachelor,” after the series’ longtime host Chris Harrison temporarily stepped down after defending a contestant’s racist behavior.
Acho, author of last year’s New York Times bestseller “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man,” will lead the one-hour “The Bachelor: After the Final Rose” special, airing March 15 on ABC, when he will discuss the season with “Bachelor” star Matt James and his top three finalists.
James is the first Black lead of “The Bachelor” in the history of the popular series, which premiered in 2002 and is in its 25th season. During this season, the show has come under fire for giving female contestants of color less screen time compared to white contestants and for focusing the show on storylines centered around bullying by James’ white suitors for James rather than the romances.
One of the finalists, Rachael Kirkconnell, was criticized for appearing in a photo of her at a 2018 fraternity party celebrating the antebellum South, including its racist, slaveowning past. Harrison defended Kirkconnell when he was asked about her delay in addressing allegations of racism in her past, including her attendance at the party, in an interview on the entertainment news program “Extra.”