For all the talk of Amazon and drone deliveries, an unsuspecting competitor has beaten the online conglomerate to the drone delivery punch — the (in)famous 7-Eleven convenience store chain.

According to a report by TechCrunch, 7-Eleven paired up with tech startup Flirtey to make the first home delivery via drone in the United States of America. It took place in Reno, Nevada on July 10th and while the location may seem odd to some, it makes perfect sense for the companies.

That’s because Flirtey is based in Reno and builds and operates drones to make deliveries that are needed in humanitarian and health work, retail and food industries. Meanwhile, 7-Eleven can test something it could bring to roughly 10,800 stores in North America if these tests go right.

Perhaps the best part of it all? The family that placed the drone order got Slurpees, a chicken sandwich, donuts, hot coffee and candy per TechCrunch’s report. Stoners perhaps?

It’s another step in a plan to diversify what many associate with the brick and mortar stores. Pairing this type of delivery with its already available online ordering platform could eliminate the need for partnerships with the likes of postmates and other services.

Cutting the middle delivery service out of the equation would certainly be a smart move for the bottom line of the huge convenience store chain.

What makes this partnership between 7-Eleven and Flirtey interesting is that it’s a partnership that gives the two an ability to create purpose-built drones from scratch, rather than retro-fitting other companies drones. Most importantly, the company also controls the software side of the drones as well.

This was just one drone run, but it could be coming to a city or town near you sooner than you think. That’s because changes are coming to the rules that govern the national airspace. The FAA is expected to open up the ability for these unmanned aircrafts to share the airspace legally in the next few months.

Once that happens, it could be game on for having things picked up and delivered via a remotely controlled vehicle.

Welcome the flying future your parents kept telling you they dreamed about as a kid!

[TechCrunch]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!