When Maria Roa asked her then 3-year-old daughter, Amanda, how she wanted to celebrate her next birthday, she got an answer she didn't expect. Maria assumed her daughter would want a party theme that celebrated her favorite animated characters. Instead her daughter said she wanted her party to feature her favorite store, Walmart.
Months went by, and Maria assumed her daughter would change her mind. "Then I asked her once again the same question, and to my surprise her answer did not change," Maria said. "She said, 'My party will be decorated like Walmart, because you should decorate your parties like your favorite things, and mine is Walmart!'" She told her mom she wanted the decorations to feature the Walmart logo, the Spark.
Stumped, Maria contacted Walmart to see if she could purchase a Spark piñata or anything that might satisfy her daughter. Again, she got another response she wasn't expecting -- Walmart not only wanted to help, the associates at the Tomball, Texas, supercenter wanted to throw a party for their biggest fan.
So on Dec. 30, Amanda arrived at the store with her family expecting to pick up some last-minute items for her party. Instead her mother led her to a room in the back of the store that was decked out in blue and yellow and filled with Amanda's friends, family and Sparky, the Walmart mascot.
"Amanda was in shock," her mother said. "She could not believe what was right in front of her."
Amanda got her wish -- including the Spark piñata.
