The Watermelon Story

1964 – The grand opening of Walmart Store 2

David Glass, former president and CEO of Walmart, was not impressed with his first visit to a Walmart store. In Sam Walton’s book, Made in America, David recalls his less-than-satisfying experience during the grand opening of Store 2 in Harrison, Arkansas, in 1964.

It was about 115 degrees, and the watermelons began to pop ...
- David Glass

"In those days, word was starting to get out that a guy named Sam Walton had some interesting retailing ideas. So I drove down from Springfield, Missouri, to see a Walmart opening. It was the worst retail store I had ever seen. Sam had brought a couple of trucks of watermelons in and stacked them on the sidewalk. He had a donkey ride out in the parking lot. It was about 115 degrees, and the watermelons began to pop, and the donkey began to do what donkeys do, and it all mixed together and ran all over the parking lot. And when you went inside the store, the mess just continued, having been tracked in all over the floor. Sam was a nice fellow, but I wrote him off. It was just terrible."

David Glass Day

In January 1995, that very same store held a grand reopening as a Supercenter. By this time, David Glass was president and CEO of Walmart. In honor of David's memorable visit to the store 31 years earlier, the associates dedicated the store to him and proclaimed it David Glass Day.

Store 2 associates had a surprise for David

And her name was Candy — the donkey. Candy wasn’t the donkey of the now famous Watermelon Story, but David had met her before, in 1978 at another Store 2 celebration. Now he had to live down his first impression of Walmart — for the second time. David Glass had to take a donkey ride on Candy.