Hello Texas

A small glimpse into Toyota's 'Hello Texas'

One of the things I like about living in Dallas is watching its economic development. There’s always a new building being erected; new restaurants, new retail and new companies moving in; new churches; new roads; you name it.  Even with all that, it’s not often that I get to see a company make a really big deal about their relocation to the area. But I got a chance to see it the other day.  

After recently announcing it was relocating, bringing over 4,000 jobs to the area, and building its own campus near my home (Hooray for property values!), Toyota North American decided to celebrate with a party they called ‘Hello Texas.’

I stopped by after work and was surprised by the magnitude of the event. I didn’t think it would be so grand and I definitely did not expect so many people to be there. Whatever advertising they used worked because the area was filled with people of all ages interested in taking part of the festivities.  

The all-day block party was something that only the world’s largest car maker could do. It was held on the lake at the Shops at Legacy with tent after tent of free food and beverages from the neighboring restaurants, live music, photo ops and autographs from Toyota sponsored athletes like NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace (my godson’s fave), face painting and other games and plenty of Toyotas, and even a Lexus or two, on display.  They even brought out comfy outdoor seating, like sofas, ottomans and coffee tables to make sure we felt compelled to stay awhile. 

The weather was really nice and it was the perfect day for an outdoor event. In fact, if I had known it would’ve been all that, I would've left work early and spent more time at the party.

All-in-all, it was great to see a corporation plant their stake in a community and bring everyone together to have a carefree, good ol’ time... on their dime.

They say everything’s bigger in Texas and Toyota made sure their ‘Hello Texas’ party showed that, even though they're new in town, they can hang with the big boys! 

Xo,