When entering a Sparty’s, what is the first thing on your mind? Is it customer service, marketing or product deliveries? It is if you’re Joe Garza, the retail manager of Sparty’s, which has 21 different stores on campus.
Garza is no stranger to a Sparty’s-like atmosphere; growing up, his parents owned a fruit stand. He enjoyed his work there, so when he graduated from MSU, he started working for Dining Services, specifically in Wonder’s Cafeteria. He then began to work for Sparty’s, a new concept at MSU in 1994. Sparty’s expanded quickly, from one store to three, to eventually more than 20, adding things along the way, like MSU’s Cyber Café and most recently, Starbucks.
Garza’s job responsibilities as the retail manager are to oversee the day-to-day operations of each Sparty’s. He checks in with each department, from human resources to marketing, and everything in between. As a whole, Sparty’s services more than 65,000 customers each week, making guest services another huge part of Garza’s day to day. Garza says his main goal is to make sure Sparty’s is “delivering outstanding Spartan experiences” to students, faculty, staff and the rest of the MSU community.
As both an alumnus and employee, what is Garza’s favorite thing about MSU?
“I graduated from MSU, as did both my wife and son, and my daughter is a junior, so there’s a tradition here,” Garza said. “There’s a lot of pride in being at MSU. It’s something I’ve grown passionate about, and I just want to be a part of it all the time.”