New Aggie Marketplace Faces New Year Struggles
With the increase in the freshman population and the new Living and Learning Community almost at full capacity, the Aggie Marketplace has been struggling with overcrowding this year.
The increased number of people eating there this year has had some detrimental effects on the Marketplace in general.
On the evening of Thursday, Sept. 13, the Marketplace reached almost full capacity, and employees had to tell incoming students to wait a few minutes until the crowds died down.
Anderson said every Thursday night, the Marketplace, located in the Taggart Student Center, hosts the Coach’s Show and HURD nights. Members of HURD get free admittance to the Coach’s Show and the Marketplace on these nights.
“It has been so phenomenally successful,” Anderson explained, “more successful than… I or any of us expected. We do have a capacity in there, fire codes. It’s a safety issue.”
Along with the increase in Marketplace foot traffic, more people are now needed to run the food stations. Long lines are partially because of the gaps between hiring new staff members.
“We try to hire as many students as we can,” Anderson said. “We do everything we can. We get all of our students hired as quickly as possible.”
Since most students cannot come early to school, the beginning of the year is the busiest at the Marketplace, Anderson said.
“You can’t hire anybody until they get here,” he said.
This, he said, accounts for the low staff numbers at the beginning of the year which in turn makes lines longer. Students also may have to quit throughout the year due to schedule changes or other conflicts.
Anderson also said the way the food is served has a huge impact on the lines. He explained that one of the Marketplace’s goals is fresh food, saying lines are inherent with the way they do business. The Marketplace differs from other on-campus dining areas because it is mostly made-to-order stations. The stations range from made-to-order pastas to Mongolian barbecue and sandwiches. Pizzas are also a popular menu item, with Chef Chris Ball making up to 150 pizzas on any given a day.
The staff’s dedication to freshness and making meals to order is the big reason for lines, Anderson said.
Executive Chef Don Donaldson described the different foods that are ordered daily to ensure that the Marketplace keeps up with its demanding stations.
“We’re constantly steaming vegetables and dicing fresh peppers and onions,” Donaldson said.
He said with the larger crowds this year, the staff members are ordering almost twice as much bread and other things that they use daily.
With the goal of having fresh food and keeping the lines down, Anderson and Donaldson continue to commit to serve the best interest of the students. Donaldson said their goal is serve food to students as quickly as they can.
Anderson said as the year goes on, the Martketplace will be more accustomed to the larger crowds and service will only get better. “We’re always evolving,” Donaldson said.
-liz.w@aggiemail.usu.edu