Contact: Sasha Steinberg
Photo by: Megan Bean
STARKVILLE, Miss.--The Joe Frank Sanderson Center at Mississippi State University now is home to a full-service smoothie bar.
Open to all, JUVA Juice's fall semester hours of operation are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and 2-7 p.m. Sunday. Hours are subject to change, however.
Justin Mitchener, a 2005 physical education/sports communication graduate of the university, founded JUVA Juice in 2003. He expressed gratitude for the "unbelievable opportunity" to open the company's second location at his alma mater.
"We always have had a lot of customers come into our store on Highway 12 after they get done working out," the Starkville native said. "A lot of our clientele also come to the Sanderson Center, so I thought it would be the perfect place, especially for students who live on campus."
A third JUVA Juice location also opened earlier this week in Tupelo.
In addition to fresh-fruit smoothies currently offered at the JUVA Juice in Starkville's Southdale Shopping Center, the company's MSU location features a menu of pre- and post-workout products, as well as other meal and snack options. "We use real fruit in our smoothies, so they taste good and are a lot better for you," Mitchener said.
Laura Walling, MSU's recreational sports director, said the addition of JUVA Juice should help the Sanderson Center fulfill a growing client request.
"Whenever we conduct satisfaction surveys, 'a smoothie bar' is one of the top responses we get from patrons regarding what improvements they would like to see at the Sanderson Center," Walling said.
Courtney Bryant, marketing manager for Aramark/MSU Dining Services, said with the addition of the new JUVA Juice location, the campus community now has 20 dining options.
"We are always looking to take variety out to the campus community in the areas they frequent, and the Sanderson Center was a natural placement for just that," Bryant said, adding that the new eatery accepts the Flex Dollars and MoneyMate payment options, along with cash and credit cards.
Opened in 1998, the Joe Frank Sanderson Center is a $19 million, 150,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art recreation facility located on the north side of campus. Learn more at www.recsports.msstate.edu.
Also, follow the recreational sports department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Mississippi State RecSports and Twitter @MSURecSports1.
For complete information about JUVA Juice, visit www.juvajuice.com or contact the company at 662-640-4200 or info@juvajuice.com.
MSU Dining Services information is found at www.msstatedining.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MSU Dining and Twitter @MSUDining.
See www.msstate.edu to learn more about the 136-year-old land-grant institution.