Students who frequent Jazzman’s in the Glenn G. Bartle Library might recognize the familiar face of manager Jimmy Alvarez, or as some know him, “Jimmy from Jazzman’s.”
They wouldn’t be the first students to know him on a first-name basis — February marks Alvarez’s eighth year working for Jazzman’s and 21st year working for Sodexo, where he’s known as the “Mayor of Binghamton.”
Alvarez is the manager of the Bartle branch of Jazzman’s. He oversees everything, from maintaining inventory to customer service and product quality, and on an average day, he may deal with burning bagels and broken toasters. He also oversees concession stands at Binghamton University wrestling and soccer home games, and supervises catering for student organization banquets.
Alvarez currently lives in Apalachin, New York and is from Ecuador. He has lived in the United States for 25 years, and attended the University at Albany, where he played soccer and was the founding father of the college’s chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
Throughout his years working for BU, Alvarez has managed different locations on campus. He began his career as the catering supervisor, then worked as the night supervisor at the now-defunct on-campus pub, where he ensured that students who lived off-campus got home safely. He moved to what used to be the MiniMall next to the Mandela Room before finding his niche at Jazzman’s.
“I like it because I deal with a lot of students, professors, grad students,” he said. “Every two seconds you meet somebody new there and it keeps me young.”
Sodexo Retail Dining Manager Daniela Retezatu said that Alvarez is a considerate and supportive manager. When student workers are busy, she said, Alvarez ensures the store is covered, even if it means him working longer hours.
“Everyone loves Jimmy,” Retezatu said. “He is their favorite because he is so pleasant and is always going beyond to make everyone happy. He is supporting his team and he’s always trying to improve and trying to have everything to serve them in the right way to make them happy.”
Director of Retail Operations Thomas LaSarso said that Alvarez has many responsibilities since Jazzman’s is one of the most-trafficked retail outlets on campus. He said that during the busiest days of the semester, Jazzman’s Library Tower location can serve around 1,700 customers a day.
“Customers love him, everybody knows his name,” LaSarso said. “His longevity here on the campus, knowing the customers, knowing the administration, knowing the students — you can’t put a price tag to that experience.”
According to some students, Alvarez is known for his advice and willingness to help his customers in their personal lives. Nilufer Akalin, a third-year graduate student studying sociology, said whenever she passes Jazzman’s and sees Alvarez, he always greets her even if they are both in a rush.
“This is what is great about him, he takes [his job] very seriously, but at the same time, he’s not overstressed or overwhelmed about it,” Akalin said. “He’s on top of everything but he’s not putting pressure on people who work here and I don’t think that he tries to construct a hierarchy between workers.”
Some of his favorite stories include helping stressed customers. A student once went to him crying because her car broke down and the mechanic charged her $1,300 to fix it; Alvarez recommended a mechanic who saved her $600. In another situation, a student told Alvarez the catering for her wedding was expected to cost $3,500 which she could not afford, prompting Alvarez and his coworker to cook and cater the 150-person wedding dinner for only $300.
Finals week is extra busy for Jazzman’s, and according to Alvarez and Retazatu, the De-Stress December initiative that the University puts on can alleviate students’ worries in ways that caffeine can’t.
“I always say ‘one thing at a time,’” Alvarez said. “It’s only a few days of tension and stress, but it will be over in a week and my advice to them is to study, and if they have any problems just come to see me.”