Grand Junction businesses getting ready for Junior College World Series

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Soon baseball lovers from all over the nation will be converging on the Grand Valley as the Junior College World Series begins once again and many local businesses are getting ready for the crowds.

Multiple local businesses said the JUCO visitors do bring in a lot of foot traffic and their staff is ready to welcome the visitors.

Main Street Bagels for example opened its doors in 1995 and has benefited from JUCO every year.

“JUCO is always fun,” said Mark Smith, owner of Main Street Bagels. “A lot of the teams like to come in here and have breakfast before they go out to their games and families and people visiting. “We love it it’s an exciting time.”

Smith said they are anticipating to be busier than they usually are but they are short on staff at the moment, which can make it challenging for them as they face the crowds.

“Right now staffing’s a big problem,” said Smith. “We’re just bare minimum right now. We’ve got all we need but we don’t have any extras to add right now.”

Further west on Main Street is The Hog and the Hen. The business opened just a few months before the pandemic hit. The owner said the community has helped the business grow as has JUCO.

“I think JUCO is a great event,” said Cooper Hall, director of realism at The Hog and the Hen. “It brings a ton of people to the community. They’re good people. There are families that are out there doing athletic stuff, generally they’re traveling in groups, their whole family is in tow. They can kind of bring a lot of people into the store.”

Hal said much of the JUCO crowd comes in for sandwiches, various liquors and candies.

“I think with all this fun stuff in here we do people come in and they get excited,” said Hall. “It’s really neat to see people walking around, taking their time looking at all the random unique stuff that’s in this place.”

Like Main Street Bagels, Hall said their staff may be small but they’re ready to rise to the challenge the crowds can bring.

“Our staff is lean and mean,” said Hall. “I mean this crew, we don’t have a ton of employees but when it gets busy, everybody just puts their games faces on and we get it all done.”

The JUCO World Series kicks off May 28, at Suplizio Field.

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