Written by Randi Tubbs // Photo by Edgar Cardiel
Lucretia Huntsman arrives at the Student Center at around 6:15 a.m. every weekday to gather supplies and inventory. By 7:30 a.m., she has restocked and is posted at the Mabee Business Market for the rest of the day. Everything in the Mabee market is supplied and retrieved by Huntsman. She takes note of the buying trends and creates specified inventory sheets to accommodate.
Huntsman has been working at the Mabee Business Market location since 2018. Before the move, she worked at Einstein Bros. Bagels in the Student Center. Her arrival has proven advantageous for those in the College of Business Administration.
“She is an amazing part of the Mabee building,” senior Alex Hall said. “She is just a pleasant surprise. It’s really enjoyable to have her.”
Hall said he saw her almost every day for a school year.
“She always says ‘Hi,’ to students and makes the entire market a really great atmosphere for people to come in and do homework,” Hall said. “A lot of times during the day, students will just eat their lunch there with her.”
Hall mentioned that for the past few years he has heard of her giving out handmade Christmas cards to students.
“She draws them and hands them out to students,” Hall said. “I do not have one yet, but my roommate has two.”
Her generosity does not go without note, as a group of students came together to gift her a Walmart gift card, candy and flowers in December 2023, right before Christmas break.
“I still have [the flowers] on my table in my kitchen, and they’re still pretty,” Huntsman said. “They literally made my break.”
Senior Abby Long visits the market at least once a week.
“It’s less about specific interactions with her,” Long said. “It’s more that every time you go in [the market], you’re going to interact with someone who’s treating you like a friend.”
Huntsman is known for asking students what she is missing and what she can better stock. One day a few months ago, Huntsman described, she was having a bad day, and a student simply gave her a hug.
“It was like how our world just needs to be,” Huntsman said. “We need to care from our hearts. It’s definitely not the job, it’s the students.”
