The Harvard Place Shopping Center community is celebrating one of its own as Robert McCormick commemorates the 30th anniversary of his first Jamba Juice location in Irvine. 

McCormick, a retired Marine, traveled and lived all over the world during his military career but ultimately decided to call Orange County his home. When he retired from the Marines, he was looking for something to do and ended up visiting a “Juice Club” in San Luis Obispo. He thought that owning a franchise of his own would be something he could do, leading him to open Jamba Juice at Harvard Place in 1993, followed by a second location at Walnut Village Center in 2016. He found great enjoyment in being involved in the stores and worked at the Harvard Place location every day. 

He has been a man of service all of his life, including at Jamba Juice. “The greatest joy of working at Jamba has been the ability to serve as a teacher and influence my employees, many of which were and are college students,” McCormick says. He’s provided them real-life skills in customer service, how to treat people, and how to take action, and, in turn, he has cared for his employees, always making sure he’s provided them with a healthy working environment. “I cherish seeing those that have worked with me grow into the people they are today,” McCormick adds. 

A throat cancer survivor, McCormick finds ways to keep moving forward in these years of retirement. He just returned from a hiking trip in Zion with his wife, celebrating a milestone birthday for her. He met his wife, also retired from the Navy, in Okinawa. Together they have raised three children and now enjoy spending time with their two granddaughters as often as they can. 

When asked what he hopes to see for the future and his Jamba Juice locations, McCormick says, “I hope to keep doing this job to make a difference in the lives of the young people who work for me and that it will continue to force me to get up and do something… to keep moving and never stop.”