Employee Growth Story: Garrett Mittendorff – Retail Sales Manager

In the summer of 2013, Garrett started working as a part-time associate in our hose and fittings warehouse production area. He worked through the summer and continued to work reduced hours after school started back. In June of 2014, he found out that there was a full-time counter sales position coming available. He was excited to take the position even though he still had two semesters left of college. The team at Cross Hose & Fittings worked with him to accommodate his school schedule so he could finish his degree while still working full-time.

At the end of 2015, Garrett saw another opportunity for learning and growth when a CSR position opened up at his location. He loved helping customers over the phone and enjoyed working with his friend Brett who was now the store manager. In 2019, Garrett was promoted to CSR Team Lead. This allowed him to help customers as well as train other associates. In this role, Garrett was team-oriented and collaborative mentoring and training teammates and supporting their growth.

In 2020, Garrett started working part-time as an eCommerce specialist with another associate. They worked together to keep the Hose & Fitting section of ShopCross updated. The next year, Garrett moved into an exciting new role as the Customer Care Team Manager. This team works to provide customers fast, friendly service. They strive to find customers the correct parts for their application as quickly as possible so they can get back up and running fast.

In 1025, Garrett was promoted again and is now the retail sales manager at our Asheville location. Garrett exemplifies customer service ethic by serving our customers and creating genuine value for their business. One of Garrett’s favorite quotes is from a past teacher who said “chase your dreams and goals”, which is exactly what he’s done. While we know that Garrett isn’t done progressing in his career, it’s exciting to see how far he’s come in such a short period of time!