Q&A
An Insider’s Guide to
Willowbrook Mall
Senior GM Nancy Barbary talks about the holidays and beyond
WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY LINDSEY KELLEHER
B
WHAT DREW YOU INTO THE SHOP-
PING CENTER INDUSTRY? WHAT
ATTRACTS YOU TO RETAIL?
It was the ability to have a corpo-
rate position in a retail environment.
I’m not a retailer, I’m more on the
management side, but I am involved
in the retail side of the business.
I enjoy working with the retailers
themselves. You’re able to talk about
their issues that they have and see
how the mall can assist, wanting
to have the customers come in and
enjoy the experience that we create.
36
HOLIDAY 2018 WAYNE MAGAZINE
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS Willowbrook Mall Senior General Manager Nancy Barbary stands in the
expansive food court.
ARE YOU EVER OUT ON THE FLOOR
WITH THE CUSTOMERS?
Yeah, multiple times a day. One of
the things I like to do the best is to
stand by the directories. Maps are not
always the easiest things to navigate,
so I typically will stop and say to a
customer, “I work here. What can
I help you find?” as I point to my
badge. Usually, it’s just easier to tell
them where the store is instead of
them trying to find it on the map. So
that’s one of the fun things.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST GRATI-
FYING MOMENTS ABOUT YOUR JOB?
I always tell people that I’m fortu-
nate to have been in this business for
so many years and still enjoy what
I do every single day. But we do a
couple of things that are more com-
munity driven that mean the most to
me. We do multiple events during the
holiday season. We have a PJ night.
The kids come in their pajamas and
get their pictures taken with Santa.
We’ve worked with the Wayne Public
Library and the librarian comes and
tells stories. And we’ve had coloring
books and balloon art. We also have
a relationship with CASA (Court
Appointed Special Advocates). Last
year, we collected gifts for children
who are in the program. My team
and I went over to their location in
Wayne and wrapped not only the
gifts that we were able to collect but
also helped them wrap the many gifts
that they had collected for the kids.
Whenever I speak to the CASA team,
efore she was senior
general manager of
Willowbrook Mall,
Cedar Grove resident
Nancy Barbary shopped
there with her daughter,
Kristie, visiting clothing stores such
as The Children’s Place, one of their
favorite places to shop. Around the
holidays, she would take Kristie to
see Santa. “It’s been our shopping
center,” says Barbary.
Her daughter is now grown and
lives in Denver, Colo. But Santa
still comes to the mall every year, so
children can tell him what they want
for Christmas and get their pictures
taken. As senior general manager,
Barbary gets to see the children enjoy
the holiday experience just like she
did with her daughter. She says the
holidays remind her of how lucky
she is to be working in a business
that reminds her of these special
moments. She spoke with Wayne
Magazine about her job, the holidays,
and what’s in store for Willowbrook
Mall in the new year.