There are some really nice people working at Westfield Santa Anita mall.
Arcadia Wins! recently participated in Westfield's Week of Wonders and were pleased to find so many accomodating staff members.
The annual fund-rasing program is a terrific community-minded initiative on the part of Westfield that allows non-profit groups to keep 100% of all monies raised in the sale of red plastic wristbands that grant the wearer access to a plethora of discounts and special offers throughout the mall for a week just before the holidays.
Once we were approved to sit at a table inside the mall for two four-hour shifts along with other non-profit groups, the Westfield people could not have been more helpful and friendly.
Marketing Director Nicole Jasinskas took her own time to make sure we got situated and moved us to a better location when another group did not show up. She even offered sales tips for us on a slow Monday night at the mall. Several young workers at the nearby concierge booth were extremely pleasant and gracious throughout the evening. One even insisted on purchasing a wristband from us despite our protests that she needn't do so.
The following Friday night, Senior Shopping Concierge Therea Olivas stopped by our table with a big smile to make sure we were doing alright. Later, she came back by and offered us a discount coupon for a restaurant. A simple but thoughtful and genuine gesture of kindness.
Throughout the evening other employees of the mall and the shops and even valet parking attendants stopped by for a brief friendly chat. And Ms. Jasinskas passed by again with a smile and pleasant hello.
I know that among some people in town it's not cool to say anything kind about the Westfield Santa Anita mall itself but I have never had any problem with it as a consumer. The city and we taxpayers benefit greatly from the millions of dollars each year the mall generates in sales tax revenue. It's nice to finally have a movie theater in Arcadia again, though it's still more convenient to go to the Krikorian in Monrovia. The restaurants in the most recent expansion are a good addition and they are about to open The Cheesecake Factory and a big H&M store.  
Not that I frequent the place -- I get there maybe a couple times a year to actually shop at the stores, and those times I am usually heading to one location in particular. Maybe I go a couple additional times to eat at McGrath's or Wood Ranch, and maybe a couple more times to see a movie at the AMC theaters. (I'd go to eat and see movies more often if it wasn't for the one big complaint I have about the mall -- the horrendous parking and unnecessarily inefficient traffic flow).
As for shopping, it's not that I have more upscale tastes, it's just that I'm not much of a shopper; I really don't shop much of anywhere.
But whatever your feelings are about the mall, don't let those feelings color your perceptions about the people who work there.
The parent company of the mall has been waging an expensive and growingly nasty campaign against the proposed Shops at Santa Anita development that is supported by Arcadia Wins! But don't confuse that campaign or the people behind it with the people who work at the mall.
We believe The Shops at Santa Anita will be good for the city, good for the people, good for the schools, good for the race track, good for property owners, good for taxpayers, and even good for the Westfield mall.
If only the owners of the mall were as welcoming as their employees.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

 

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