The Shopping Centre industry is driven by people. It’s the skills and expertise of the people that manage, develop and evolve shopping centres for their communities that creates this great industry. Shopping Centre News profiles a range of interesting people from the industry each week. This week we speak to Maeve Foley, Centre Manager of Perth’s Westfield Carousel which officially opened its $350 million redevelopment making it the largest shopping centre in Perth.
What is your current role and main responsibilities?
I am Centre Manager of Perth’s largest living centre, Westfield Carousel. I lead the Centre Experience team responsible for operations, retail relations, customer service, risk and security, marketing and financials for the asset as well as ensuring we meet our strategic and financial targets. At the heart of it, my role is to ensure our centre team puts on a great show every day for our customers and creates extraordinary experiences to keep them coming back to Westfield Carousel again and again; not because they need to, but because they want to.
Westfield Carousel completed a $350 million redevelopment last year
I also run Connect in WA, which is Scentre Group’s female networking programme. It is a forum that provides education and networking opportunities for young women to learn from others and develop their professional tool kit. It’s a topic I really enjoy working on and am passionate about. Connect forms part of our company-wide Diversity and Inclusion strategy, which aims to create an environment where all team members feel safe to bring their whole selves to work.
How did you get in to this industry?
I completed an honours degree in Property Economics in Ireland. Originally, I absolutely loved interiors and houses which piqued my interest in property. When I started my degree, it was the height of the property boom in Ireland, however graduating four years later in 2010, Ireland was in the midst of its worst property and economic downturn. The market had completely flipped on its head and roles were extremely scare.
I started as a graduate surveyor in Bannon, a Dublin based company specialising in retail and commercial real estate. I absolutely loved it and it ignited my passion for managing property portfolios. Starting off in a tough economy definitely built resilience and I learnt a lot in those early years about driving income, preserving cash flow and asset values plus having tough retailer conversations.
What has been your hardest career decision?
The decision to emigrate from Ireland to Australia was definitely the toughest career decision I have made. I had been with the same company since graduating, worked on some of Ireland’s biggest shopping centre and mixed-use schemes, been promoted to an Associate Director by 26 years old and I loved the teams I worked with. But there was a point where I could see the next five years ahead and thought they looked to be the exact same. I had achieved what I thought I wanted but that just didn’t feel 100% right. I began to wonder what else was out there and what I could do.
My partner had been to Australia before and absolutely loved it and we began to explore the possibility of moving. It was a huge leap of faith to give up a good career, say goodbye to family and friends and move our lives to Perth. When we arrived, in my first meeting with a recruiter I was told that they are plenty of people like me with good experience abroad but no local experience and I was offered a really junior role on about 40% of my previous salary. I was gutted. That was one of the worst days for me and I thought I had made the biggest mistake leaving Ireland however I stuck to my guns and didn’t let it put me off my goals of a new career. Once I began speaking with Scentre Group, I knew I had made the right decision and four years later, I haven’t looked back.
Perth city
What do you love most about your job?
We are entrusted to manage and take care of huge investments and our company relies on the asset teams at each centre to deliver results. The enormity of that is amazing and I take the responsibility seriously.
I love working for a brand like Scentre Group that has such a legacy in retail under the Westfield banner. Sitting in front of our directors, COO and CEO who have so much varied knowledge, I may not be the most experienced person in the room but I can always make sure I am prepared, know my detail and ready to advocate for my asset. Being based at the centre, we are really close to what’s happening on the ground and its really satisfying to use that to get key decisions made. I learn something new every day and no two centres are the same which creates variety and a new challenge every time.
What motivates you?
It is really important to me to be the best that I can be. I want to continually learn and grow in my career. I am always keen to plan ahead, know what the path is and how I can get there. My reasoning is that no one will ever be as passionate about your career as you are and although we have 40 plus years of working life, it’s still a finite amount of time to achieve everything we want.
Checking where I am versus where I thought I would be at set periods has been a really good measure for me to make sure I am on track. Sometimes it changes but once you are growing and learning that’s the main thing.
There is nothing like keeping yourself accountable to help motivate you to always push forward and strive to be your best each day. People who reach the top level are talented individuals who work hard and develop their skills and expertise. I think it shows anything is possible with hard work and this keeps me hopeful about how far I can go if I achieve my full potential.
What is your most memorable moment of your career?
Being part of the team that delivered the $70 million dining and entertainment precinct at Westfield Whitford City is definitely one of my favourite memories. Developments are a time when everyone really works together to deliver something extraordinary and there is nothing more tangible or satisfying than seeing customers enjoying what you have all created. It literally gave me goose bumps and I don’t think anything else will compare to the moment we first opened the doors and people started streaming through in droves.
What do you think makes a successful shopping centre?
A successful shopping centre is one that caters beyond traditional retail. It should be a living centre, where people can come to dine, be entertained, find new experiences and get the right product. Creating that destination vibrancy through activations, product, customer service and ambience is how you will win getting people who want to come to your centre. The best centres are ones that people will go to, not because they have to, but because they want to and they then advocate for your centre. The best living centres have their own unique personality and offering; they know their demographic and cater to it well, they listen to their customers and are agile to adapt to meet their changing needs.
Which in your opinion is the best example of a good shopping centre, retail precinct or place?
I might be slightly biased, but our development pipeline in WA is creating some fantastic centres. Starting with Westfield Whitford City, the dining precinct was a first to market for WA and gave customers in the northern suburbs an option for exceptional dining and entertainment right on their doorstep. It is literally lifechanging for people in the trade area in terms of how they can spend their leisure time. Following on from that, the $350million redevelopment of Westfield Carousel has established Carousel as the largest living centre in Perth with some amazing first-to-WA retailers such as JD Sports, Vans, TGI Fridays, Café 63, Crinitis. The whole centre is transformed and work aside, as a consumer it’s my favourite centre in Perth.
What are some of the trends you are seeing in the industry?
It’s not new, but the emphasis on customer experience is really ramping up and becoming more and more important. People have so much choice in how and where to spend their time and money. No one will put up with subpar service and rightly so. As a centre manager, it is on me and my team to make sure people have the best experience possible when at our centre.
Another interesting area is the changing landscape of traditional retailers. There are so many new and interesting retailers who have a really unique offer and way of connecting with customers. A great example is a pretzel operator in Perth that I came across on Instagram. It was an amazing brand and my first contact with them was through Instagram mail. From that initial Instagram contact, the relationship started and we have already opened two stores with them and they are a brilliant addition to our centres.10 years ago, finding retailers on Instagram definitely wouldn’t have been a thing, now there are some brands that have built their brand on digital media and also recognise the value of physical retail space in connecting with their customers. It’s definitely a different way for us to connect with brands and how we communicate and build relationships with these businesses is really important for our business. I am a firm believer that without unique operators and independent retailers, centres can run the risk of being too alike with similar brands. Working with independent businesses and differing uses creates a real point of difference that allows us to offer something special for our customers.
Another great example is Westfield Whitford City, where we opened Beyond Skate, a skate shop with half the store laid out in a half pipe for customers to skate in. It’s totally unique and people love it.
Did you think you would end up in the role you are in now?
On a broad level, definitely not! Leaving college nine years ago, I never envisioned myself being based in Perth managing large retail assets.
Even four years ago when we moved to Australia and I was struggling to get a job, I never imagined that within a few years I would be managing the largest shopping centre in Perth, Westfield Carousel. It’s such an important asset in our portfolio post its redevelopment and for me, it’s a little surreal. I still sometimes feel the need to pinch myself as I walk around the centre and I am incredibly grateful to Scentre Group for giving me the opportunity to manage such an amazing centre.
Westfield Carousel official opening event of its $350 million redevelopment
What advice would you give to someone starting in the industry?
Firstly, it’s a fantastic industry to work in and I cannot recommend it enough. There are so many varied career paths to go into such as centre management, development, leasing, marketing, design, construction etc. A shopping centre is always on. You can walk around and see the impact of the decisions you make in real time. It’s incredibly vibrant and forever changing.
The main piece of advice I always give is, it is so important to work hard starting out. Your boss will be looking for someone they can see being a good fit and worth investing in. Prove that you are by showing up, knowing your detail, go above and beyond always, and be tenacious. In the early days, you might not know everything but there are things that cost nothing such as having a good attitude, a solid work ethic, being passionate and committed.
Don’t rely on technical ability alone. Knowing how to do things or having all the answers will only get you so far; your softer skills such as people management, relationships, being self-aware are the things that make the difference between good workers and great leaders. The ability to give and receive feedback is crucial also. Be willing to ask for help and advice and learn how to give it. I believe open communicator can stop at least 50% of problems festering if they are addressed in a safe and quick manner. Find a mentor, someone you trust and look up to; use them as a guide and sounding board as you find your way.
What makes a great centre manager?
The ability to be a good people person is so important. You need to be able to manage and inspire your team and at the same time drive outcomes with key stakeholders for the best of the asset. The best centre managers are like the glue of the asset, the person that can pull together the different departments and hold everyone to account and drive results for the benefit of the asset.
A centre manager needs to be the voice for the customer and the centre. They need to be commercially minded and customer focused. They must be resilient too, as sometimes you can be faced with challenging circumstances which is inevitable with so many people coming through the doors every day.
