Market Legends

MARKET LEGENDS:

THE FACES BEHIND THE FRESHNESS!

George and Janette Anusbigian always had a profound love of people, food, family, and fun. This passion helped fuel their vision to provide the freshest seasonal produce to friends and family, within a warm and welcoming environment. It is this enduring passion that helped create the magic of today's Westborn Market.

From humble beginnings in a tiny, rented storefront in West Dearborn, to what stands now as a 25,000 square foot market, we have never strayed from their vision. Today, Westborn Market proudly continues the mission of George and Janette... where people, food, family, and fun are always in season. Their passion for creating a work environment that not only team members enjoyed, but wanted to stay in, is the essence of our Market Legends.

We will be highlighting our team members throughout the year. Check out and check back to learn more about our wonderful team members. We genuinely think they are legends!

Tim

At 14 years old, with the goal of saving up the money to buy a nitro-powered RC car, Tim began to bag groceries at Westborn. To Tim’s surprise, he would spend his first spring at Westborn dressed as the Easter Bunny, waving and greeting customers under the Berkely store’s marquee. As the years passed, Tim would enjoy swinging carts across the floor during closing time and hanging out with members of the Produce department.

As the Grocery Director, Tim takes pride in his work to develop and fill a role that Westborn needed. In his leadership position in the Grocery Department, Tim has come to appreciate Westborn’s close-knit and family-oriented atmosphere. Tim has built his own leadership style upon Westborn’s community-focused values, and strives to provide every team member with individualized attention.

Throughout his time at Westborn, Tim has noticed an increase in health-focused grocery shopping, especially as customers have become more educated on ingredients and food labels. Tim celebrates meeting the demand for specialty groceries, and is always pleased to provide items that customers have a hard time finding anywhere else.

In his free time, Tim loves photography and racing cars. He was recently invited to join an endurance racing team, a group that participates in 24 hour races. Now, 20 years after his dream of buying a toy RC car, Tim has a racing car of his own.

Trish

Compared to other work experience, Trish was drawn to Westborn’s family-like environment. She appreciates the closeness of management, ownership, and team members. Throughout her time at Westborn, Trish has enjoyed the opportunity to grow with the company, especially as she moved into a leadership role.

Trish celebrates the Westborn crew’s ability to turn difficult situations into fun and exciting memories. The blackout of 2003, for example, left Westborn without power for 4 days. Trish remembers customers lining up through the whole store, the Westborn team working to provide as much food as possible, and everyone laughing and joking the whole time. Similarly, Trish fondly recalls the pandemic mornings she spent taking temperatures with Ramona. As much as they complained about the task at the time, Trish and Ramona happily joke about those mornings now. Trish was also impacted by the emotional weight of helping customers during the pandemic. She remembers assisting a patron that was looking for freezer bags, and the emotional hug that the two shared when Trish was able to provide them.

Trish enjoys cooking, especially grilling up some steak in the warm weather. She used to detail cars, and has begun collecting Nike sneakers in the last few years. Her collection includes 50-60 pairs and continues to grow!

Marcus

12 years ago, Marcus was drawn to Westborn via his cousin’s recommendation. Despite having never been to Westborn before, nor having any experience in food service, Marcus became a key player in the growth and development of Westborn’s Prepared Foods department. When he began, Prepared Foods only offered 20-30 different items, but it since has expanded to include 50-60 items with elevated ingredients and flavor profiles. Blackened salmon is Marcus’ favorite Prepared Food offering to make, especially because his kids love it. His favorite “classic” Westborn item is the signature mac and cheese, and he prides himself in its popularity and acclaim, particularly with all of the strong mac and cheese options in the area.

Marcus’ greatest accomplishment during his time at Westborn, besides being employee of the month, is his position as assistant manager of the Prepared Foods department. Marcus appreciates being recognized for his work, and enjoys the responsibility of helping to train and advise members of his team. Marcus has been impacted by the relationships that he has developed throughout his time at Westborn. The positive and appreciative spirits of Joe, Annette, and Ramona are remarkable, and they stand out to Marcus as important parts of his Westborn experience. Hearing his loving nickname “Bubba,” joking around with customers, and singing while putting up orders are bright moments each day.

Marcus loves bowling, singing, and dancing, and is known for his excellent radio voice. Bowling roughly once a week, Marcus has a personal best score of around 250. In his ideal three-day weekend, Marcus would spend a whole day doing whatever his kids wanted to do, then spend the rest relaxing and watching sitcoms with his wife.

Amber

Immediately, Amber noticed that the Westborn environment was different from the other places she had worked. She felt welcomed as a member of the Westborn family and valued the opportunity to have a close relationship with leadership.

In her time at Westborn, Amber has been excited by the expansion and enhancement of the private label offerings. Popular Westborn items, such as the canned tomatoes and bottled water have received upgrades. Amber is particularly excited about some of the newer offerings, such as Westborn beer, wine, pasta, and cold brew coffee. However, Amber finds it important to celebrate some of the things about Westborn that haven’t changed over the course of her time on the team, such as the commitment to customer service. During the pandemic, Amber’s time at Westborn helped her to feel less secluded and enriched her connections with team members. Amber felt welcomed in the Westborn environment even during hard times, and cherishes the close friendships she has developed. Watching Andy dance in the back room, especially, stands out as a highlight.

Outside of Westborn, Amber loves to collect plants, be active with her dogs, and read romance novels. Over her ideal long weekend, Amber is kicking back on the beach on Lake Michigan, or enjoying a winery in Traverse City.

Jarica

After being greeted by the kind and helpful Westborn team on a shopping trip with her grandma, Jarica felt that Westborn would be a nice place to work. Jarica has worked in the Prepared Foods department of all four Westborn stores, and excels at adapting to fill the changing needs of each location with positivity. Throughout all of the stores, the support from team members has remained consistent, and Jarica always appreciates leaders checking in, and helping to relieve some stress when she is feeling overwhelmed. Throughout her time in Prepared Foods, Jarica has noticed an increase in demand for Westborn sandwiches, grab and go meals, and trays, especially since the pandemic.

Jarica enjoys making gift baskets and bags for friend’s and family’s special occasions. Her favorite events to create gift bags for are birthdays or baby showers, and she values helping to relieve some stress from those planning events. Jarica’s ideal weekend is spent somewhere warm, relaxing and watching CSI Miami.

Chelsea

Chelsea grew up visiting Westborn for groceries everyday with her mom. She enjoyed the shopping trips, and notes the impact that the bright colors and delicious scents had on her as a kid. She was always so excited to visit Mark Anusbigian in the the store as a little girl, especially when he would bring her cookies. At 15, Chesea started bagging groceries at the Dearborn store, and by 19 she was a shift leader. Throughout her time at Westborn, Chelsea has appreciated the family-oriented atmosphere and works as a store manager to provide that same comfort to others.

Since she began bagging groceries, Chelsea has noticed an increased desire for specialty grocery items within the Westborn stores. With this increased demand, Chelsea notes the unique and thorough knowledge that the Westborn team has for quality specialty and health-focused products. Chelsea’s proudest accomplishment from her time at Westborn was moving into a customer service management role in the Berkley store. Chelsea felt very accomplished to have the opportunity to grow and be challenged by her new position, and loved learning from Bryan about leadership and merchandising.

Chelsea fondly recalls dressing up as the Easter Bunny in the store when she was 16 and dressing up as lobsters and fishermen during the Shell of a Deal promotion. Outside of work, Chelsea likes to cook and bake. One of her favorite things to bake is cheesecake, especially with a special twist, like oreos and cookie butter. She also enjoys long bike rides and played basketball when she was younger.