'Conscientious' airport gift shop manager tops in company

by Jennifer DeWitt
QCTimes.com

Although her title may say general manager, Jana Brau thinks of herself as just another member of the team at The Paradies Shops at the Quad-City International Airport.

“I don’t consider myself above anybody else, I just have to be the one to rally the troops,” she said. “But when I decide something needs to be done, I want it done yesterday.”

It’s a management style that has held her same staff intact over the five years she’s managed the airport shops. That near-zero turnover rate and her management skills garnered Brau a manager of the year honor from Paradies. One of four managers recognized, she won in the company’s Division IV, for shops under $2 million in sales. She also received awards for lowest employee turnover and best administration.

“I’ve only lost one employee and that’s because he went to open his own business,” said Brau, who is in charge of the Quad-City News gift shop on the landside, or general terminal area, of the airport and the smaller CNBC store on the airside, or the passenger-only area.

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