Sometimes the bright flowers, colorful balloons, and fluffy stuffed animals that flood hospital gift shops can drastically improve anyone’s mood who walks past. The allure of a space brimming with life and promise can serve as a warm and gentle harbor for patients, a patient’s family and friends, or even overworked doctors and nurses. A quick stroll through the greeting card section, reading some words of wisdom and hope, has the power to change someone’s outlook enough to carry them through the rest of the day.
5 Awesome Hospital Gift Shops
Even though gift shop managers in hospitals understand that they have a fairly captive audience, it does not mean that they can rest on their home field retail advantage. The best managers of gift shops in hospitals understand the importance of their position in the hospital and work to make each customer’s experience positive. Since people who enter a hospital gift shop may be going through the worst day of their life, it is important to provide products and customer service that can help soothe that patient.
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Gift Shop magazine interviewed Tim Herlich, manager of the Gift Shop at Evergreen, part of Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, WA who shared that a hospital gift shop “plays a large role in the healing culture in a hospital, and many are the best-kept secrets in the retail world.”
Following are 5 awesome gift shops set in hospitals around the country that can change each shopper’s day for the better:
1. The Sarasota Memorial Hospital Gift Shop
The Sarasota Memorial Hospital Gift Shop (SMH) offers a little bit of everything for its customers. Items available include apparel, jewelry, floral arrangements and dish gardens, balloons baby items, colorful Mylar balloons, and much more. The helpful paid and volunteer staff is where this gift shop truly shines. Employees will happily help customers decide on the perfect baby gift or help to build the perfect custom gift basket.
2. The Elliot Health System Associates Gift Shop
The Elliot Health System Associates Gift Shop seems to think of everything, down to trimmer budgets of some of its customers. This shop offers floral arrangements with prices that start at $5 and go up to $45, so family and friends can let a loved one know they care, even if they have limited funds. Customers will also find practical apparel like scarves, accessories like a handbag, and candy galore at this thoughtfully designed gift shop.
3. Middlesex Hospital Gift Shop
Located in the main lobby of Middlesex Hospital in Connecticut, this gift shop feels like a standalone retail shop, well-stocked with daily items. Customers will find a full array of toiletries, greeting cards, floral options, candy and snacks, and magazines. Some items are also available online.
4. The Stanford Health Care Gift Shop
Convenience is the hallmark of the Stanford Health Care Gift Shop. The managers of this world-famous hospital’s gift center understand that their patients and other customers need essential and uplifting items. They monitor the buying patterns and requests of customers to help continue to stock the items that people need most, like reading materials, easy snacks, flowers, baby gifts, and more.
5. The Kingwood Medical Center Hospital Gift Shop
The Kingwood Medical Center Gift Shop considers family and friends of patients who live far away, making online transactions simple. Even if loved ones cannot make the trip to this Texas hospital, they can order flowers, gift baskets, balloons, and more for fresh same-day delivery.
Visit the Hospital’s Gift Shop for Gifts, Snacks, and Good Cheer
Anyone who spends a significant amount of time in a hospital will probably tell you that visiting hospital gift shops can make the experience much more bearable.
