CINDY’S NEWSLETTER for Gift Shop Managers

Cindy’s Newsletter for Gift Shop Managers delivers practical, ready-to-implement content to gift shop managers, retailers, and volunteers across the country. We help our readership of over 3,000 retailers optimize shop operations, grow revenue, and connect with one another. The newsletter is published monthly and free since 2001.

Have you paid your dues this quarter?

The value and richness of this newsletter comes from your participation. Do your part by submitting two comments per quarter, at minimum. Reply to reader’s questions listed throughout the newsletter (in green) or simply share what is working or isn’t working in your shop, a great selling product, a helpful website or resource, an operating question, your biggest challenge right now, a terrific vendor you’ve come across recently, tips on managing volunteers, or tips on managing yourself!

LEAVE A COMMENT! Click the green comment tags throughout the newsletter, enter it in the comment section, or send to cindy@cindyjonesassociates.com.

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JULY 15, 2024

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High School volunteer program at Strong Memorial

From The Best of Friends Blog / Jul 2024

The Summer High School Volunteer Program began soon after Friends of Strong became an official organization in 1975. We have recruited many incredibly talented students over the years. At program inception, we were hosting 20-25 students per summer. Our peak was in 2019 with a record 357 students. Post-COVID, we are slowly climbing our way back up to that goal. This year, we placed 107 volunteers across 13 total departments.

Aislinn Sexton, the Friends of Strong Senior Volunteer Services Specialist, welcomes this year’s amazing cohort of high schoolers, saying, “We are so excited to host high school student volunteers again this year. I am excited for everyone to enjoy what could be their first experience in a health care setting. I also want to thank all our departments and supervisors that help make this program a success!”

Students get to select a department where they will support staff, help provide an exceptional health care experience for patients, and learn the intricacies of working in a healthcare environment. Over the course of eight weeks, each high schooler (ages 14-18) volunteers once a week, adding up to a minimum of 30 hours supporting patient- and family-centered care (PFCC) initiatives in their chosen area of service.

Prior to starting, each one completes all hospital-mandated training, including HIPAA training, meeting all hospital requirements for working with patients, as well as all proper health screenings. Each student also gets a university volunteer ID badge to identify them to visitors and patients. In many ways, these volunteers become an integral part of our community here at Strong Memorial Hospital.

Our highly sought-after program is popular among parents – some of whom also served in the program as high schoolers or during college. The program helps students decide whether healthcare is the right path for them.

This program continues to inspire countless students and participating families to pursue the selfless act of volunteering for many years. Carly Chapman is a returning high school volunteer who has been heavily influenced by her experience volunteering in 2023 in the Hall of Justice. She is excited to be back this year to work with the Pediatric Physical Therapy Department.

Read more…

SOURCE: The Best of Friends Blog 

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How do your shop hours compare

One of the top contributors in the Facebook Group (Hospital Gift Shops) asked a great question on setting a shop’s open hours. Here is her question and some of the many responses. Thanks Tricia! Your posts are always so insightful for everyone.

Q. What are your shop’s hours? We have a combo of paid and volunteer for ours. We have 2 full-time paid and 5 college students who divide up the afternoon, evening and weekends. I have volunteers who run the store from 9:00am – 4:30pm, Monday through Friday. Our hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9:00am – 11:30pm. Tuesday and Thursday 9:00am – 8:00pm and Saturday and Sunday 11:00am – 4:00pm. -Tricia R.

20 COMMENTS

The Facebook Group is a private community of gift shop professionals.
Some comments and names have been edited for member privacy.

FROM CINDY

Shop hours are crucial to a shop’s success. Post shop hours at the entrance of the shop the Patient Handbook, New Employee Manual and other regular hospital publications. Post them around the hospital as well, like the cafeteria, HR office, pharmacy and anywhere staff visit frequently. Ensure that shop hours are maintained with no interruption of service. Hospital gift shops have a potential customer each hour of the day 365 days a year! There is often a scarcity of volunteers to work evenings and weekends. Part-time paid employees may be needed for those shifts.  🎯 TIP: Open the shop 7:00am on  payday (usually Friday), especially through the holidays in November and December!- Cindy Jones

Our Main Campus is Monday-Thursday 8:30-4:30, Friday 7a-7p, Saturday/Sunday 9-4. Our second campus is Monday-Friday 9am-3pm. We have 2 full time, 5 PRN, and 1 full time floral designer plus me, I am salaried – Andie H  

We are open 8-5 Monday thru Friday but our sister store that has the ED is Monday thru Friday 8-5 and Saturday 8-12. You need to look at your trends. When are you the busiest and when are you slow. Track it for a couple months and see it may help. We can not have volunteers alone in store, there has to be paid staff with them. – Jennifer A

We are open M-F 9am to 7:30pm, Saturday is 10-7:30 and Sunday 12-6pm. We have volunteers M-Fand every other Saturday during the day. We have 2 full time staff, 2 part time and 1 casual – Julie A

We are Mon to Fri 9-6 and Saturday 9-2. We have paid staff and volunteers. – Nancy Williams

We are open M-F 10am-4pm. No weekends. I try and open once a month for a couple of hours for the night shift. I am the only full time employee. I have one PT employee and 2 volunteers. Our hospital is rural with less than 100 beds. – Dawn S

Our is strictly run by volunteers. Along with managing the volunteers and gift shop, my full time position at the hospital is admin assistant and physician credentialing. I have volunteers, Tuesday 10-1 and 1-4, Wed 10-1, Thurs 10-1 and I cover Fri 10-1. Plus staff knows if they want or need something they come and get me and I let them in to get what they want. I get in at 6:00 am Mon -Fri.  – Deanna L

We are open M-F 9a-7p, Sat 11-5, Sun 12-5. All staffed by paid employees. I’m curious what kind of sales you get between 8pm and 1130pm?  – Whitney

We do pretty good between those hours. We add another $500 – $700 depending on what the café is serving – Tricia E
We only do it once a month so it is usually very busy for us. – Dawn S

We are open 9-5:30, M-F 9-1on weekends. We open at 7am on our staff discount day . We are 2 full time, 2 part time paid staff and 5 volunteers. We used to be open later hours but the sales didn’t support it. – Karla G

We are open Monday-Friday 10am-6pm. Closed on the weekends. We have 2 stores, a warehouse, and an online website. We have a mixed team of 12 full time, part time, and contracted team members. We sometimes have volunteers but do not count those in on our total head count. – Jordan A

We are open M-F from 9 am – 7 pm. We try to open on the weekends from 10-2 but that is dependent on if we can get volunteers. Our volunteers fully staff our shop. We have a PT Coordinator but her role is more focused on purchasing, inventory management and some admin support. I’m the only FT staff member but I oversee the volunteer program, gift shop, coffee cove and auxiliary so my time focused on the Gift Shop is limited. We are a smaller 189 bed facility. – Megan C

Our gift shop is all volunteers. Mon, Tues, Wed – 9am -5pm. Thurs- 9am-8pm. Fri -11am-5pm (only because there is no volunteer for 9-11 at this time). We began opening until 8 on Thursdays about 2-3 months ago. Most nights we have taken in an extra $300 to $500. The main reason we do it is to accommodate our evening employees and off site employees. –Barbara H

The Gift Shop is open M-F from 8am – 8pm. Saturday from 9am-4:30pm and Sunday 10am-4:30pm. We have a mixture of volunteers and paid staff. We have a paid staff person on every shift. Sunday is a little slow, about $800, yet after taking out the COGS and staff pay we still come out close to breakeven around $700. – JD M

We are a small shop and totally staffed by volunteers. We have no paid staff. I am the shop Manager and Buyer. We used to be open 10 am – 4 pm until covid took so many of our volunteers. Now we are so short staffed that we can only open 10 am until 2 pm Monday through Friday. I would like to go back to the 4 pm close but need more staff first. – Susan K

Summary of hours from reader comments:

Weekday Opening Hours	Weekday Closing Hours
8:00 AM and 9:00 AM	4:00 PM and 7:00 PM

Weekend Opening Hours	Weekend Closing Hours
9:00 AM and 12:00 PM	2:00 PM and 5:00 PM

Observations:

• Main Campus Shops: Typically have longer hours during weekdays compared to weekends.
• Second Campus, Sister Stores, or Volunteer-Run Shops: Often have reduced hours compared to main campuses.
• Paid Staff Shops: Tend to have more consistent and longer hours of operation.
• Rural Hospitals: Often have limited hours and staffing due to smaller patient volume.

…read more comments in the Hospital Gift Shops community

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How to display all those stickers!

The standard tiered or spinner displays is great for organizing your stickers, but does it pop! It’s important to keep collections or multi-SKU merchandise neat and organized. The risk of displays appearing unkempt or cluttered is always present. Carousels are great for this. But, they are blasé and uninspiring. Here are some creative ideas from to elevate your sticker displays.

Remember to think “outside the box” and draw inspiration to create whimsical and fun displays with personality!

Here are some engaging props that make a great focal point for a table display:

SOURCE: Retail Details

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July Action Plan

⏳ Buy

—  Order next year’s calendars and date books. 📆

—  Order a large stuffed animal for November delivery to raffle off during the Christmas holidays. 🧸

✂ Mark Down

— Be merciless with markdowns. Before you put your merchandise back on the shelf, consult your sales reports. Each product should have to justify its existence coming into the Fall and if it doesn’t make the grade, add it to your Labor Day sale pile.

🧸 Display

— Create some humorous and engaging displays with related merchandise for these July holidays: Dog Days of Summer, International Joke Day, National Ice Cream Month, International Kissing Day, Chocolate Day, National Picnic Month, National Apple Turnover Day, National Bikini Day, National Blueberry Month, National Hot Dog Month.

📝 Plan

—  A prosperous holiday season takes planning and time. When you have an abundance of time like during the hot months of summer, use it to put your plan in action.

—  Work on Fall merchandise and display plans.

—  Thoroughly clean and organize the shop and stockroom while business is slow. We’re talking about down to the fixtures here. Remove every box, bag or tag. Sweep or mop every floor surface. Get your carpets cleaned. The whole goal is to look as new as possible. Repair, repaint and relight. Once everything is clean, you will notice the chipped paint, the broken furniture, the yellowed signage. Customers notice
these things! 🧹

—  Now is the time to take markdowns and get rid of old merchandise.

—  Take mid-year physical inventory to determine your in-stock position.

—  This is also a good time to take an inventory of your wrapping supplies. Order enough tissue and bags to last through the holidays. 🛍

—  The holiday merchandise you ordered in January should begin arriving.

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A. Girl Scout Cookie booth

Q. We had the idea to setup a Girl Scout cookie booth outside the gift shop. We saw this article about a booth at Karmanos. Is there any reason we can’t do this?

I would be agreeable to it, but it will also have the potential to “open the door” for other groups to ask to do the same. – Peter Waugh, Memorial Hospital – Volunteer Services, North Conway, NH 7/17/24

Our hospital policy is no outside sale group allowed – Tricia Rochman, Pink Geranium Gift Shop, Carbondale. 154 beds 7/24/24

We allow it if they donate a portion of their sales to the Auxiliary. – Ali McCrary, Good Samaritan Gift Shop, Vincennes. 158 beds. 7/24/24

That is what our hospital also does. Some companies are only 10%-15% which if they need assistance from gift shop is not worth it. – Noelle D Boardman, St. Luke’s Floral & Gifts, Cedar Rapids. 548 beds 7/27/24

I’m curious why they would need gift shop assistance? Our volunteers run our badge reader for us, so it’s not a cost to my department when we have these. – Ali McCrary, Good Samaritan Gift Shop, Vincennes. 158 beds. 7/24/24

Our special sales are auxiliary events and our auxiliary members don’t participate often. Only gift shop volunteers know how to run the payroll system and we barely have enough to cover the shop itself. We had a company come in and needed bags and for us to enter all the payroll. We did speak to them after the fact and let them know. When they wanted to come back we let them know we would only provide payroll deduct forms. They needed to have supplies and their own staff support. The sales person that came the first time was very lazy and gift shop staff ended up doing a good portion of the work trying to make it a success. Our net profit was only a few hundred dollars for a 2 day event. We have a local popcorn company that dropped off product daily, we ran the sale, they only billed for the items sold and we made 30%. Net profit with that sale was a couple thousand for a 2 day event, worth the effort we put in. Noelle D Boardman, St. Luke’s Floral & Gifts, Cedar Rapids. 548 beds 7/27/24

Good point from the earlier commenter on opening the door to other groups. If you do go ahead, establish parameters to keep the askers in check. (Only youth groups, limit to one group a quarter, etc.) – Jil Cofer. 7/17/24

To share your comments on Girl Scout Cookie booths here. 

Connect. Share. Grow. ♡

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Discussions are happening now in
the Hospital Gift Shops Facebook group!

Over 280 members
Advice, inspiration, and all the feel-goods
Private and vetted members
Hospital gift shop professionals ONLY!

↓ Click to join ↓

♡ Connect. Share. Grow. ♡

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