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Gift Shop Questions

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  • Friday, August 18, 2023 9:57 AM
    Message # 13242636

    We are looking at rebranding our Gift Shop in January 2024. The current manager (which I inherited) has not made a profit in the past 4 years and the auxiliary suffered a tremendous loss this year.  We will phase her position/hours out as the year comes to a close and offer her a 'lower' position in the shop at that time.

    My questions for you are the following:

    • Do you sell scrubs in your Gift Shop? If so, what is the popular brand?
    • What hospital logo items are popular with employees?
    • Do you sell fresh flowers? If so, what is your mark-up? If not, do you utilize a kiosk?
    • Is your POS System internet based? If so, do you utilize Shopify? We currently have a hard-wired system which doesn't allow us to have pop-up sales around campus.
    • What are your top 10 selling items and top 5 vendors?
    • What are your hot items for Christmas this year?
    • Do you have fall items out at this time? When will you have your Christmas Open House?
    • Who purchases for your Gift Shop? It looks as though I will be the one purchasing for our shop in the future and I have never been to market! Do you attend market in Atlanta?

    I'm sure there will be more questions to follow as I feel my way through, but I appreciate anything you can share!

    Sincerely, 

    Cindy

  • Saturday, August 19, 2023 8:30 AM
    Reply # 13243015 on 13242636

    Cindy, 

    These are awesome questions. I have answered them, if you have any questions you can call me or email me. I would also like if you will, share any information you get that is not posting on here. 

    1. I don't sell scrubs. My shop is 325 square feet. The hospital is building on and a new gift shop will be included. Should be twice the size it currently is. However, the employees can purchase uniforms from First Uniforms online and use payroll deduction. We get a rebate from First Uniform. 

    2. I am in the process of purchasing LOGO shirts. I was asked to sell them in the new shop. I have gotten a few from Queensboro. 

    3. I do sell fresh flowers. The mark up is 30%. 

    4. I am with MM Hayes. They were able to handle out tier payroll deduction for the shop. The employee's payments are based on their balance. I can purchase a mobile unit but the cost is $3,000. a year. Means there has to be a lot of sales to comp that. 

    5. Best sellers: (not in order, just off the top of my head)

    Clothing Flowers

    Handbags Baby Bows

    Jewelry Flags

    Candy Over the counter Medicines

    Balloons Cell phone items

    6. Christmas: Water Lanterns have been a huge hit for the last 2 years. We also sell Grinh items really well. 

    7. Fall items will be going out in the next 2 weeks.

    8. Christmas is always done the last week in October. We close on friday and empty the shop except baby items and reset with Christmas. 

    9. I have always gone to Atlanta in January. However, I have been to Dallas and Last Vegas Market and Las Vegas ASD show. Christmas is my primary purchases is Atlanta. But the ASD show is mainly closeouts. So, you have to be open minded on when it will sell and having room to store it until you can sell it. You have to take most purchases asap. But you can do a huge markup on the majority of the items from there. If you want to talk about it, call me I'll explain it more. 

    I hope this helps. Please share any info you get. 

    Thanks,

    Nancy Rogers

    Scotland Health Care System

    910-291-7314

    100 Bed hospital

    1000 employees

    Laurinburg, NC




  • Monday, August 21, 2023 11:52 AM
    Reply # 13243595 on 13242636
    • Do you sell scrubs in your Gift Shop? If so, what is the popular brand? No scrubs as we have a separate Medical Supply Company owned by hospital. 
    • What hospital logo items are popular with employees?  We sell ball caps, sweatshirts and T-shirts. These items are approved to be worn as uniform pieces by staff. 
    • Do you sell fresh flowers? If so, what is your mark-up? If not, do you utilize a kiosk? We only offer live plants, no fresh flowers. We work with a local nursery with 30% to 35% margins. 
    • Is your POS System internet based? If so, do you utilize Shopify? We currently have a hard-wired system which doesn't allow us to have pop-up sales around campus. We use NCR Counterpoint- not web based but do have option to add on for additional system for sales. For our project sales, we utilize MM Hayes Quickcharge. 
    • What are your top 10 selling items and top 5 vendors? Items: LogoT-shirts, flags, Door decor, Interchangeable Badge reels/ buttons, candles, snack and food items, baby items, Essential oils, fragrance and purses.  Vendors: Evergreen, Gerson, local bakery for fresh baked goods, local food wholesaler for candy/snacks, local Lions Industries for T-shirts, Direct Fragrance for purses and fragrance and Badge A Peel for buttons and reels. 
    • What are your hot items for Christmas this year?  Ours are primarily home decor items. I do outdoor and indoor decor pieces. We always have several turns on purses and fragrances as gifts because we offer payroll deduction. 
    • Do you have fall items out at this time? I put out fall during the 1st week of August this year. I have 2 windows full and will continue to add new pieces weekly. I will have Halloween out by Sept 10.  When will you have your Christmas Open House? Planning for the 1st or 2nd week of November. Haven't pinpointed a date yet but will put out decor in the last week of October. Tree usually goes up by November 1.
    • Who purchases for your Gift Shop? I do as gift shop coordinator. I don't attend markets. I order primarily online and have a few reps that I deal with in person. 

    Angela

    UNC Health Lenoir

    Kinston, NC 




  • Wednesday, October 25, 2023 10:13 AM
    Reply # 13271360 on 13242636
    Sara Camic (Administrator)

    I am also still learning about Gift Shop, as you know! But here is what I can answer below: 

    • Do you sell scrubs in your Gift Shop? If so, what is the popular brand?
      • No we do not sell scrubs. 
    • What hospital logo items are popular with employees?
      • Stainless steel cups, tshirts, sweatshirts, umbrellas 
    • Do you sell fresh flowers? If so, what is your mark-up? If not, do you utilize a kiosk?
      • We do sell fresh flowers. No idea the markup, they are delivered twice a week by a local vendor. We do not utilize a kiosk although we've tossed around the idea.
    The rest of the questions I cannot answer, but I wish you the best of luck as you navigate this.


  • Thursday, October 26, 2023 8:26 AM
    Reply # 13271759 on 13242636
    • Do you sell scrubs in your Gift Shop? If so, what is the popular brand?  No we do not.  We utilize a scrub company and use as a fundraiser and do quite well.
    • What hospital logo items are popular with employees?  Logo items is one of our top sellers.  3/4 zip pullovers are the top seller for most employees, but cardigans and full zip jackets are a close 2nd.
    • Do you sell fresh flowers? If so, what is your mark-up? If not, do you utilize a kiosk?  No flowers.  We have a no flower policy due to allergies etc.  But we do not stop flowers from being delivered from a local florist.  Not a strict policy.
    • Is your POS System internet based? If so, do you utilize Shopify? We currently have a hard-wired system which doesn't allow us to have pop-up sales around campus. NO
    • What are your top 10 selling items and top 5 vendors? clothing is our #1, mats and flags, tumblers, candy/chocolate, candles, bereavement.  For clothings we utilize Orange Shine (Reb and J is a very popluar brand thru them), Everygreen Enterprises, Carson, Candle Warmers, CrossRoads Candles
    • What are your hot items for Christmas this year? not sure yet
    • Do you have fall items out at this time? When will you have your Christmas Open House?  Fall has been out since August.  It will be coming down this weekend as our Christmas open house is next Friday.  We switch the store completely over to Christmas.
    • Who purchases for your Gift Shop? It looks as though I will be the one purchasing for our shop in the future and I have never been to market! Do you attend market in Atlanta?  I am the manager and buyer for the shop.  We do not go to market due to budget-we are a very small hospital and shop.  I purchase from online and thru sales reps.  not ideal but work with what we have.


  • Monday, October 30, 2023 2:59 PM
    Reply # 13273352 on 13242636

    Hi Cindy,

    I find myself in a challenging gift shop situation as well. My manager/buyer of 21 years is moving so I've got big shoes to fill! I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability:

    • We do not sell scrubs in the shop. Our Auxiliary sponsors First Uniform a couple of times a year for on-site and online uniform sales and offers payroll deduction as a payment method for those special events.
    • We've just started talking about this after a recent rebranding for our hospital system.
    • We do sell fresh flowers. We work with a local florist who services the cooler in our shop. We only pay her for the arrangements that sell. Markup is 40%.
    • Out POS is not internet-based. We use NCR Counterpoint. However, I have a portable terminal that we can transport to various locations with in the facility for our Auxiliary fundraisers as long as there is a port that I can plug into in order to access our hospital network.
    • Top sellers are clothing/shoes, accessories, home decor, candy, costume jewelry, and cosmetics (perfume, lotions).
    • Fall items have been out for a few weeks; Christmas items are slowly coming out but Open House will be Nov 16 so we will be in full-on Christmas mode on Nov 12 when the tree goes up.
    • Until 11/17 my manager/buyer does the purchasing. Unless I'm able to hire quickly, I'm worried that job may fall to me. It's been 22 years since I last went to the Atlanta Gift Mart!
  • Monday, October 30, 2023 3:00 PM
    Reply # 13273354 on 13242636

    Hi Cindy,

    I find myself in a challenging gift shop situation as well. My manager/buyer of 21 years is moving so I've got big shoes to fill! I'll answer your questions to the best of my ability:

    • We do not sell scrubs in the shop. Our Auxiliary sponsors First Uniform a couple of times a year for on-site and online uniform sales and offers payroll deduction as a payment method for those special events.
    • We've just started talking about this after a recent rebranding for our hospital system.
    • We do sell fresh flowers. We work with a local florist who services the cooler in our shop. We only pay her for the arrangements that sell. Markup is 40%.
    • Out POS is not internet-based. We use NCR Counterpoint. However, I have a portable terminal that we can transport to various locations with in the facility for our Auxiliary fundraisers as long as there is a port that I can plug into in order to access our hospital network.
    • Top sellers are clothing/shoes, accessories, home decor, candy, costume jewelry, and cosmetics (perfume, lotions).
    • Fall items have been out for a few weeks; Christmas items are slowly coming out but Open House will be Nov 16 so we will be in full-on Christmas mode on Nov 12 when the tree goes up.
    • Until 11/17 my manager/buyer does the purchasing. Unless I'm able to hire quickly, I'm worried that job may fall to me. It's been 22 years since I last went to the Atlanta Gift Mart!
  • Monday, October 30, 2023 6:32 PM
    Reply # 13273461 on 13242636

    I'm glad to know I'm not on this journey alone! The thoughts of shopping the Atlanta Market are a bit overwhelming!

    I'm curious to know where everyone is purchasing their logo items from. We currently use a local company but are looking at setting up a swag store through Blink Marketing.

    Again, thank you for your feedback. 

     Cindy

  • Tuesday, October 31, 2023 11:03 AM
    Reply # 13273735 on 13242636
    • We do not sell scrubs 
    • What hospital logo items are popular with employees?
      • short sleeve t-shirts
      • long sleeve t-shirts
      • lightweight fleece jackets
    • Do you sell fresh flowers? If so, what is your mark-up? If not, do you utilize a kiosk?
      • we do...3x cost
      • we also have a kiosk (24-hour flower)
    • Is your POS System internet based? If so, do you utilize Shopify? We currently have a hard-wired system which doesn't allow us to have pop-up sales around campus.
      • We use Clover, I highly recommend because if you are doing a pop-up shop, they have a Clover go that you can use to accept credit cards or can use for cash transactions.
    • What are your top 10 selling items and top 5 vendors?
      • Vendors
        • DM Merch
        • Jen & Co
        • Inis
        • Mary Meyer (Baby)
        • Candle Warmers
      • Items (other than branded merch)
        • lindor chocolate from Kellis
        • abdallah chocolate
        • inis cologne
        • anything Lemon Lavendar from DM Merch
        • Dionis lotion
        • earnings from Main Street / Coronet (the purely sensitive line)
        • brief Insanity lounge pants
        • badge reels (we use Outside the Box)
        • PBJ's from Streamline
        • wax melt warmers and melts
        • two left feet socks (DM Merch)
    • Christmas? socks, inexpensive ornaments from History and Heraldry


    Last modified: Tuesday, October 31, 2023 11:04 AM | Jill Dugaw
  • Wednesday, November 01, 2023 2:07 PM
    Reply # 13274285 on 13242636

    Thanks so much Jill! I'm interested in the kiosk you use for your florals. We are remodeling our hospital and the GS will have less square footage. Due to that, we are looking at a kiosk for our florals.

    Thank you!

     Cindy

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