Hospital Gift Shop Makes Serious Money to Aid Auxiliary

Hospital gift shops have evolved. Instead of a little room with candy bars, magazines, flowers and balloons that say “Get Well” today’s hospital gift shops have enlarged their merchandise inventory to become a destination point for employees, as well as traditional customers.

"Hospital gift shops are not what they used to be," said Karen Sampson, former manager of the Lehigh Valley Hospital Network gift shops and owner of Missing Piece in Nazareth. "Eighty-five percent of the sales are to employees. It’s like a regular gift shop now.”

“The employees get stressed out at work with the illness around them. This becomes a place they can unwind,” said Elizabeth Monaghan, the new manager of the LVH Muhlenberg shop.

When Sampson decided to branch out on her own to open Missing Piece she hired Monaghan to take her place. For 25 years, Monaghan worked in retail for The Christmas Barn in Bethlehem, now she manages the gift shop located just inside the front doors and to the left.

Her store is bright and gets plenty of natural light from the big windows in the front of the building. Attractive, colorful items are displayed everywhere. Sure Monaghan still sells candy bars but she also recently offered $200 coats – and sold them all.

“They were like a sweater that came down to your knees with a fur collar,” she said.

Sandra Spahn, a hospital auxiliary volunteer in the shop, said, “The merchandise is always changing. If you see something you want, you better get it today, because it might not be there tomorrow.”

One of the biggest differences between the store Sampson managed and the store she owns is that hospital gift shops are not allowed to advertise, she said. All of the profits go to the Hospital Auxiliary in order to benefit the hospital with special projects like the Miles to Smiles Dental Vehicle. The shops are part of a non-profit network.

The gift shop is 1,100 square feet, and Monaghan said that every day she wishes it could be bigger. Currently, it’s connected with the pharmacy, but they are two totally separate businesses, she said. For instance, the pharmacy sells scrubs for the employees, while the gift shop sells t-shirts and sweatshirts with the hospital logo.

Monaghan said the gift shop has felt the recession like everyone else. Sales have slowed down, because some employees have a spouse that has lost a job, for instance.

“Payroll deductions have saved us,” Monaghan said.

She explained that hospital employees can opt to have the cost of items they purchase at the gift shop subtracted from their paycheck. Employees can even have the payments drawn out over four months without interest charges, she said.

In order to increase that personal touch, Monaghan said she and the clerks use black-and white striped gift bags for the purchases. They add different colored ribbons to make each package special.

“I’m about the service,” Monaghan said. “You have to be. You’re dealing with people with high emotions.”

Monaghan said sometimes children from the pediatric ward come down to the gift shop. She always gives them a balloon. The cost of the balloon, string and helium cost her about $1.75 wholesale, but in her mind, the cost doesn’t always matter.

“What it does for you and what it does for a little kid who’s feeling so bad… maybe they can’t afford it,” she said. “You have to give back.”

The gift shop has 40 hospital auxiliary members that volunteer to work in it, Monaghan said. There are a total of 176 auxiliary volunteers throughout the hospital system. The store hours are 9 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday, 1pm to 5 pm on Sundays and Saturday hours vary, Monaghan said.