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Business & Tech

Hospital Gift Shop Makes Serious Money to Aid Auxiliary

The gift shop at Lehigh Valley Health Network Muhlenberg sells more than flowers.

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

Karen Sampson, former manager of the Lehigh Valley Hospital Network gift shops and owner of in Bushkill Township, said, “Hospital gift shops are not what they used to be. 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.

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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 at 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.

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“They were like a sweater that came down to your knees with a fur collar,” she said. “We make about $20,000 to $25,000 per month.”

Sandra Spahn, a hospital auxiliary volunteer in the shop, said merchandise is always changing.

"If you see something you want, you better get it today, because it might not be there tomorrow," she added.

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 profits go to the Hospital Auxiliary in order to benefit the hospital through 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 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 on them.

Monaghan said the gift shop has felt the recession like everyone else.

“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 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 is 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, Monaghan said. There are a total of 176 auxiliary volunteers throughout the hospital system. The store's hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays, and Saturday hours vary, Monaghan said.

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