It’s surprising how well such boutique gift shops can do. Gift shops, like those in a hospital, usually average about 500 square feet of space. Those that are run efficiently do $500,000 to $1 million in business per year. Even on the low end, that’s more or less $1000 per square foot. If Walmart and Home Depot could pull off a similar feat, they’d rule the world.
There are thousands of hospitals in the U.S., and each one has a gift shop, a kind of teeny-weeny mini-mart, where visitors can purchase gifts for friends or family members who are hospitalized. Just a small gift can brighten someone’s day, simply because it says you care.
For the most part, I think it’s safe to assume that major corporations and big brands are focused solely on big profits, which explains why they usually have such lousy customer service. Anyway, when I finally decide to go into business for myself, I’m going to open a charming little gift shop – the next closest thing to being Santa Claus.
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