Case Study: Park Nicollet Health Services

Client Profile
Park Nicollet, a Minneapolis-based integrated care system with 2 hospitals, 29 clinics and over 400,000 patients, had operated a variety of retail concepts on its healthcare campus for years. It had already generated millions in retail revenues and was meeting its mission of providing comprehensive patient care. They knew the benefits of healthcare retailing, and wanted to do more.

Objective
Help Park Nicollet Health Services develop a systemwide retail strategy that would increase their retail revenues 50 percent in 5 years.

Services
Simply Retail created a strategic retail blueprint for Park Nicollet through a 90-day systemwide Retail Discovery process. For the Simply Retail team, this meant first understanding the inner workings of the hospital system, including traffic flows, patient needs and areas of specialty that would suggest new retail opportunities. New retail venues were then recommended, such as:

Health and Care Boutique

Jane Brattain Boutique (targeted to breast cancer patients)

Retail-To-Go (i.e. kiosks, vending machines)

Existing shops were enhanced through improved visual marketing, customized product assortment and store operations. A retail training manual was also written explaining the details of retail. Simply Retail assisted Park Nicollet with the creation of a ”Retail System,” where retail would become an integral part of the clinical environment, from admission to discharge.

Results
Park Nicollet started implementing Simply Retail’s retail recommendations in 2000. By their very first year expectations were exceeded, and the retail system has consistently grown in both gross sales and controllable margin. “They did it,” says Thompson. “They’re right on target.”

"Retail is a business but it’s not Park Nicollet’s core business. They knew that, which was why the outcome was so phenomenal. Everyone wanted to learn; to create new retail ideas that would truly serve their patients.”