Customers Want Products-and Good Feelings JERRY BONNET KNOWS you can't solve every problem a home medical equipment provider encounters with a double cappuccino. But the coffee bar he installed in his Wonderful Living store is becoming the gathering place he had in mind when he opened his "concept" business in Dallas.

"It's a place where people can sit down, relax and learn about the products we carry," the company president says. "It sends a message that you don't have to come into a showroom with medical products and rush in and rush out. Most DMEs are sterile, clinical. We're trying to change that."

Schooled in medical equipment as a mobility specialist at a Louisiana veterans hospital, Bonnet opened his store early this year with partner Teri Collier. He says he patterned it after the Radio Shack electronics chain-small in size (3,000-4,000 square feet) and long on product selection (5,000 at last count). His nine product categories: back and neck pain control, sleep comfort, mobility and orthopedics, bath safety, aids to independent living, exercise and physical therapy, furnishings for people with disabilities, vitamins and herbs, and allergy and sinus relief.

Bonnet targets patients ages 40 to 60 rather than the 50 to 80 demographic he says traditional HME providers seek. And he pushes service and education hard, as might be expected from the son of a pharmacist. "Our accent is on wellness," he says. "We call it, 'Unique products for health and healing.'"

His focus on establishing good customer relations is critical to the business' long-term success, says Bonnet. Right now, however, his biggest challenge is getting people to find his brand new store-and appreciate the holistic concept behind it. To build the store's name and reputation, Bonnet runs radio commercials and newspaper ads. "We also advertise on the Don Imus radio show, and do some direct mail," he says.

"We find people are drawn by wellness items like nutritional products and vitamins," he reports. "In our store, we also have physical therapy balls on display that people pick up and start to play with. There's a really playful aspect to our store."

He says one customer called his location "a Toys R Us for grown-ups"-and it is this alternative approach that allows him to co-exist with a more traditional HME provider located just three blocks away.

"They focus on managed care, beds and wheelchairs, and those aren't areas we focus on," he says. "We refer customers back and forth. It's a good relationship."

Long-range growth plans for Wonderful Living include expansion as a chain or franchise. Bonnet says catalog sales are growing, and he also wants to venture into the Internet eventually.

But for now, he's concentrating on his retail showroom because surveys show that 95 percent of consumers still enjoy the shopping experience in person. In fact, he reports, his store already enjoys a good percentage of repeat business.

"We are a retailer," he explains. "We want to make coming into the store enjoyable. The coffee bar is an attempt to make a community gathering area, so people can network.

"When you get older or you get hurt or sick, your life's focus shifts to health care and wellness," Bonnet says. "You spend a lot of time thinking about that and learning about that. Gourmet coffee might be a fad in Texas, but we're trying to develop a personality here at our store." HC

Has good thinking in technology paid off for your business? HomeCare Magazine would like to hear about it. Contact us by phone at 800/543-4116, ext. 263; fax: 310/317-9644; e-mail: marie_blakey@intertec.com