Bellevue goes big
By Liz Beaulieu, Editor
Updated 1:10 PM CDT, Thu July 22, 2021
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BELLEVUE, Wash. – Bellevue Healthcare in June opened its largest location yet.
The 10,000-square-foot location in Burlington, Wash., focuses on retail but also serves as a distribution hub for servicing some of the more remote parts of the state, including the San Juan Islands, says Joel Gallion, president.
“We have stores in Everett and Bellingham, and this is in between,” he said. “So, from a logistical standpoint, it’s a good middle ground.”
Also this month, Bellevue opened another retail-focused location in Eugene, Ore., its first in that area and its 20th location overall.
The size of the location in Burlington allows Bellevue to keep a larger inventory of popular items like beds, lift chairs and standard power mobility equipment, Gallion says.
“With the way lead times have gotten, this allows us to have a more robust stock,” he said. “Instead of carrying seven to nine lift chairs, we’ll be able to carry 30 to 40 in Burlington, so we can turn those orders around really quickly.”
Bellevue has had success with retail, because the company is “all in” on the business model, Gallion says.
“We’ve really studied Nordstrom, Starbucks, Amazon, REI – all of these customer-service friendly corporations in our backyard,” he said. “We’ve tried to mimic some of what they do, whether it’s same-day curbside pickup or same-day deliveries. It’s all about a premium experience. We believe there’s room for that in health care.”
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