By: Melody Spurney

The Riordan Clinic shipping department becomes a jungle of boxes in preparation for the Nutrient Store Sale, which is scheduled for September 19-23.

The sale, which is held in the spring and fall in conjunction with the Check Your Health event, offers customers a 25% discount on Nutrient Store supplements and other products.

Nutrient Store Manager Megan Neathery, MSM, said the sale dramatically increases the volume of shipments and sales. A weekly average for Nutrient Store shipments is about 80, she said. During the Nutrient Sale, that number can jump to 100 shipments per day. In addition to shipments, sales also occur at each of the Riordan Clinic’s three locations in Wichita, Hays, and Overland Park, pushing total sales for the event to more than 1,000 for the past few years.

Preparation for the Nutrient Sale begins weeks in advance in Wichita as shipping assistant Cheryl Snook begins saving boxes and other supplies for shipping to customers and the other clinics. Megan evaluates current inventory and previous sale trends to order product from vendors to have on hand for shipping and to send to the other clinics for their in-store inventory. The Post Office is also notified because the volume of boxes is so big that the carrier must either make a second trip each day or bring a larger vehicle to collect them.

Megan said it takes a total of 12 to 18 people, including clinic staff and volunteers, to answer phones, fill orders, staff the clinic’s store, and prepare orders for shipping. Staff in the front office in Dome 1 in Wichita help answer phones and staff the store, maintenance staff helps fulfill shipments along with Nutrient Store staff, and 4-6 volunteers also assist with filling orders and packing shipments. Nutrient Store staff, and sometimes volunteers, will work during the weekends before and after the sale to complete online orders. Megan said that the goal is to ship an order within two days of the request, and ideally one day when possible.

Megan said that while she has had some trouble with timely response from vendors for some of the popular supplements, she expects those will be resolved in time for the Nutrient Sale. Supply chain issues have not been much of a factor.

Megan said the Nutrient Sale has evolved during the 8½ years she has worked for the Riordan Clinic. She started her position in March of 2014 and experienced her first Nutrient Sale just two weeks later. She recalled a steady growth in distinct orders, saying that about 700 were filled in the spring of 2016 and clinic staff had to manually enter online customers’ payment information. Improved technology and a focus on online sales has contributed to the steady increase in orders, which now tops 1,000.

Megan likes the busy pace of the sale and the opportunity to get to work with people and departments throughout the clinic.

“I like the hustle and bustle. It’s something different, and there’s a sense of accomplishment at the end,” she said.

Customers are encouraged to place orders online at https://store.riordanclinic.org/, and discounts are also available online only on the weekends before and after sale dates. Orders can also be placed on weekdays during the sale in-person at any Riordan Clinic or by calling 800-447-7276 x1464.