2008 NRA News Round-up

Tim Hortons, Canada's largest quick service restaurant chain, announces the deployment of VeriFone's payment solutions at countertop checkout stations and drive-thru lanes in U.S. locations. Tim Hortons last year deployed 7,500 VeriFone V 570 systems with EMV-ready VeriFone SC 5000 PINpads throughout store locations in Canada. They also initiated the electronic payment transformation to enable credit card and contactless payments and to convert from paper-based gift certificates to its QuickPay Tim Card. 

Carrabba's Italian Grill joins the roster of restaurants using VeriFone ON THE SPOT V 670 payment system. Carrabba's expects to complete deployment by early summer with multiple devices in each of its 239 locations nationwide, integrated with its existing in-store restaurant management system.

Purple Cafe owner Larry Kurofsky selects SquirrelOne for his three new operations in Washington state's Bellevue Towers and for his new Capitol Hill location in Seattle. The new restaurants will use the latest version of SquirrelOne for point of sale with fully integrated electronic payment processing through Heartland Payment Systems and Valutec Card Solutions Inc. for gift card processing.

McAlister's Deli successfully converts gift cards from their former provider to the Givex system. McAlister's Deli gift card transactions will now be processed on Givex's highly secure platform. Merchants can easily convert over to Givex without disrupting gift card redemption and other functionality. In addition to real-time gift card transaction processing, McAlister's Deli will benefit from a full range of support services, including fund settlement between franchisees and corporate locations, online program administration and reporting, card production and marketing and more.

In an effort to enable leading restaurants to hire and manage the best front-of-house and back-of-house staff and deliver superior, consistent guest service, Kronos Incorporated launched Kronos for Dining. Kronos for Dining is a comprehensive offering of software and services designed to improve customer service, reduce labor costs, improve employee satisfaction, and ensure compliance. The solution is supported by a team of experts who deliver deep domain knowledge and industry best practices.

Sharp Electronics Corporation unveils its UP-3500, an advanced Point-of-Sale (POS) solution with a design and functionality that is ideal for quick serve restaurants, cafeterias or small retail stores. The UP-3500 is compact and convenient enough to fit independent and large-scale enterprises. Certified by VISA to conform to PABP standards, the UP-3500 features a 12.1-inch diagonal LCD touch-screen display that maximizes operator efficiency and order entry, and enables dealers to program in-depth menu screens.

Underscoring its commitment to providing the most robust Point-of-Sale (POS) solutions available, Sharp introduces the latest version (8.4) of the SDW software. Providing restaurant and bar owners with a truly dynamic software solution for Sharp Electronic Cash Register (ECR) and POS systems, SDW 8.4 supports all of the latest Sharp ECR and POS solutions and combines the reliability and control of the Sharp embedded POS system at the counter with the reporting and data flexibility of an open system in the back office.

Sharp Electronics Corporation introduces its Sharp Intelligent Data Enterprise (S.I.D.E.) service, which will give multi-store companies a streamlined solution that can meet even the most stringent Point-of-Sale (POS) requirements. S.I.D.E combines the reliability of the Sharp embedded POS system at the store level with the freedom of an open platform system at the above-store level, providing managers with the ability to closely track sales data daily without having to estimate or manage archiving.