Press Releases

October 25, 2004 SUMMARY:

Squirrel Systems and Epson dish-up restaurant management solution for T.G.I. Friday's® Scandinavia
T.G.I. Friday's® rolls out Squirrel Restaurant Management System to Scandinavian operations.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE . .

Vancouver, BC - October 25, 2004 - Squirrel Systems today announced the expansion of its service to international chain restaurants with the implementation of Squirrel's next generation restaurant management system in all Scandinavian operations of T.G.I. Friday's®. Partnering with Epson to bring a fast, reliable solution to better serve its customers, Squirrel Systems has been named Friday's® solution of choice in the Scandinavian region.

T.G.I. Friday's, America's first casual dining chain, has over 740 locations in 54 countries. For its Scandinavian operations, Friday's was looking for a user-friendly solution to deliver increased speed, accuracy and reliability to enhance the customer experience in its face-paced dining environment. Friday's needed a dependable system that could keep up with its peak busy hours and looked to Squirrel for a restaurant management solution.

Teaming up with Epson, a long-standing partner, Squirrel System's provided Friday's with a reliable and effective point of sale hardware and software solution. The Friday's rollout includes the new SquirrelONE product line, the point of sale standard based on advanced human factors engineering making the system truly simple, intuitive and natural to use and Epson printers, offering a powerful printing solution.

"Several systems today offer the basic functionality needed in a POS system. We needed a solution that would enable our wait staff to effectively communicate with our kitchen systems. Squirrel Systems gave us that and, in addition, gave us the high operational speed we need in our bars," says Espen Holm, Sr. Vice President, T.G.I. Friday's, Scandinavia. "40% of our weekly sales come on Friday and Saturday between 10pm and 2am - that demands a fast system."

After careful review of other POS solutions, Squirrel System's was chosen as the preferred vendor. Friday's chose Squirrel as a result of 5 key factors that prevailed when compared with other systems including: operational security, speed, user interface, service and back office dependability. In a fast-paced, high turnover environment like that of Friday's, it was crucial that the selected system meet these criteria.

In addition to these key factors, employee experience was noted as a key differentiator. "For me, it was about choosing a system that worked better than previous solutions with respect to employee satisfaction," says Holm. In an environment where employee satisfaction directly correlates with customer experience, finding a system that eased the job of the employee was a key differentiator.

Overall, Friday's is experiencing extreme satisfaction with the effectiveness of the chosen Squirrel solution. "We were looking for a system that could handle our bar-business. Our bars are very busy, in particular on Fridays and Saturdays. Squirrel has proven to be the system where bartenders use the least amount of time in front of the screen and that's exactly what we needed. I want them in contact with our guests in order to sell and give great service," says Holm.

Epson provided Friday's with highly reliable printers, including TM-T90, TM-T88II, and TM-U210 models, all designed for maximum durability and performance in busy restaurant environments. Since the install, the Friday's team has experienced guaranteed uptime, improved durability of kitchen transactions and increased customer service when it comes to printing checks. "Epson is committed to bringing hospitality customers unparalleled reliability, value and flexibility. We are proud of our partnership with Squirrel Systems and the Friday's teams," said Bud Weist, Vice President of Epson sales and marketing, System Device group. Overall, the Friday's staff is very pleased with Epson's functionality and reliability.

"Squirrel Systems is proud to announce our partnership with the Scandinavian operations of T.G.I. Friday's," said Barry Logan, President, Squirrel Systems. "We are confident that this win further demonstrates the value we bring to the worldwide restaurant industry and look forward to continuing to build on our strong relationship with both Friday's and Epson."

Currently, the largest Friday's location, centered in Norway, is migrating to Squirrel's restaurant management system. Together, the POS team of Squirrel and Epson are expected to help bring security and efficiency to a location with yearly revenues of approximately $12 million USD.

ABOUT Squirrel SYSTEMS

Squirrel Systems is a leading total solutions provider of management systems for independent and chain establishments, including restaurants and food and beverage operations in hotels, resorts and clubs. Headquartered in Vancouver, Squirrel Systems and Squirrel Systems Canada are privately held companies. In its 20 years of profitable operation Squirrel has earned a reputation for innovation and excellence by meeting and exceeding the needs of over 10,000 customers with 50,000 installed Squirrel workstations. As the first company to introduce touch-screen ordering into the restaurant market, it has a long track record as an innovator. To learn more about Squirrel, visit www.Squirrelsystems.com.

ABOUT EPSON

Epson offers an extensive array of POS printers, transaction terminals, and network projectors for the retail, hospitality, supermarket and banking markets. Founded in 1975, Epson America is the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, a global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality technology products that meet customer demands for increased functionality, compactness, systems integration and energy efficiency. Epson America, Inc. is headquartered in Long Beach, California. For more information, visit www.pos.epson.com.

For more information please contact Sharon Lassman, High Road Communications at (416) 368-8348 ext. 261.