Copper Cellar

The Copper Cellar Corporation Rolls-Out Squirrel for Windows NT

Copper Cellar The Copper Cellar Corporation, a privately held company with family roots, needed to replace a failing point of sale (POS) solution that had been in use for over fifteen years. Mike Gaston, MIS Director of The Copper Cellar Corporation, knew that whatever solution he selected would need to stand the test of time and grow with the organization. Therefore advance open system architecture was the primary decision-making criteria when the time came to make a point-of-sale system decision. The Copper Cellar Corporation selected Squirrel® for Windows NT®. Running on a Microsoft® Windows NT and SQL ServerT platform, Squirrel for Windows NT provides The Copper Cellar Corporation with the technology platform they need to support their planned growth while providing a front-of-house solution that is easy to learn and use for both servers and managers. A rollout to all of their twelve restaurants is nearly complete.

The Copper Cellar Corporation was founded in 1975 with the following thoughts in mind. "Serve simple foods, using the finest quality ingredients, serve guests in a clean, attractive atmosphere and make sure that the guest leaves satisfied."

Based in Knoxville, Tennessee, CopperCellar operates twelve restaurants that include concepts such as Copper Cellar®, Cappuccino's®, Chesapeake's®, Smoky Mountain Brewery®, Calhoun's® and the Cherokee Grill. Although the restaurants share some of the same concepts, each building is different and has its own unique atmosphere. With menus that vary from concept to concept and specialties that include beef, seafood, pasta and the "Best Ribs in America", each restaurant serves relatively simple prepared foods made to order from quality ingredients.

Calhoun's on the River is largest of the restaurants, seating 350-400 people. It's located about a quarter of a mile from the Neyland Stadium where the University of Tennessee Volunteers play football. The stadium itself, seats 108,000 and with the loyal Tennessee fans, the games are always a complete sell out. The "Vol Navy", a group of 100 to 150 houseboats and other boats moor at the Calhoun's dock on the Thursday before every Saturday game.

For the Tennessee vs. Florida game this year, the bar staff were disappointed with the sales. They actually thought it was a slow day. However, when the statistics were analyzed, the inside bar broke their sales record by $1,000 and the outside bar by $2,000."The servers and managers spent so little time at the terminals that they didn't notice the extra volume they were doing. So much so, that the restaurant actually exceeded their plan by $5,000 for the day," says Mike Gaston.

Mike Gaston, MIS Director for The Copper Cellar Corporation had a dilemma. Maintaining the in-store systems at the twelve restaurants that had the same POS for fifteen years, Mike was faced with constant equipment failures caused by aging maintenance program from their POS vendor and a system that wasn't Y2K compliant. In addition, the management group knew from exit interviews that they were losing key personnel due to issues surrounding the system.

"I knew that our owner was expecting me to deliver a solution that would last at least as long as our previous POS solution," explains Mike Gaston. "For that reason, I needed to look for a solution with an up-to-date technology platform that our organization could build and grown on," he adds.

Copper Cellar had a few simple goals. Find a system that:

Was easy for servers to learn and use
Had a simple back office so that managers with little or no computer skills could function
Was compatible with the custom home office financial system that used a "PICK" database
Was Microsoft Windows NT based and used a SQL database
Was Microsoft Windows NT based and used a SQL database
Used a technology platform that could stand the test of time

Copper Cellar began the process of searching for the right solution. They conducted a one-store pilot of one solution in 1994.While the front-of-house worked for them the back office was difficult for the managers to learn and use. The system was running on a Novell network. The hardware was generic, low profile PC boxes with CTX touchscreens. They experienced high failure rates.

Mike was forced to start over again. He began the process of researching other POS solutions. Part of his research was a trip to Atlanta in 1998 to attend the FS/TEC Show. It was at this show that Mike saw a presentation of the new Squirrel for Windows NT product.

Copper Cellar selected Squirrel for Windows NT as their POS solution. This solution helped them meet most of their objectives:

Squirrel runs on a Microsoft Windows NT and SQL platform
The terminal user interface based on advanced human factors engineering made the system easy to learn and use for both servers and managers
The browser-based back office was easy for managers to learn and use
The diskless operation in the terminal meant no operating system was required which was a considerable cost and administration savings with over 90 terminals required

A fairly new product in November 1999 when the first restaurant was installed, there were some challenges exporting sales and labor data to the home office. Squirrel worked with Copper Cellar to implement software changes that resulted in a successful pilot and a decision to rollout Squirrel to all restaurants starting in March 2000.

Copper Cellar restaurants began to install Squirrel at a rate of one store per month. To date, nine stores are complete, with a tenth converting in March2001. The two remaining stores will be installed later in the year.

"I am confident that our decision to roll-out with Squirrel for Windows NT is the right direction for The Copper Cellar Corporation. This solution satisfies the requirements of both the restaurants and home office and provides a path to the future," says Gaston.