Spring Lake is a popular beach town so summer can get quite busy. Spring Lake Coffee House recently opened- just in time for Jersey Shore summer visitors. With coffee from Jersey Shore Coffee Roasters, bagels from Staten Island delivered every day, and delicious baked goods, Spring Lake Coffee House serves the community Sunday to Monday,…
DetailsAlthough the summer months are quickly dwindling away, it’s never too late to indulge in a cool and refreshing ice cream. But what’s even better than this delectable treat? Knowing that all of the ice cream you’re eating is made with the freshest, organic ingredients. At Pagoto Organic Ice Cream in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, they’ve been…
DetailsUndoubtedly, opening a new store can be expensive so it is important for store owners to get the best bang for their buck. It is essential for store owners to feel confident about every product you bring in to the store- if the store owner is unsure, the customer will be too. The store owner…
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Ample Hills Creamery opened May 25th, 2011 and has been making ice cream non-stop ever since. The flavors such as “PB&J”, “Salted Crack Caramel”, and “Breakfast Trash” are unheard of, but still make your mouth water just thinking about them. Through glass windows you can see into the Ample Hills kitchen and observe how they…
DetailsFAB Café, also dubbed as the Fourth Arts Block Visitors Center, opened in December 2010 and began using ShopKeep in March 2011. The coffee shop opens a whole new aspect of community to the cultural district. As a perfect location to meet friends, have a meeting, or just run in and grab a coffee before continuing…
DetailsA Fort Greene wine shop is crushing the competition — thanks to its innovation in shopkeeping technology.
The couple behind the award-winning Greene Grape and Greene Grape Provisions never dreamed of owning a tech startup, but now they’re transforming home computers and iPads into cash registers, one mom-and-pop at a time.
Last year, owners Jason Richelson and Amy Bennett developed ShopKeep, software that turns a Mac or PC into a cloud-based checkout — meaning stores can record sales and inventory over the web, rather than on in-store servers — thus joining the likes of Google and Apple in the burgeoning field.
The two were inspired to develop the software when their standard server-based cash registers weren’t keeping up with their skyrocketing business. Bennett, a former lawyer, and Richelson, a onetime trader, opened the Greene Grape on Fulton Street in 2004. Within just a few years, the wine store’s aging registers began to go haywire. One day, they had to close up shop after a server crashed and they waited for a software specialist to fix it.
Richelson was so fed up that he designed the web-based checkout system, and hired a programmer to do the dirty work.
“Our frustrations led us to find a better, cheaper way,” said Richelson. “We hope our software helps the little guys keep up with the big guys.”
For $1,000, shopowners can purchase the ShopKeep system — which includes a cash drawer, receipt printer, credit card swiper and the software — plus there’s a $49 monthly subscription to ShopKeep. All told, the couple says is a minor expense compared to traditional register setups that can cost five times as much.
Today, close to 2,000 businesses nationwide use the couple’s technology.
“We just happen to have something the world wants,” said Bennett.
The innovations continue: the store’s latest product is an app for the iPad, so the prized tablet can turn into a sleek touchscreen till. About 70 independent shops nationally are currently piloting the iPad register, including Cochinita Taco in Clinton Hill, Nunu Chocolates in Boerum Hill, and Ample Heights Creamery in Prospect Heights.
Brian Smith, owner of the Vanderbilt Avenue ice cream shop, said that the ShopKeep app is almost too fast and easy to use. In just four days of business, he sold 130 gallons of ice cream and had to close for a week so he could make more.
“The brilliance of it is that you don’t have to be tech-savvy,” said Smith. “It was almost part of the problem — the app goes so quickly!”
The Greene Grape [753 Fulton Street at S. Portland Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 797-9463].
Mexicue, “the sweet love child of red-hot Mexican and down-home, barbecue goodness”, is using ShopKeep and busting huge lines in the process.
DetailsSet up at 9 am the day they opened, Ample Hills Creamery was sold out of ice cream 3 days later ringing all sales through a ShopKeep.com iPad cash register used by high schoolers who trained on the fly that first day. Any concerns about whether ShopKeep.com is simple enough for your staff or speedy…
DetailsAs of this morning our iPad point of sale is operational at Cochinta Tacos. Beautifully concealed behind a red lacquer service counter, they got the system in place in the morning and were ringing sales, automatically popping the cash drawer and wirelessly printing receipts for orders of $20 or more (as legally required) immediately. You…
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