Travel Schedule Q3 and Q4 2018

OK, so those of you with chains and franchises are getting serious about investing in new point of sale technology come 2019 and 2020. Many of you use Microsoft Dynamics RMS with HQ while others use quite the variety of POS programs that are outdated or lacking certain features and functions. As many of you have requested assistance with needs analysis, process improvements, budgeting, wish list creation, and solution/vendor analysis, I’ve booked travel to the following areas through the end of 2018:

• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Seattle, Washington
• Portland, Oregon
• Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Multiple parts of Idaho
• Multiple parts of Oregon

I am still working on Texas, Colorado and Arizona so please contact me as needed. Same goes if you are in an area that I am visiting and wish to meet in person for unbiased consulting or sales/service related assistance.

You can reach me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632.

Upcoming City Visits

Looks like I should break the 100K barrier in frequent flyer miles for 2017! Details are still being arranged but it looks like I am headed to the following places for the 2nd half of 2017 (mostly August - early November):

• Salt Lake City, UT
• Seattle, WA
• Portland, OR
• Denver, CO
• Phoenix, AZ
• Tuscon, AZ
• Jackson, WY
• Minneapolis, MN

And, of course, helping out folks here in Idaho - over 160 retailers in the PacNW and Utah that have signed on for sales and service - including single location stores as well as 50 location chains (good thing that we have 10 support techs!).

I'll update this post with dates as the travel plans are finalized. Contact me if we need to schedule some time together at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632. 

RITE Trade Show and Travel Schedule

Putting on my travel planning hat today - some details on the trade shows and cities that RITE team members will be at over the coming months. I'll post more details about the trade shows once we know our booth number information.

Trade Shows:
Malt Beverage Distributors Association: April 21st - 24th, 2017.
Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, Pocono Mountain, PA

Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association: April 29th - May 2nd.
Alexandria, MN

Beverage Alcohol Retails Conference: June 12th - 14th, 2017.
Minneapolis, MN

City Visits:
Seattle WA: March 12th - 16th, 2017 (schedule is full)

Baker City, OR: March 28th, 2017 (schedule is full))

San Antonio, TX, Austin, TX and Houston, TX: April 9th - 13th, 2017 (schedule is full)

Central Idaho (Twin Falls, Ketchum, Hailey, Burley and Sun Valley): April 25 -28th, 2017

Eastern Idaho and Western Wyoming (Jackson, West Yellowstone, Pocatello, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls, Rigby and Rexburg): May 9th - 12th, 2017

Seattle, WA: May 17th - 19th

LaGrande OR and Ontario OR: May 22nd - 24th

Greater Salt Lake City area (Ogden, West Valley, Lehi, Provo, etc) and Park City, UT: June 4th - 8th, 2017 

Twin Falls, ID: June 25th and 26th

Denver, CO: TBD

Tuscon and Phoenix, AZ: TBD

Minneapolis MN: July 30th - August 3rd

MN, Northern Iowa, and Eastern Wisconsin: July 30th - August 3rd

RSPA RetailNOW® 2017 (Las Vegas): August 6th - August 9th, 2017

Obviously you will want to connect ahead of time to arrange a time to meet with a RITE team member so please contact me so I can provide you with more details. Fastest way for us to connect is via email (kevina@rite.us) or cell (208-994-9404). Thanks!

Yummy Times at Garden Gate Candy!

I have been neglecting my duties related to showcasing some of the businesses that I worked with recently. Earlier this week I (and the support team at RITE) had a great time helping Garden Gate Candy upgrade to the most recent version of the Microsoft RMS point of sale software as well as installing the Card Defender EMV/Chip Card add-on for Microsoft.

What an awesome - and well known business!  They are very popular both locally and nationally and are open only open for a limited time each year. You can see how this family run business has established themselves as a must shop place from the end of October to Christmas Eve. I look forward to working with the family for many years to come!

I'm going to try and post information about at least one business that I help each month and try to include pictures of the equipment as well as details about the technology used and the business itself. For now, I'm sending $80 worth of treats from Garden Gate Candy back to our main office in Minnesota.

Retail Point of Sale Service and Sales - Utah

A quick note that I'm headed to perform some sales and service work in the following areas and would be happy to swing by your retail business to offer some no cost retail point of sale advice (any service work would need to be scheduled ahead of time):

• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Ogden, Utah
• Logan, Utah
• Layton, Utah
• Lehi, Utah
• Park City, Utah
• Provo, Utah

Do call (208-340-5632) or email (kevinantosh@gmail.com) me if we should schedule a time to meet.

Quick Note of Thanks!

Quick note of thanks to the 27 stores in Idaho & Utah that recently selected RITE as their Microsoft RMS Partner! #rms #support #Utah #idaho

Obviously this was more of a social media post but it has been amazing (and hectic) couple of weeks given the need and demand for RMS support here in Idaho and Utah.

Thank goodness we have multiple RMS techs on staff!

Places that I'm Headed To

I always like to share my travel schedule in case you happen to be in one of the areas that I am visiting and would like to meet for some no-cost retail point of sale advice.  Here are the areas that I'm headed to over the coming months (summer/fall 2016):

• Salt Lake City, UT
• Layton, UT
• Ogden, UT
• Twin Falls, ID
• Mountain Home, ID
• McCall, ID
• Cascade, ID
• Sun Valley, ID
• Ketchum, ID
• Hailey, ID
• Pocatello, ID
• Idaho Falls, ID
• Jackson, WY

Please get in touch with me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com if you are interested in meeting for some no-cost retail point of sale advice.

Retail Point of Sale Systems in Utah

A quick reminder that I frequently travel throughout the state of Utah so if you happen to be searching for a retail point of sale system and your business is located in the state of Utah, please visit my contact page for information on how we might be able to meet in person for free and unbiased retail point of sale systems advice.

The areas that I visit the most frequently are:

• Salt Lake City, UT
• Ogden, UT
• Bountiful, UT
• West Valley, UT
• Sandy, UT
• Orem, UT
• Park City, UT
• Provo, UT

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Point of Sale Systems - Idaho and Utah

A quick reminder that I am available as a free and unbiased resource for business and organizations searching for point of sale systems in all states but especially for those located in Idaho and Utah due to my current location about 22 miles outside of Boise, ID.  In addition to working with business and organizations directly, I'm also available to help you find the best system for your client or customer.

Visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Local Retail POS Installation Help - Idaho, Utah, and Oregon

As I am now part of the RITE team, I am happy to let folks know that local sales, installation, training, and support for retail point of sale systems is again available to businesses and organizations in the states of Idaho, Utah, and Oregon (Montana, Wyoming, Washington State, and Nevada can be coordinated as needed).

This is great as these states lacked companies that focused on retail point of sale solutions ever since DirectPOS/RVP Business Systems closed their offices in Boise, ID, Spokane, WA and Salt Lake City, UT.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

EMV Advice and Discount Options for Former DirectPOS/RVP Business Systems Customers

Update July 2016: Since many Microsoft RMS point of sale software would like to keep using RMS for another couple of years but still need to deal with the EMV Liability Shift Date, visit this post for more information on the Card Defender EMV add-on for Microsoft RMS versions 1.3 and higher (and HQ as well): http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/06/card-defender-emv-add-on-for-microsoft.html

Update July 2016, Retail Management Hero demo and overview: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-version-of-rmsretail-management.html

With the EMV (chip based credit and debit cards) Liability Shift Date coming up quickly (October 1st, 2015 in the United States), I wanted to pass along some important information for former customers of DirectPOS (RVP Business Systems) who formally sold and serviced cash registers and point of sale systems out of offices in Boise, Idaho, Salt Lake City, Utah and Spokane, Washington.

If you happen to be a former customer of DirectPOS or RVP Business Systems, you likely have questions related to making sure that your cash register or point of sale hardware and software is ready for the EMV Liability Shift Date.  I have made arrangements with multiple trustworthy companies to help you determine what, if anything, you need to do related to your current equipment and EMV.

Even better, these companies will offer you a special discount related to any costs you may incur. Because this involves multiple different types of hardware and software, as well as over 3000 different businesses and organizations, you need to contact me for more information.

Here are the systems that qualify for the discounts:

• MICROS e7
• MICROS 3700
• Sam4S Cash Registers
• QuickBooks Point of Sale
• NCR Silver
• NCR CounterPoint SQL
• Microsoft RMS
• Microsoft HQ
• Microsoft POS 2007 or 2009

If your business is using one of the above systems, and resides in the states listed below, do contact me for free advice and direction on what to do.  I will also be reaching out to all of you as time permits.

• Idaho - ID
• Utah - UT
• Washington State - WA
• Oregon - OR
• Wyoming - WY
• Montana - MT
• Ohio - OH
• Minnesota - MN
• Iowa - IA
• Wisconsin - WI
• Louisiana - LA
• Texas - TX
• Florida - FL
• California - CA

The goal here is to make sure that the upcoming EMV Liability Shift Date catches no one by surprise.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Want to Meet in Person?

Just a quick note that I am going to be in the following locales over the coming weeks if you would like to meet in person:

• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Portland, Oregon
• Boise, Idaho
• Baker City, Oregon
• Twin Falls, Idaho
• Pocatello, Idaho
• Idaho Falls, Idaho
• Sacramento, California
• Seattle, Washington

Contact me for more information.  I'm also working on arrangements to visit other areas as well.

Reminder on Discounts for Former DirectPOS/RVP Business Systems Customers & Microsoft Dynamics RMS Users

Update June 28th, 2015 - special discount and incentive from a national NCR CounterPoint Partner for RMS and HQ users: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2015/06/big-discount-and-incentive-for.html

As August 2014 quickly winds down, a reminder that I have arranged for some significant discounts if you happen to be a former customer of DirectPOS/RVP Business Systems who had offices in Boise, ID, Spokane, WA, and Salt Lake City, UT but sold point of sale systems throughout the United States.  It doesn't matter which system you bought from them as I have made arrangements to cover everything from cash registers to multi-location retail and restaurant point of sale solutions.

The discounts also apply to anyone who is currently using the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management Store Operations or Dynamics POS 2007/2009 point of sale software programs.

You'll need to contact me for more details using the contact form to the right, via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com or on my cell at 208.340.5632.

Some of you have been asking about my availability for in person visits or speaking at trade shows, conferences, expos, or small business development centers.   My schedule is flexible enough that I can travel almost anywhere with some advanced notice.

I do not charge anything for my workshops or consultations but if the location is more than 200 miles from Boise, ID then I do ask for enough to cover my travel related expenses.

There are also other options related to using online meeting tools as well to save time and money.

Best way to figure out our options is to contact me vie the contact form to the right, via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com or on my cell at 208.340.5632.

If it helps, the majority of the folks that I worked with or the locations I have spoken or conducted workshops at are:

• Boise, ID
• Twin Falls, ID
• Pocatello, ID
• Idaho Falls, ID
• Burley, ID
• Rigby, ID
• Rexburg, ID
• Jackson Hole, WY,
• Helena, MT
• Nampa, ID
• Caldwell, ID
• Atlanta, GA
• Ontario, OR
• Baker City, OR
• Portland, OR
• Seattle, WA
• Salt Lake City, UT
• Minneapolis, MN
• St Cloud, MN
• Reno, NV
• Shreveport, LA
• Spokane, WA
• Post Falls, ID

And obviously the areas around these cities.

Big News at Bindo

Some very cool news related to the Bindo Point of Sale (POS) solution.  As I have mentioned before, Bindo POS is a true "Mobile 2.0" point of sale solution with additional features and functions not found in Clover or Silver.  Bindo POS still retains the affordable monthly payment structure that today's retailers prefer over an upfront cost of $4000-$10000+ for a traditional point of sale system.

Based on phone calls and emails that I receive several times per week via this (rather basic) blog site, retailers of all sizes are choosing Bindo as their POS solution with a nearly 5 to 1 margin over other solutions like NCR Silver, Clover, QuickBooks POS, NCR CounterPoint, Retail Pro, and Microsoft Dynamics RMS.

I also want to let folks know that Bindo will be expanding to service the geographical areas formally served by DirectPOS who stopped selling and supporting POS systems in late summer 2013.  This is great news for retail stores and museums in the states of Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and Montana!

Here is the official press release from Bindo:

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE 

PRESS CONTACT 

Benedict Wong 

VP Business Development at Bindo 

ben.wong@bindo.com 

+852 6202­5613 

+1 (212) 603­9715 

NYC RETAIL STARTUP BINDO RAISES USD1.8M SEED ROUND AND OPENS NEW 

OFFICE IN SINGAPORE 

Bindo Expands in Asia: An iPad POS That Helps Small Businesses Compete with Amazon 

MAY 29th, 2014 (New York, NY) ­ Bindo, a New York­based retail startup has just raised an 

oversubscribed $1.8mn seed round for international expansion. The round is co­led by Gary 

Vaynerchuk, a renowned social media and wine expert, and Singapore/Tokyo­based East 

Ventures. Other investors include NYC­based Metamorphic Ventures, and other private angels 

with decades of experience in brick and mortar retail, ecommerce and internet­related 

businesses. 

Bindo has developed a cloud­based iPad Point of Sale (POS) system that enables 24/7 online 

shopping for the end consumer. Not only does the POS offer a comprehensive array of features 

ranging from inventory management to customer relationship management (CRM), Bindo offers 

merchants the mobility to consult, sell, and close the deal simultaneously, providing a VIP 

experience to every customer. Its CRM creates customer profiles at the point of checkout 

enabling the merchant to later engage with the customer post­sale. 

More uniquely, merchants can launch their entire store online onto web and mobile with one click 

and efficiently operate omni­channel commerce with one unified inventory, saving hours of store 

management tasks each week. This turns the POS into a powerful retail platform capable of true 

online and offline commerce. Bindo Marketplace then aggregates all the stores on the Bindo 

network, onto one consumer platform, and allows consumers to shop from their favorite 

neighborhood store online, and have it delivered within hours 

 “Our mission at Bindo is really to strengthen local economies and support local businesses, 

whilst making shopping more convenient for consumers”, said Brad Lauster, cofounder of Bindo. 

“Having personally experienced the difficulties small business face selling online, we wanted to 

find a way to bring merchants online without diluting brand awareness. We are not interested in 

simply providing an online storefront for merchants to promote themselves; we are aggressively 

co­marketing our marketplace with our merchants so that together, we have the means to battle 

the Goliaths of e­commerce.” 

The Bindo Marketplace app also makes mobile commerce and e­commerce infinitely more 

convenient for the consumer, by bridging the gap between online and offline retail. In­store 

purchases are saved, viewable and reorderable on the mobile app, and loyalty points are tracked 

across multiple channels. It is a hyperlocal marketplace for consumers that want to find and 

purchase a particular product in their neighborhood stores online, which they can do so scanning 

the barcode with their app. 

Bindo will split the funding equally between development and sales. The development team will 

focus on delivering the Marketplace and providing a seamless experience for both merchant and 

consumer. Since Bindo’s private beta launch, inbound leads have been increasing exponentially 

each month; substantial resources will be allocated to scaling the sales team to support the 

rapidly growing number of merchant demo requests. 

ABOUT (BINDO) 

Bindo is a NYC startup with offices in Hong Kong. It was founded in 2011 by Jason Ngan and 

Brad Lauster. Bindo has developed a cloud­based iPad POS (Point­of­Sale) that enables online 

shopping for the end consumer. In a few months, it will be releasing Bindo Marketplace: a 

consumer app that aggregates all the stores using Bindo POS onto one platform, allowing 

consumers to purchase directly online from their favorite neighborhood store, and have it 

delivered. In doing so, Bindo aims to close the loop between the online and the offline. As the 

network grows, Bindo becomes a real­time product graph, connecting brands, consumers and 

merchants.  

Restaurant/Hospitality Point of Sale Solutions

I've been receiving a few calls and emails from folks with questions on point of sale systems for bars and restaurants so I thought that I should clarify my level of expertise.

Over the last 14+ years I have worked with various solutions that are specific to food service/bar related businesses. Some of these solutions are no longer available but the entire list includes:

• Samsung and TEC cash registers
• TEC 3600
• NextPOS/Aldelo for Restaurants
• Clover
• NCR Silver
• Micros 2000 and 3000 Series
• Digital Dining
• Khamu
• Aloha

You are welcomed to contact me with point of sale related questions - I can always recommend someone else to contact if I can't help you. I can be reached via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com or on my cell during business hours mountain time at 208-340-5632.

Free Mini Analysis

Since I have had the opportunity to speak with multiple point of sale companies since the closure of DirectPOS, I have gleaned quite a bit of information related to which company is offering what solutions and what type of end of year promotions.

I realize that this is a tough time of the year to being thinking about technology equipment for your retail store or museum but we do have some pressing timelines related to the MasterCard Unique Terminal ID Requirement, the future of Microsoft RMS/HQ, and EMV Requirements.  This means that everyone needs to start thinking now about where they want to go over the next year with their point of sale system.

I am currently offering a free basic phone or email consultation to help you determine whether you need to upgrade (if you already have a point of sale system) or which point of sale systems might be best for you (if you currently do not have a point of sale system).  This is a strictly non-sales consultation since I do not currently represent any point of sale companies or software manufactures.

You can reach me via cell at 208-340-5632 or email at kevinantosh (at) gmail (dot) com. I am in Mountain Time and a typical phone consultation takes less than 15 minutes.  You will receive professional advice and related options to help chart your point of sale technology plan.

Important Information for Present and Future DirectPOS Customers - Updated 14.June.2015

Update June 2016: RITE out of St Cloud, MN has started their westward expansion to offer a variety of retail point of sale systems in the states if ID, NV, OR, WA, MT, WY and UT with a special focus on the Boise, ID, Spokane, WA and Salt Lake City, UT markets.


Very important information to pass along related to DirectPOS in Boise, ID and Spokane, WA. I will hit the highlights and you can always contact me via email at kevinantosh (at) gmail (dot) com or 208-340-5632.

• As of Today, Monday September 16^th, 2013, DirectPOS has merged with Cowans Restaurant Solutions out of Salt Lake City, Utah. The new combined company will be called Spark Systems and will have a physical office presence in Salt Lake City, UT, Boise, ID and Spokane,. WA.
  12/2/2013 Update: Correct new business name is Spark Solutions Group - they currently only have an office in Salt Lake City, UT and will only be supporting Micro's brand equipment.
  
  
• Because of this change, Spark Systems will only sell, service and support the Micro's and Aldelo point of sale solutions for restaurants and bars in Utah, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington State. 
  12/02/2013 Update: No sales or support for Aldelo.
  
  
• For those of you with cash registers (supplies, repairs, programming, purchasing), you can reach Rick Bier at Ada Cash Register (208-407-2202). Rick has extensive experience with cash registers.
• If you are in need of paper or ribbons for cash registers or kitchen/bar/receipt printers, you can also contact Rick Bier at 208-407-2202 as he will be your source moving forward for paper and ribbon supplies (and barcode labels as well I believe).
• If you are a NCR CounterPoint user, your information has been acquired by One Step Retail Solutions in Phoenix, AZ who will be providing support for your system. Note that One Step Retail Solutions will not have a local office presence in Idaho, Utah, Oregon, Montana, or Washington State but does plan to keep a technician on staff in the Boise, ID area.
• If you are using one of the Microsoft Point of Sale solutions (RMS Store Operations, HQ, POS 2007, or POS 2009), your information has also been acquired by One Step Retail Solutions in Phoenix, AZ but they have not communicated to me what level of service and support they will be able to provide.
  12/02/2013 Update: Feedback indicates that One Step is not interested in supporting customers using the various Microsoft point of sale solutions (RMS, HQ and POS 2007/2009).

I'm am hopeful that a computer tech company or even a point of sale company in Idaho, Utah, Washington, Oregon, or Montana will see this as an opportunity to grow/establish a physical office presence in Boise, ID and/or Spokane, WA as retail stores, museums and government agencies in these states have become accustomed to working with a local company for all of their point of sale hardware, software, training, installation, and on-going support needs (as of the end of August, I had over 300 customers/clients using various point of sale systems designed for retail stores, museums, and government agencies).


2/7/2014 Update: the former DirectPOS Micros technicians based in Boise are no longer employed with Cowans or Sparks.  I am available to field retail, restaurant/bar and museum point of sale questions and can put you in touch with the correct resource as needed.

Are you in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice? I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.