Kings Dining & Entertainment opened its first Boston food and bowling center in 2002, as Kings Bowl America. The company has grown in both its geographic reach and the entertainment options it provides to customers over the years. Customers of all ages can now enjoy bowling, billiards and ping pong at various venues, as well as watch feature films.
How Kings Dining & Entertainment is Fulfilling its Mission With Technology?
Kings’ mission is simple: To provide the best social gaming and entertainment experience, in a safe, fun, and secure environment, and to create unmatched dining experiences by providing the highest quality food, beverage, and beverages.
The organization must be efficient and use IT to fulfill this promise. Kings’ IT backbone is POSitouch point-of-sale (POS) software.
Six POS units were installed in the first Kings venue at the bar, wait stations and in the billiards area. There is also one POS station at the shoe rental counter at the bowling alley, and one in a private area. A mobile POS terminal was installed to manage satellite rooms. This is a remarkable addition for a POS system built in 2002. Today’s Kings locations average 15 POS terminals, including mobile devices. Retail Control Solutions, a Boston-based restaurant IT provider, won the initial project work and has been partnering with POSitouch and Kings ever since for restaurant IT support and installation.
Why POSitouch?
Flexibility–When looking back at the original decision for Kings Bowl America Rob Cotton, major accounts manager with Retail Control Solutions, says that POSitouch was selected primarily because of its flexibility to meet the various needs of the facility. You could have guests come in to rent shoes, bowl, or eat at the restaurant. He recalls that the owners wanted a single system capable of handling each revenue center. “POSitouch provided a solution that not only met their current needs but also allowed them to be flexible enough to meet Kings’ future requirements.” Other POS systems were evaluated at the time, but they did not have the functionality or willingness to work with Kings.
Stability–Another advantage of POSitouch software is its ability to run. This reduces and even eliminates potential points of failure that could cripple other POS systems. The system can lose connectivity, but it will still work. Cotton explains that a replacement system can be easily swapped in if a system goes down. A restaurant can make it a nightmare to swap out a POS terminal during busy Saturday nights with 2,000 people in the building. POSitouch allows Kings staff to replace a unit in minutes with no downtime or loss of revenue.
Monitoring–The monitoring module monitors the critical aspects of Kings’ operation and keeps track of everything, from terminals to printers to cash drawers to be empty. This helps to reduce downtime. Management and staff are notified if there is a problem.
Gift cards and loyalty–POSitouch also offers the ability to create gift cards and loyalty programs. Cotton says that as Kings expanded, it was crucial to be able use gift cards no matter where they were purchased. “POSitouch provides a central cloud-based repository for all gift cards that can be used from anywhere. Kings also makes use of POSitouch’s integrated loyalty functionality. The company can develop compelling marketing plans that are trackable through CRM. Both cases show that Kings management is more able to analyze customer behavior and focuses on the things that work, rather than the ones that don’t.
Labor Management – Kings uses POSitouch’s integrated labor administration functionality to manage his workforce. Employees can track their time and managers can create schedules based upon staff effectiveness and forecasts for busy and slow times.
Management of Menus – While many menu items can be shared between Kings locations, there are some items that are unique to each location. Cotton says that Kings can manage their menus using POSitouch’s Quick Menu Solution. You can add and remove items, and prices and taxes can be adjusted for each location. Quick Menu allows Kings to keep track of the 40+ craft beers available at specific locations.
The Future of Kings Dining & Entertainment, and POSitouch
From a single location in 2002, it has grown to 11 locations in many cities and states. Kings is growing at an unstoppable pace. While restaurants and similar businesses often change their point-of-sale (POS) systems when they need them, Kings continues to use the system that it originally selected. This is due to the above functionality and POSitouch’s willingness to meet Kings’ needs. Both companies are driven to continually reinvent themselves for customers.
Kings Exec: Guests looking for both entertainment and dining
Kings Dining & Entertainment is able to create offline social interaction in a world where dinner guests are often distracted by their phones.
Kings Bowl America was once known as a boutique bowling alley. It has rebranded 11 of its locations in five states. The new brand includes a bowling program, but also brings in retro games like darts and shuffleboard. This change also highlights the importance of the culinary program, including scratch-cooked dishes and craft cocktails.
Josh Rossmeisl, chief operating officer of Kings, says that by combining entertainment and dining, Kings has experienced sustained growth since its opening in Boston 15-years ago.
“A typical restaurant visit takes between 45 and 65 minutes.” Rossmeisl states that the average gust stays at Kings for between two and three hours. This is due to multiple bars, tables games, DJs, and other entertainment options. Our goal is to make it possible for people to forget their phones and connect with each other in a way that is becoming increasingly rare in today’s fast-paced world.
He says social gaming “allows people connect in a manner that they usually don’t in a restaurant where the only anticipation is their next meal.” Kings Dining & Entertainment tackles the student debt crisis with tuition reimbursement for employees
Kings Dining & Entertainment is the nation’s fastest-growing, top-rated entertainment and dining company. Gradifi in Boston has joined the ranks of the industry’s most trusted provider of the Employer SL Plan(tm). This benefit (Student loan paydown plan) will offer financial assistance to help students repay student loan debt.
Kings, a leader in the hospitality industry, is now leading the charge to address the student loan crisis in America, which affects 70% of college-educated Americans. Student Debt Crisis, an organization that helps students repay their debt, conducted a survey and found that 86% of respondents consider their loan debt to be a major source of stress. Over one-third of those surveyed said it was their number one stressor.
Starting this month, Kings will add to eligible employees’ student loan payments by making a monthly contribution via the Gradifi Managed SLP Plan(tm). Kings will provide up to $175 per monthly for eligible employees. These contributions can reduce student loan balances by years. They could save you up to three years on a 10-year loan.
As Kings expands, we want to attract top talent. We also want to be known as the employer of choice. Our mission is to provide meaningful benefits to our leaders. The student loan repayment program was the most requested benefit after a survey of all our leadership team. Joshua Rossmeisl, Kings Chief Operating Officer, stated that the program was unanimously voted for as the most desired addition to our growing number of unique benefits. Our goal is to increase the financial stability and quality of our leaders through helping to reduce the amount of educational loans that are outstanding for those who have made the decision to pursue higher education. Kings’ culture values include the commitment to “grow myself”, which is often a commitment to continuing education practices that enrich and improve the minds of our employees. This program extends that commitment. “