ECRS: Tell us a little bit about your business.

Boyadjian: Arz Bakery has been in business for sixteen years now. We started out as a bakery only, but within the past two years we've moved to a new location and have greatly expanded in size and scope. We've added grocery items, a produce section, and a deli with a sit-down restaurant area. Our store is well known in Toronto for our European style bakery. We make fresh bread, cakes, cookies, and Mediterranean style desserts like baklava. Arz is both a gourmet store and a specialty product store where you will find imported items you can’t find anywhere else, like oils, spices, and unique products from Europe. We have four Catapult point-of-sale terminals and 60 employees. We produce wholesale items and sell them in our retail space. Our bakery is on the main level of our building with the retail areas. The lower level is 10,000 square feet we use for production of bakery items sold to other retailers.

ECRS: Tell us about your location in Scarborough?

Boyadjian: We are located about ten miles from Toronto in Scarborough, Ontario. Our commercial district has a heavy Mediterranean population. We are surrounded by restaurants and specialty stores of all types, so consumer traffic is very high. New businesses are opening up around us constantly to try and reap the benefits of this thriving area.

ECRS: How long have you been using Catapult?

Boyadjian: We have been using CATAPULT for almost a year now. We used QuickBooks for a while, but soon realized it could not provide us with the control we truly needed, and which Catapult now provides. We are looking forward to growing into Catapult's multistore functionality. Being able to do centralized pricing, reporting, and promotions from headquarters will make opening and operating multiple store locations so much easier.

ECRS: How did you decide on Catapult as the automation solution for your store?

Boyadjian: We chose Catapult after a lot of research. As a software solution, it met all of our automation requirements. Plus, the guidance we received from our local dealer was excellent. They held our hand through the entire process, doing extensive demos and answering all of our questions. We liked Catapult and the good people who support the product. As a growing retailer, we were most interested in the long term benefits of return on investment and product scalability, both of which Catapult addressed more thoroughly than any of the other solutions we considered.

ECRS: Tell us a little bit about your clientele.

Boyadjian: Our clientele is quite diverse because Toronto is an international city. We go out of our way to stock a wide range of products that addresses the tastes of our eclectic customer base. Our customers are from Italy, Armenia, Greece, Lebanon, and of course a number of western European countries as well. The French and Italians in particular come to our bakery to buy goods for weddings, birthdays, and other special occasions. New customers are always amazed at the diversity of our product line. A lot of our regulars come from many miles away to shop with us. Loyalty among our customers is strong, but we know we must do all that we can to improve the shopping experience in all corners of our business. The ease of checkout that Catapult provides at the point of sale plays a significant role in shaping that experience.

ECRS: How has Catapult made things easier for you as a store owner?

Boyadjian: Catapult gives us better service for our clients. We want the customer to be comfortable from the time they come in until the time they check out. Catapult helps us find items quickly, which means less running around and more time interacting with the customer. Our pricing is now more accurate than ever, which customers really appreciate. Catapult also lets us run weekly specials and produce specials that we set up in the system in advance, and which Catapult starts and ends automatically with no need for intervention. We use the system's speed keys when we are selling wholesale, because we have such big volumes of cakes and cookies. We're now managing all aspects of our inventory with Catapult, from ordering, to receiving, to item movement.

ECRS: How has Catapult's touch screen helped with training new employees?

Boyadjian: Training employees takes only about 15-20 minutes with Catapult. It's practically self-explanatory.

ECRS: Would you recommend Catapult to other retailers?

Boyadjian: Absolutely. Catapult is a solid product that has allowed us to streamline our operations significantly. It's very evident that Catapult's ability to track item movement, analyze the success of promotions, and track sales helps me make the right purchasing decisions consistently.

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