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Posted: 04 Aug 2009 12:09 PM PDT

As you know, the mark of a good point of sale system is speed and efficiency. No one knows this more than the owner or manager of a deli or grocery store. Lines can get rather long in such businesses so speed is certainly an issue. With Cash Register Express’ scale interface, a checkout clerk no longer has to fumble around with weighing an item and manually entering the weight into the register. With the NTEP certified scale interface, Cash Register Express will work with a weight scale that is plugged directly into the point of sale system. If you have a deli scale that prints bar codes, Cash Register Express will automatically calculate the price based on the bar code readout as well. Features like this make Cash Register Express a great Deli or Grocery Point Of Sale System.

For more information, please go to:

http://www.pcamerica.com/retail_pos_systems.html

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Be prepared. It looks like the Holiday Season won’t be great.

A bunch of readers wrote to me last week stating that the newsletter was getting a little political. I really try to stay out of politics within the newsletter. I don’t want to insult anyone. However, I have to say that each and every person who wrote in agreed and were thankful.

In short, I believe that lower taxes are good for retailers and restaurants and higher taxes are bad. I’m not sure that this is political, but in my opinion, it is best for retailers. I support any organization that is lower taxes. As a Harley owner and rider, I believe in more freedom, fewer rules, and lowering taxes.

That being said, there are those who believe that higher taxes are a good thing for the economy. Higher taxes allow government to spend more on education, fixing the roads and bridges, putting people to work and participating in projects that make life easier for those who are less fortunate. The idea is to increase taxes and use it to stimulate the economy so  more money will be available to grow small businesses.

So, what do you think? Are higher taxes good for your retail store or restaurant?

Here’s the outlook according to Terry J. Lundgren (chief executive of Macy’s).

Macy’s is going to emphasize value. Many retailers and restaurants are growing tired of offering sales. Instead of taking 25% off a product, retailers are looking to hold prices by offering great products to consumers at reasonable prices.

The good news is that only one in six retailers recently surveyed believe that this holiday season will be worse than last season. Most retailers don’t know what to expect.

For more insight, read Holiday shopping is tricky to predict; retailers trim orders at:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2009-08-02-holiday-shopping_N.htm

How Much Does It Cost To Open A Restaurant

It will cost you somewhere between $125,000 and $550,000 to open up a new restaurant. The average is about $452,000 and the median is about $225,000.

The startup costs with the purchase of land are somewhere between $175,000 and $850,000 with the median at $375,000 and the average at $701,000.

(The lower median possibly suggests that there are lots of restaurants opening “on the cheap.” The higher average suggests that more money may be required for more “upscale” types of restaurants).

From my experience with restaurant owners, owning your own land is the way to go. It turns out that although many restaurants barely break even, the investment in the land makes the total investment worthwhile. In a past newsletter I shared my knowledge of a very successful entrepreneur who owned a dozen or so fast food establishments. They were all more or less break even. He was able to draw about $100,000 in total salary. That’s a pretty poor return on owning a dozen plus restaurants. However, the average site that he owns is now worth more than $500,000 each giving him a nice nest egg of over $6 Million.

The average restaurant takes 18 months to become profitable. The rate of return ranges from 4.2% to 40% with the lower rate of return coming from restaurants with smaller initial investments. In other words, restaurants with the smallest investments tended to make less money for each dollar that they invested. Restaurants with larger investments tended to make more money for each dollar they invested.

To read the entire survey go to:

This is just a great magazine and a great site for every Restaurant Owner or someone who wants to open a new restaurant.

Many items on the website are free including a weekly newsletter with lots of great ideas.

Subscribing to the magazine will cost you $39.95 per year. It’s well worth the price. You can also get a FREE 3 month trial before subscribing.

For another $99 per year, you can get full access to their website. It’s worth every penny. Last week, the $99 section of the website featured an article about how a simple birthday club can increase your restaurant sales by 50%. However, if you don’t want to pay for anything, go here and take a look at what the site has to offer:

Contacting pcAmerica

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C.E.O. David J. Gosman (djg@pcamerica.com)

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Newsletter Editor Howard Y. Gosman (hgosman@pcamerica.com)

Your PC America Account Managers: 

Dan Steyskal X288 (dsteyskal@pcamerica.com)

Ken May X226 (kensmay@pcamerica.com)

Martin Sheridan X227 (msheridan@pcamerica.com)

Ralph Frascone X279 (rfrascone@pcamerica.com)

Robert Purdy X280 (rpurdy@pcamerica.com)

Ryan Christman X225 (ryan@pcamerica.com)

Sam Kahan X223 (skahan@pcamerica.com)

Tony Scarpa X224 (tscarpa@pcamerica.com)

For more information on Cash Register Express, Asset Management Software, Portable and Wireless Point of Sale, barcode readers, cash drawers and receipt printers, call PC America at 1-800-PC-AMERICA or 1-800-722-6374 or 1-845-920-0800. You may also purchase directly on the internet at www.pcamerica.com or email PC America at newsletter@pcamerica.com.

You are receiving this email because you either own Cash Register Express or you have contacted PC America and requested information about Cash Register Express. If you wish to be removed from our email newsletter list, please email your removal request to newsletter@pcamerica.com or write to PC America, One Blue Hill Plaza, Second Floor, Box 1546, Pearl River NY 10965.