Customer Overview
Only two years after its first location opened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Arooga’s Grille House and Sports Bar is collecting some of the restaurant industry’s highest accolades — including, most recently, being named America’s Next Top Restaurant Franchise. With three current locations and a fourth under construction, Arooga’s will soon be expanding to include franchises in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Florida, with additional applications spanning the country. Part of the restaurant’s success could be attributed to its wide demographic: from families and Little League baseball teams at dinner, to professionals at happy hour and younger adults in the evening. Arooga’s is always popular choice among locals.
Project Summary
Gary Huether, president of Arooga’s, knew from the onset that he wanted to include high-tech digital signage in his restaurants. “With being a sports bar, being able to incorporate real-time sports scores was very important,” Mr. Huether explains. He also aimed to use the digital signage for advertising daily and weekly specials and special events.
Mr. Huether first came in contact with Rise Display at the Las Vegas Nightclub and Bar Convention and Trade Show. Among Rise’s wares was a vertical display that caught Mr. Huether’s interest. “With so many TVs in our places, some of the horizontal displays can blend in,” he says. “But the verticals really draw people’s attention.”
Additionally, “We were finding that not too many [companies] offered the live sports feed, which was one of our biggest needs,” he says. “But Rise did.”
Rise Display worked with Mr. Huether to design and install four 42” vertical boards, and many horizontal displays ranging from 37” to 50”, at each Arooga’s location. At least one vertical board is located in each lobby and is used to display rotating specials and advertisements for special events. “While guests are waiting for tables, I think [the vertical displays] get more of their attention than a stand-alone billboard,” says Mr. Huether. “And once we have their attention and are rotating the ads, I think they’re retaining more about our specials because it is something neat and unique.”
Because the flexibility to make content changes himself was important to Mr. Huether, he was provided access to web-based software that allows for changes to be made within minutes. “It’s as easy as uploading a .jpeg to an e- mail,” Mr. Huether enthuses.
Among the 100-plus televisions in each Arooga’s location, the electronic displays keep customers updated with real-time sports scores and game time information. Arooga’s also uses the digital displays for direct marketing and co-op marketing, which was an additional benefit, says Mr. Huether.
“I think the [displays] are great,” he says. “They’re building advertising in-house, and we can upload content by ourselves in a minute. They’re also doing the wow factor. When people walk into the lobby and see a vertical board with our name and brand on it, I think they see that we’re up with technology. It’s something new.”
Source: Rise Display
