The Moulin Rouge chooses TCPOS

The Moulin Rouge, the most famous cabaret in the world, was co-founded in 1889 by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller. Close to Montmartre on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The Moulin Rouge is best known as the spiritual birthplace of the modern form of the cancan dance which evolved into a form of entertainment of its own and led to the introduction of cabarets across Europe. Today, The Moulin Rouge is one of the most famous symbols in Paris for Parisians and Tourists, offering musical dance entertainment for visitors from around the world. Every evening, the establishment puts on 2 shows and manages 400 tables to which more than 1800 guests per night are served.

Historical charm faces modern day expectations

Wanting to keep up with cutting edge technology, The Moulin Rouge started to look for a new POS system. They needed to implement software that interfaced with their reservation and ticketing software. In addition, they wanted to replace their hardware with terminals that could withstand the nightclub environment of ice and beverage spillage. These terminals are well used and deal with over 600,000 customers per year. They needed the most robust hardware in the market but it also needed speed to keep up with their busy employees. The Moulin Rouge also required the hardware have a Solid-State Drive (SSD) for improved performance.
The Moulin Rouge has a complex business, in which they have to manage 3 different types of taxes and various rate for various type of customers at various dates which created a very complex and slow process. They also needed a link version between the reservation/ticketing software and PARterminals. These both were a daily challenge that they had to manage manually and were not configurable on their current system.
The Moulin Rouge reached out to their previous partner TCPOS for help. TCPOS put together a package solution including software and PAR terminals. Due to PAR’s reputation in the industry, system reliability and the quality of performance of the products, The Moulin Rouge chose PAR EverServ® 7700 Hardware.

For the software, TCPOS did a lot of specific development in order to adapt to the specificities of The Moulin Rouge. To be able to manage both the sale of the show and the restaurant is a very different management approach. “We are delighted with the selection of TCPOS and PAR for the implementation of an innovative and complex new system,” says Sébastien Hourcaillou, of The Moulin Rouge. “Every evening, the synchronization between the reservation system, the terminals and the allocation of the seats works perfectly. This is a huge step for The Moulin Rouge."
TCPOS first migrated the data from the old system. The Moulin Rouge then upgraded the ticketing system and TCPOS provided a link between the reservation and ticketing software to PAR terminals.
The show – and sales – must go on The Moulin Rouge purchased 17 PAR terminals. Four are dedicated to invoicing and are in a separate room. The other 13 terminals are in the spectacle room are integrated directly within the furniture to have a more discrete profile.
The furniture is then closed during the show so that there is no light from the till. The PAR 7700s have the unique feature that all of their components are included within the screen so customers do not have to use the pedestal, but are able to integrate elsewhere; in this case, furniture. The PAR 7700s are installed on a hydraulic pedestal allowing the terminal to go down when the show is running.
TCPOS and PAR helped The Moulin Rouge with the implementation of the new solution. Not only do employees save time using the new ticketing system, they also have quicker service times and are able to use runners and handle multiple orders.
The new hardware also has numerous benefits. Guests are impressed of the unobstructed views while employees save time with quick access to the ordering systems. The robust hardware has minimal downtime. The Moulin Rouge also appreciates the fact that the hardware is running on Windows which gives them the freedom to run any type of application they chose which was not the case of their previous solution.
Moulin Rouge has been able to set up a new organizational system where the orders are sent automatically to the terminals and the Kitchen production screen. This provides a real benefit as it enables production to be adjusted to the real orders as well as the ability to serve more orders in less time with the addition of some Runners.