The Pelican Group reaches agreement with TGI Friday’s and partners with TouchTunes and Merit 

(July 2008 – Danville, CA)  The Pelican Group, a division of Pelican Communications, Inc. the country’s leading amusement Management Company, reached an agreement this week with TGI Friday’s to deploy TouchTunes digital jukeboxes and Merit Aurora countertops to all of the

Friday’s locations nationwide. 

Jason Scherer of Pelican stated, “TGI Friday’s will benefit from TouchTunes experience in creating a background music playlist unique to the Friday’s customer. Friday’s is excited about improving the customer experience in their restaurants with music as well as game entertainment. Our operator-partners throughout the U.S. will be deploying jukeboxes provided by TouchTunes and a Merit countertop in one of the premier restaurant chains in the country. The earnings during our test period with Friday’s were exceptional.”

TouchTunes Corporation, the largest out-of-home interactive entertainment network, has been selected by TGI Friday’s as its exclusive provider of digital music entertainment. The interactive, pay-per-play digital jukeboxes will be installed in all 324 corporate locations and will be recommended and made available to the 300 TGI Friday’s franchisee locations. TouchTunes expects all of the Gen 3 broadband-enabled Ovation and Allegro model jukeboxes to be installed by the end of the third quarter.

The TouchTunes team worked closely with TGI Friday’s and the Pelican Group to demonstrate the value of TouchTunes digital music entertainment, service and support. TouchTunes will maintain ownership of the equipment, while Pelican’s national network of operating partners will service and maintain the jukeboxes on a local level, without having to make an upfront capital investment.

PCI has been associated with the coin-op industry for 36 years, with experience in manufacturing, operations and distribution.  Their management team is perfectly aligned to oversee and administer the entire TGIF program and will act as the main contact for operators selected to participate

Richard Scherer, President of Pelican, commented, “TouchTunes and Merit have been great to work with and we are excited to move forward with this new venture.  We will be working with outstanding operators from all over the country who will benefit from this opportunity.”

“We have worked with TouchTunes many times over the years and are proud to be partnered with them yet again to bring their market-leading digital jukebox systems to TGI Friday’s patrons,” said Jason Scherer, executive vice president Pelican. “It’s always a pleasure working with a company providing innovative products that contribute to the operator’s bottom line.”
 
TouchTunes collaborated with TGI Friday’s executives to get a better understanding of what genres of music would be best suited to their patrons’ taste and the company’s brand image.

TouchTunes then created a custom catalog of music content specifically for the chain and will update the catalog on a continuing basis to keep the music fresh and aligned with corporate goals.  TouchTunes digital jukeboxes will also offer TGI Friday’s customers different music genres and song choices based on time of day, with more family-oriented music available during the day and more nightlife-oriented music available at night.  When there are no paid plays in the queue, the units will automatically provide background music that is also uniquely created for TGI Friday’s.

“We are pleased that a well-known, successful chain like TGI Friday’s has recognized that by deploying our systems with the management team of Pelican, they are not only creating a new revenue stream, they are also able to reduce their overall entertainment and marketing budgets,” said Ed Tuhkanen, who heads up sales for TouchTunes’ national accounts division. “Friday’s will also be taking advantage of our digital focus group capabilities, which make connecting with the customer easier than ever before.”
About The Pelican Group

The Pelican Group manages over 35,000 pieces of coin-operated music, amusement and vending equipment for corporate clients through a network of more than 420 professional local coin-machine operators.  With offices across the country they offer a single source of contact, contract administration and accounting for clients with locations in multiple geographical regions.

A privately held California corporation, Pelican’s principal office is located in Danville, CA.


About TouchTunes Corporation

TouchTunes Corporation is the largest out-of-home interactive entertainment network, providing innovative solutions to over 30,000 bars, restaurants, retailers and other businesses in North America – three times larger than the nearest competitor. TouchTunes introduced the world’s first digital-downloading, pay-per-play commercial jukebox in 1998 and now operates the largest network of interactive entertainment systems, playing about 1.5 million songs per day.  TouchTunes maintains a digital music library covering more than two million licensed tracks from every major record label, plus independent music distributors and a host of independent labels.

A privately held U.S. corporation, TouchTunes Corporation’s principal offices are in New York City, Montreal, and Lake Zurich, IL.
 
About Merit Entertainment

Merit Entertainment® is a worldwide leader in touchscreen entertainment devices. Building on a strong tradition of introducing innovative, industry-leading technology, Merit continues to expand its product line and to provide ongoing hardware and software support to operators. Merit's products appear globally in a wide array of venues and they appeal to an almost limitless demographic. They also utilize the Merit MegaNET® connectivity system for player ranking, customization, updates and operational support.