International Automated Systems to Own and Operate Fully-Automated Supermarket in Southern Utah.
AMERICAN FORK, Utah, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ --
(IAUS), announced today that the company has secured an approximate 6.5-acres parcel of land in Washington County in southern Utah on which it will construct a fully automated, U-Check self-cashiering supermarket. The new U-Check supermarket, which is approximately 10,000 square feet larger than the average supermarket, will be owned and operated by IAS and will serve as the model for future stores to be constructed in the eastern United States by Schematics Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.) under a previously announced contract with IAS valued at approximately $35 million.
Johnson noted that the southern Utah U-Check, which will enjoy an excellent feeder location and will draw traffic from a number of well-established communities, has been designed with 24 fully-automated check-out lanes. The supermarket will also incorporate a pharmacy, bakery, deli and retail banking facilities. The store's video department will utilize U-Check's new automated transaction gates, enabling customers to rent videos without requiring the intervention of a sales clerk sales clerk.
The company also plans to add state-of-the-art vending machines that utilize the IAS automated fingerprint identification machine (AFIM) technology for purchases of such regulated items as beer and cigarettes. Additionally, a fully automated fueling station, convenience store and fast-food restaurant are planned on the same parcel.
"We are enthusiastic about taking the IAS U-Check system 'on the road' and pleased to make one of our first stops southern Utah, and in such an ideal location," said Johnson. "We are confident that the concept will be well received, and that the southern Utah location, which is to be followed by a number of additional locations within the next 12 months, will have our 'owned-and-operated' program off to an excellent start."
IAS's patented automated check-out lane is the only self-cashiering system currently available to facilitate full-size orders in a high-volume store. The U-Check format is designed to reduce traditional labor costs by as much as 85%. Based upon current standard supermarket volume, the system can increase a supermarket operation's net profit margin from a slim 1.5% to a remarkable 13.5%.
U-Check Supermarket is the world's only fully self-cashiering supermarket. The fully automated self-cashiering system developed and marketed by International Automated Systems, Inc. provides customer cashiering, transactional security and back-office grocery management systems, including accounting, inventory, ordering and cost controls. U-Check is the first supermarket that is so simple to manage that even someone outside the traditional bounds of the industry can own one.
The U-Check system, which is scalable to meet the needs of small, medium or large retail grocery operations, has the flexibility to toggle between automated and attendant cashiering. According to Johnson, the IAS technology reduces customer check-out time, while reducing personnel and operating costs. Additionally, the turnkey back-office functions have lowered the barriers to entry, so that now even in smaller communities where a full-service grocery presence would otherwise be cost-prohibitive, a self-cashiering supermarket can achieve economies of scale. Johnson estimates that there are well over 10,000 locations that are too restrictive for a traditional chain-store, but are ideal for a U-Check Supermarket.
A fully automated retail point-of-sale transactional solution, the U-Check system incorporates IAS's proprietary automated fingerprint identification machine (AFIM) technology. AFIM-authorized payments are processed through the system using personal banking data encoded on a "magstripe" card, cross-referenced to the individual's real-time three-dimensional fingerprint. Upon processing the transaction, by providing a positive identification and allocating funds -- which funds are credited to the supermarket's account -- the system assigns an identification number to the real-time fingerprint image that becomes embedded in the transaction information. In so doing, the IAS system virtually eliminates credit/debit card fraud and charge backs and prevents duplicate transaction postings.
International Automated Systems, Inc. develops high-technology products designed for increasing business efficiency, transactional security and access control. Visit the company's web site at www.iaus.com.
NOTE: Statements contained in this release that are not strictly historical are forward-looking within the meaning of the safe harbor Safe Harbor clause of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Such forward-looking statements are made based upon information available as of the date of this release, and the Company assumes no responsibility to update such forward-looking statements. Editors and investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements invoke risk and uncertainties that may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, demand for the company's product both domestically and abroad, the company's ability to continue to develop its market, general economic conditions and other factors that may be more fully described in the company's literature and periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and this does not purport to be a complete analysis of the company's financial position.