Bloomin' Brands Names Red Book Connect's HotSchedules a 'Vendor of the Year'

Bloomin' Brands Names Red Book Connect's HotSchedules a 'Vendor of the Year'

The Company's Mobile Apps Help Managers Better Use Technology to Improve Operations

ATLANTA & AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- HotSchedules, a leading provider of mobile and web-based employee scheduling, forecasting and paperless hiring solutions for the restaurant and hospitality industries, and a Red Book Connect company, announced today it has been named a 'Vendor of the Year' by Bloomin' Brands, Inc. (NAS: BLMN) .

Bloomin' Brands, which owns Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Roy's restaurants, chose HotSchedules as a 'Vendor of the Year' due to its superior technology solutions, and the exceptional customer care it extends to the Bloomin' Brands team.

"It's an honor to be recognized not only by one of the largest casual dining restaurant companies in the world, but also by a company that has a reputation for outstanding management," said Ray Pawlikowski, CEO of HotSchedules. "Bloomin' Brands is leading the industry in technology adoption, realizing the role smart technology can play in process and performance improvement. This award is a validation of our mission to continually innovate to address our customers' changing needs."

"HotSchedules was selected as a 'Vendor of the Year' because the cloud-based solutions have enabled us to better run our operations and become more efficient," said David Whitaker, Vice President of Field Productivity for Bloomin' Brands. "The mobile app, which is our team members' preferred method of accessing the HotSchedules platform, gives us a powerful access point for engaging our employees."

"We create beautiful, elegant and intuitive software that improves the work experience for both restaurant employees and employers," said Larry Abramson, CEO of Red Book Connect. "We believe that software should enable terrific customer experiences and that service employees should have easy, mobile access to their systems while serving customers. In fact, today over half of our 1.2 million users access the Red Book Connect Cloud from our mobile applications."

Mobile Solutions Facilitate Restaurants' Technology Adoption

Red Book Connect solutions like HotSchedules and Macromatix have facilitated the industry's use of technology by developing software for mobile platforms. The increased use of technology within the industry will lead to greater efficiencies and improved operations. According to Red Book Connect's client surveys, real-time employee messaging and improved engagement via mobile apps have helped restaurants reduce the time to create and maintain schedules by 75%. In the back office, the company's research has found that Red Book Connect mobile solutions have reduced stock count times by 50%, and some chains have realized savings of $9 million by reducing inventory to actual versus theoretical levels.

"On average, users access our mobile applications five times daily, which shows that Red Book Connect software has become a critical tool for restaurant management," added Abramson. "As mobile becomes the preferred method of doing business, Red Book Connect is well positioned to support the industry's software needs."

About Red Book Connect

Red Book Connect is a global-service driven technology company providing cloud software solutions for the restaurant, retail and hospitality industries' comprehensive operational needs in a fast, efficient and affordable way. The company offers best in breed solutions from industry leaders Red Book Solutions, HotSchedules, Macromatix, GoHire and Schoox. Currently serving more than 1.2 million users in over 128,000 locations across 26 countries worldwide, Red Book Connect has offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Denver, Colorado, Austin, Texas, Thessaloniki, Greece, Sydney, Australia and Shanghai, China. Red Book Connect is backed by TPG Growth, the middle market and growth equity platform of TPG, a global private investment firm, and Instawares Holding, a company focused on best-in-class technology serving the restaurant marketplace. For more information visit www.redbookconnect.com.

About Bloomin' Brands, Inc.

Bloomin' Brands, Inc. is one of the largest casual dining restaurant companies in the world. The portfolio of five founder-inspired brands is comprised of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Roy's with more than 1,400 restaurants in 48 states and 20 countries and territories. For more information, visit bloominbrands.com.

Owen Blicksilver PR, Inc.
Jennifer Hurson, 845-507-0571
jennifer@blicksilverpr.com

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