# The Paint Bucket > https://rundoo.ai/clients/the-paint-bucket/ Paint # The Paint Bucket Tommy Martin has run The Paint Bucket for more than three decades, and Rundoo is the first system that put a Customer app in his customers' hands Location Culpeper, Virginia Previous POS [Decor Cloud](/switch/decor-cloud/index.md) Suppliers [Benjamin Moore](/partners/benjamin-moore/index.md), Ace ![The Paint Bucket](https://pub-5247264bd04e4ebeaecbbedb3bebb9f8.r2.dev/static/images/clients/the-paint-bucket-golive.jpg) Tommy Martin came home from a year of backpacking around the world, took off the suit he had worn selling menswear at JC Penney and planning other people's money at American Express, and put on his comfiest pair of jeans. He was approaching thirty and had not found his purpose yet. He found it in a paint store. ## A business degree, a philosophy degree and a tint machine In college he studied business management and philosophy, two subjects that still fascinate him and neither of which points in any obvious way toward a career behind a paint counter. Then he found himself managing one, and he loved it. The business education went straight into operations. The philosophy went into how he ran the place, because a store, in his reading of it, is a way to help members of the community achieve their visions, whether that is a farmer building a new barn or a homeowner renovating a kitchen. More than three decades later he is both the manager and the owner of The Paint Bucket in Culpeper, Virginia, and he still enjoys every second of it. ## Nobody walks in for paint Martin is laser-focused on his customers, which at The Paint Bucket means something more specific than being friendly. Nobody comes in for paint alone; they come in to bring an idea to life, so he and his team work to understand the goal first and then recommend the products and the practices that will get them there. Afterwards they follow up. Did the project turn out the way you pictured it? What would serve you better next time? That follow-up is where a transaction stops being a transaction. > "I view our transactions as community-building efforts rather than financial exchanges. If we focus on empowering our community, the money will follow." ## Three systems in three decades The way people shop keeps changing as technology changes, and Martin's view is that a store has to change along with it. Over more than three decades in the trade he has run three different point of sale systems, and none of them kept up with the times the way Rundoo has. The Paint Bucket moved all of its software onto Rundoo when it went live in January 2023, and one capability stands well above the rest for him. > "Of every system I have looked at, Rundoo is the first I have seen that puts a Customer app in our customers' hands. This has transformed our customer experience by providing the convenience and immediate access to information that people today expect when they shop." ## What the walls remember Because Rundoo imports all of a store's historical sales data, a Paint Bucket customer opening the app can see every color and every product they have ever bought there, which means they no longer have to call the store to find out what is on their walls. It is a small thing that happens over and over across a year, and handing it back to the customer is the sort of convenience people now take for granted everywhere else they shop. Martin wants a technology partner that stays flexible, and by his count Rundoo has made more improvements since his go-live than his previous systems made in years. ## A collective, not a competition For a man who owns a paint store, Martin spends a striking amount of time thinking about everyone else's paint stores. > "Independent paint stores like ours are not in competition with each other. We are a collective that can help one another navigate the changing economy." That is the philosophy degree talking, and on the evidence of a store that has spent more than thirty years turning customers into neighbors, it is sound business management too. Martin is always glad to meet other paint store owners, so if his story resonates, he would like to hear from you. Tommy Martin Owner, Culpeper, Virginia Share this story [← All client stories](/clients/index.md) Suppliers & partners [Benjamin Moore](/partners/benjamin-moore/index.md) Ace ## Recommended reading [![Ordering from Bradley Caldwell, PACOA, and your farm-and-home distributors](https://pub-5247264bd04e4ebeaecbbedb3bebb9f8.r2.dev/static/images/articles/pos-for-bradley-caldwell-pacoa-dealers-thumb.png) ### Ordering from Bradley Caldwell, PACOA, and your farm-and-home distributors How farm, feed, and pet-supply stores that buy from Bradley Caldwell, PACOA, Wallace, and Orgill turn distributor ordering into a search and a scan instead of a portal and a clipboard.](/insights/pos-for-bradley-caldwell-pacoa-dealers/index.md) [![Net-30 without the headache: contractor charge accounts for paint stores](https://pub-5247264bd04e4ebeaecbbedb3bebb9f8.r2.dev/static/images/articles/contractor-charge-accounts-paint-stores-thumb.png) ### Net-30 without the headache: contractor charge accounts for paint stores Contractor charge accounts are the financial backbone of a paint store, and doing them right means house accounts, per-customer pricing, clean statements, real aging, and a way for painters to pay from their phone instead of the shoebox-and-spreadsheet workaround a general POS forces on you.](/insights/contractor-charge-accounts-paint-stores/index.md) [![Farm accounts, seasonal terms, and getting paid at harvest](https://pub-5247264bd04e4ebeaecbbedb3bebb9f8.r2.dev/static/images/articles/farm-charge-accounts-and-seasonal-terms-thumb.png) ### Farm accounts, seasonal terms, and getting paid at harvest How farm and feed stores run charge accounts on the growing calendar, from house accounts and per-customer pricing to statements, aging, and seasonal terms that let producers pay after harvest.](/insights/farm-charge-accounts-and-seasonal-terms/index.md) ## More paint stores on Rundoo [### AllPro Paint Atlanta, Georgia](/clients/allpro-paint/index.md) [![Alpine Design Co.](https://pub-5247264bd04e4ebeaecbbedb3bebb9f8.r2.dev/static/images/clients/alpine-design-co/go-live-day-signed-shirt.jpg) ### Alpine Design Co. Cornwall, Ontario](/clients/alpine-design-co/index.md) [![Andriot's Paint & Flooring](https://pub-5247264bd04e4ebeaecbbedb3bebb9f8.r2.dev/static/images/clients/andriots-paint-flooring-and-blinds-golive.jpeg) ### Andriot's Paint & Flooring Shelbyville, Kentucky](/clients/andriots-paint-flooring-and-blinds/index.md) ## Keep exploring Rundoo [### Rundoo for paint stores See how the platform is built for a store like this one.](/industries/paint/index.md) [### Tour the product POS, inventory, payments, and AI in one system. See what runs the counter.](/product/index.md) ## See Rundoo run a store like yours Book a demo and we will walk you through how Rundoo works for a store like yours, at your pace and on the questions that matter to you. [Book a demo](/signup/index.md) [(312) 319-1142](tel:3123191142)