Between the lights at the store and the gatherings and travel at home, December fills every open spot on a family owner's calendar. Your current system has carried you through this stretch before, and it doesn't need to become another project during the busiest weeks. If a new POS is on your mind, decide before the holidays, let preparation move along at one meeting a week, and go live in January, after the decorations come down and the store gets quieter. You choose the go-live date, and the process works the same in any month. Winter just gives you the most room before spring.

Why winter works

Lawn and garden, paint, hardware, and farm and feed stores are all shaped by the holidays and the weather. US Census Bureau figures show winter is the slowest season for lawn and garden, paint, and hardware stores: lawn and garden stores sell about 75% more in May than in January, hardware stores about 35% more, and paint stores peak in August about 44% above January.

Lawn and garden stores

Slow 100 150 +75% in May January: 100 (January = 100) February: 100 (January = 100) March: 133 (January = 100) April: 161 (January = 100) May: 175 (January = 100) June: 146 (January = 100) July: 123 (January = 100) August: 116 (January = 100) September: 118 (January = 100) October: 132 (January = 100) November: 118 (January = 100) December: 122 (January = 100) J F M A M J J A S O N D

Paint and wallpaper stores

Slow 100 150 +44% in Aug January: 100 (January = 100) February: 104 (January = 100) March: 126 (January = 100) April: 131 (January = 100) May: 142 (January = 100) June: 141 (January = 100) July: 139 (January = 100) August: 144 (January = 100) September: 134 (January = 100) October: 137 (January = 100) November: 110 (January = 100) December: 100 (January = 100) J F M A M J J A S O N D

Hardware stores

Slow 100 150 +35% in May January: 100 (January = 100) February: 95 (January = 100) March: 114 (January = 100) April: 121 (January = 100) May: 135 (January = 100) June: 131 (January = 100) July: 122 (January = 100) August: 126 (January = 100) September: 114 (January = 100) October: 123 (January = 100) November: 116 (January = 100) December: 117 (January = 100) J F M A M J J A S O N D
Monthly sales at US lawn and garden, paint, and hardware stores, with January set to 100. Average of 2023 to 2025. Source: US Census Bureau, Monthly Retail Trade, not seasonally adjusted.
See the numbers
MonthLawn and garden storesPaint and wallpaper storesHardware stores
January100100100
February10010495
March133126114
April161131121
May175142135
June146141131
July123139122
August116144126
September118134114
October132137123
November118110116
December122100117

That quiet stretch is a natural runway. Sign before the holidays and the cold weeks get Rundoo in place well before spring. Training is four sessions, each with short videos to watch ahead of time, so people can watch when it suits them. Go live in January and the whole year runs on one system. And because we train one admin at your store to train everyone else, if you bring on extra help for spring, someone at the counter can already show them the ropes.

A calm month of preparation

We have done this hundreds of times, and the process doesn't change with the season. A typical switch takes about a month, with four preparation meetings, one a week, before go-live. You pick the go-live date, and if that date lands the week after Christmas, we will be there with you.

  • Your products, customers, vendors, historical sales, inventory balances, and customer balances come over from your current system.
  • You get a practice copy with your own data to click around in. It is refreshed the night before go-live, so day one starts with up-to-date numbers.
  • Most of your existing hardware works. The one requirement is new card readers.
  • Your implementation manager, almost always someone who has worked at a supply store, stays with you until you are steady: usually about two weeks, or through your first month-end statement run if you have charge accounts.

Our advice for go-live day is the same as always: on day 1, change nothing. Bring everything over as it was, then change things one at a time.

Stores that switched over the winter

A person walking through packed snow into the front door of Yes Paint in Anchorage, Alaska
Arriving at Yes Paint in Anchorage, Alaska, in January 2023, two days before the store went live on Rundoo.

Andriot's Paint & Flooring in Shelbyville, Kentucky, a family store since 1978, signed on December 21 and went live on January 16. Owner B.J. Andriot doesn't consider himself a tech person, and the transition landed far easier than he had braced for. Two new clerks learned to check out a customer inside their first transaction.

Berry's Hardware & Home Center in Dumas, Arkansas, started with implementation lead Humberto Rodriguez in December. Less than a week before go-live, a section of the store's roof collapsed, and Berry's still went live on schedule on February 2. Owner Brandon Berry: "The implementation team was phenomenal. Humberto in particular deserves a raise!"

Rusty Gate Nursery & Building Supply in Forks, Washington, signed in November and went live in February, ready before spring. Owner Andrea Perkins on her implementation lead, Jason: "Even on the weekend, he answers me."

Over the last three winters, 17 stores signed with Rundoo in November or December and went live in January.

A note on hardware and December

If you buy new hardware for the switch, like card readers or a new computer, equipment bought and put to work by December 31 may qualify for the Section 179 deduction on your 2026 taxes. The Rundoo subscription is not equipment and does not qualify. Ask your tax advisor, since Rundoo doesn't give tax advice.

Make the decision before the holidays

A month of preparation needs a month on the calendar, so the best time to talk is now, before the holidays. Decide now, enjoy the season with your family, and let the preparation run along quietly. Book a demo, or read our full walkthrough of the switch first.