114 YEARS AGO, my great-grandfather Urbano Aletti started Harrison Supply. Today, I want to share one of the biggest shifts in our business. In September of 2023, we moved to our first-ever technology system. It's called Rundoo, and we are big fans. But before I jump in, I want to let you know where I'm coming from. I think it'll help contextualize why we made the move.
Harrison Supply is a family business, and we take great pride in that. My great-grandfather—our founder—had a contracting business named Aletti & Sons. He wanted easier access to hardware and paint, so he decided to open a store. As expected, many others in the community also wanted easier access. The store thrived. He passed the store to his son, Roy Sr., who then passed it to Roy Jr., my uncle, who is still involved in the business today.
In its 114-year history, Harrison Supply has survived two world wars, nearly 20 presidents, the popularization of the car, TV, home appliances, computers, the internet, and mobile phones. So, what has kept us in business through it all? I strongly believe it's our connection with customers. Many businesses refer to this as customer service, but I believe that term has lost its true meaning. It often makes you think of a help desk focused on resolving issues as quickly as possible. To me, connecting with customers is not just about getting them in and out quickly. It's about so much more.
We aim to connect with our customers as individuals and as members of our Harrison community. When someone walks in, they might be replacing a light bulb, repainting a room, or remodeling their kitchen. Regardless of what they came to find, they're likely nervous about solving a problem. It's our job to connect with them, ease their concerns, and help.
This was true 100 years ago, is true today, and will likely remain true 100 years from now. Now that I've shared some background, I want to explain why we moved to Rundoo. We had considered many systems over the years, ever since computers became mainstream. But we never thought any of them would improve our business enough to justify the effort of adoption. Even in recent decades, as point-of-sale vendors became preferred by wholesalers and co-ops, we held out. Why? We always felt these systems hindered our ability to connect with customers. They were clunky and slow.
But Rundoo was unlike anything we'd seen. Rundoo is very fast. My biggest concern with other systems was their slowness—both due to confusing interfaces and simply being slow. It feels like everything we do in Rundoo moves quickly. Rundoo is mobile-friendly. I always viewed a point-of-sale system as a large computer screen separating me from the customer. I preferred handwritten tickets that allowed us to connect face-to-face with our customers. But Rundoo lets us check customers out on our phones. It gives us the best of both worlds—ease, speed, accuracy, and human connection. We can do so much more on our phones—check inventory, place orders, and view analytics. Our customers see everything. I've always felt uncomfortable hiding behind a computer when the customer can't see what's going on. With Rundoo, every product we scan shows up on the card reader, and customers can verify the order for themselves before checking out. Even better, they have a mobile app where they can review all their purchases, complete with pictures of the items!
All this to say, we were convinced. After a couple of meetings, we made the decision. Rundoo worked with our main hardware vendor to set up EDI integrations, ensuring we had up-to-date product information and could place orders directly in the system. Once the system was set up, we had time to familiarize ourselves with it before scheduling the go-live. Nick & Max from Rundoo came out in person to ensure we had a smooth transition. We were a little nervous the day before, but we got up that morning and everything worked fine! All of our products, customers, vendors, and historical sales were in Rundoo. Many of our long-time customers joked that they never thought the day would come when we entered the 21st century.
Rundoo has been transformational for our business. Our staff love it, and our customers love it—what more can you ask for? If you run an independent store, I recommend learning more about Rundoo and considering making the switch. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me by calling our store here in New York.
