Run the Shop · October 12, 2026
Holiday Books Open November 1: The Prep List
Clients who book December early take the best slots. Open the calendar on 1 November, after the closures and short days are already in.
Clients who book December early take the best slots: the Saturday before Christmas, the evening of the 23rd. Decide your own December hours before those slots go on sale.
Pick one date to open December, and get the shop ready before it. This list uses Sunday 1 November.
Decide what December is before anyone books it
Write down four things, on paper, before you touch a setting:
- The days the shop is shut. Friday 25 December and Friday 1 January, for most.
- The days you trade different hours. Thursday 24 December and Thursday 31 December are the usual short days.
- Any days you open that you normally close, such as a Sunday or Monday before Christmas.
- Who works the extra hours, by name.
Closures and short days go in first
On Dashboard → Hours, under Closures and special hours, add each date. Closed all day shuts the shop for everyone. On a closed date, your booking page says the shop is closed and shows a note of up to 80 characters, such as "Closed for Christmas, back 28 December". A day with no times and no explanation reads as fully booked.
Open, but different hours replaces your weekly hours for that one date. Use it for a 9 to 2 Christmas Eve, or to open a Monday you normally close, without changing the weekly grid. You can add a break to a special day too.
Two limits matter. A closure stops new bookings and does not touch the ones already made, and nobody is told automatically. Check each date first. And closures do not repeat, so last year's Christmas is not in there.
Staff hours do not stretch on their own
Staff hours sit inside shop hours. If you open longer for December, nobody's shift widens to match. You extend each person yourself, on the same Hours page. That is the moment to decide who covers the late nights, rather than finding out from the calendar who did not.
Book your regulars before you open the doors
A regular on a four-week cycle has one December visit. Book it with them now. A standing appointment books a whole series at once, every one to twelve weeks, and if one date lands on a closure it is skipped and Booked tells you how many were skipped. The rebook-at-the-chair script does the asking.
Booking these yourself is not limited by your public window. A booking you make from the dashboard ignores how far ahead the calendar opens.
Then open the calendar
Your How far ahead setting is the last date clients can book, counting today. The default is two weeks. Left there, on 1 November your page shows clients 1 to 14 November, and December stays shut to them.
Count the days from the opening date to the last date you want open, and add one. From 1 November to Thursday 24 December is 54 days. To show the whole month, through Thursday 31 December, it is 61.
On the morning of 1 November, change the setting and book yourself a test appointment in December. If it goes through, December is open.
Tell people the date
Put one line in the About section of your booking page, up to 1,500 characters in all:
December opens for booking on Sunday 1 November. Closed 25 December and 1 January.
The same line goes on the mirror, the desk and your Google profile. If you sell gift cards in December, the gift card post covers what that money actually is, and your Google profile is where most people will see your hours first.
When the list is done, set your closures and special hours.
This week
| Minutes | Move |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Write the closed days, short days, extra days and who works them |
| 10 to 20 | Add each one under Closures and special hours, with a note on closed days |
| 20 to 25 | Extend each staff member's hours for the extra days |
| 25 to 30 | Add the About line and put 1 November in your own calendar to change How far ahead |
On 1 November, book one test appointment in December before anyone else does.