A driven dealer
Independent tool dealer Justin McCarthy is busier than ever
with a full-time job and two trucks on the road.
When we last spoke to Boston-area
independent tool dealer Justin
McCarthy (Tales from the road,
February 2015), he was busy working a fulltime
job as a technician and operating his tool
business, Bad Larry Tools. Some things never
change, it seems, and McCarthy is busier than
ever with two tool trucks, a distribution van and
his same full-time job.
“I’m still doing the same thing,” McCarthy says.
“We have two big trucks now, and both of them are
wrapped by SK Tools. My buddy has a van that we’re
incorporating into the business also, so there’s actually
three vehicles.”
These days, McCarthy has enlisted some help
from family and friends.
“My oldest daughter, Amanda, helps me on the
weekends,” he says. “My niece helps me with inventory
and I have a nephew that’s going to start helping
me keep things organized.” McCarthy's neighbor even
helps out by making warehouse runs.
McCarthy adds that a longtime friend, Luis
Pagan, started driving one of the tool trucks about
a year-and-a-half ago. Pagan also owns a business,
Linmar Textiles, which sells items such as shop rags,
microfibers, gloves, PPE ear protection and safety
glasses. The two product lines go hand-in-hand,
Pagan says.
McCarthy says the Bad Larry Tools moniker came
from another friend who had planned to help with
the business before its inception.
“It’s a saying in southern New England: ‘Look
at that Bad Larry,’ or ‘Where is that Bad Larry?’” he
explains. “A friend of mine – who since passed – used
to call his tools that. We were working one time and
I wrote ‘Bad Larry’ on these pliers he was always
looking for.”
McCarthy keeps the Bad Larry Tools trucks on
the road almost daily. His shift at his regular job
is from 11 PM to 7 AM. When he finishes a shift,
instead of going home he actually drives a tool route
in one of the trucks. He notes that the only days he
doesn’t drive his route are Mondays and Sundays.
Milwaukee Tool products are also keeping
McCarthy busy, as he says they are selling well right
now. In addition to having new offerings and reasonable
pricing, Milwaukee backs their products with a
five-year warranty. He notes that if a customer has a
problem with a Milwaukee tool, he’ll take it and have
his daughter package and ship it to the company for
the warranty work.
McCarthy sets himself apart from other tool
dealers by selling Bad Larry-branded hot sauce.
Being that he’s located on the south shore of Massachusetts,
it comes in three flavors: South Shore
Hillbilly, Choochzilla and Savage Sauce.
When it comes to the future, McCarthy has an
idea how his will ideally look once he (someday)
retires from his full-time job.
“I’m not going to give the tool truck up,” he says.
“My goal is to put a couple more trucks on the road
in the next few years. When you retire, you can never
have enough money. Especially today, everything
costs so much you have to keep an income or you’re
going to be in trouble.”
For the time being, however, McCarthy is content
with all of the roles he plays and how busy they
keep him.
“So far it’s been a good ride,” he says. “I don’t
regret any of it.”
TALES FROM THE ROAD
BY DAVID BRIERLEY,
MANAGING EDITOR
920-563-1622
David@VehicleServicePros.com
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your story?
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experience to
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fellow distributors?
Share it with us!
Contact Managing
Editor David Brierley
at David@
VehicleServicePros.com.
Independent tool dealer Justin McCarthy (far right)
of Bad Larry Tools enlists help from family and friends to
offer his very best service.
70 Professional Distributor I October 2018 I VehicleServicePros.com
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