Independent mobile tool dealer Justin McCarthy takes customizing a truck to a whole new level. After purchasing his 2000 International with a 22’ box, he gutted it. Not to worry though, he may spend his days selling tools, but he spends his nights turning wrenches, and his experience as a technician meant he could fix whatever needed fixing.
“I redid a lot of stuff on the inside,” McCarthy says. “I took everything apart and put it back together... I carpeted everything so it looks nicer. I put a new TV in it so I can play videos of tools.”
And this isn’t the first time McCarthy has done this. When we last spoke with him in 2019, he told us about the renovations he did on his 2001 Freightliner MT55. Unfortunately, a bad storm last October caused a tree to crash on top of his truck, so McCarthy purchased his new truck from Mile High Paint Supply in Colorado and got it delivered to his home in Boston.
The story behind Bad Larry
Bad Larry Tools is the name of McCarthy’s mobile tool business in Boston where he visits “all sorts of shops” such as fleet shops, body shops, auto shops, bus garages, and construction companies. However, if you’re not from the area, you may not understand what it means to be a “Bad Larry”.
“It's like a saying on the south shore of Massachusetts. Like ‘Look at that Bad Larry’ would be like if you see a nice car go by,” McCarthy notes. “It's old school.”
About 11 years ago when McCarthy was looking to enter the tool-selling world, he had a friend who was going to go into business with him. Unfortunately, his friend passed away after getting in a bad car accident. Before that though, when the two were working on McCarthy’s house, his friend had a pair of pliers he nicknamed the “Bad Larrys” because he was always looking for them. The name stuck, and the rest is history.
The customizations
Starting with when you first step onto the truck, McCarthy replaced the peg board that used to be on the wall with gray carpet. He notes that it makes it look “nice and clean” and with the carpet up, he’s able to Velcro products over every inch of the truck.
The truck also has two knife displays, a sunglasses display, a refrigerator, and a handmade hammer display. He says he’s also considering putting the handmade angle iron pullout shelving unit with four panels from his old truck onto his new one.
However, McCarthy’s renovations and handmade displays aren’t the only custom parts of the truck. He also has a few custom products – beef jerky, hot sauce, old-school soda, and bottled water, as well as a grill seasoning that he’s still working on.
McCarthy says these private label products help his business stand out, and they work well as a small freebie to thank a customer for paying their bill on time or making a large purchase. Some of his best sellers for the jerky are the straight whiskey, crack black pepper, and ghost pepper flavors.
Off to the tool show
Every fall McCarthy likes to put together a tool show.
“I'll put a bunch of inventory together that I have a lot of and then I'll just run deals,” McCarthy says.
He also has a buffet set out and raffles for customers to participate in, so even if they don’t end up buying anything, they can still have a good time. McCarthy actually starts the raffles a few months before the show, raffling off one prize a month, such as an air fryer — something a customer’s entire family can enjoy.
