Largest single transaction in the history of the shop walked in on a Thursday in March of 2022. A crew foreman from a commercial outfit doing demo work on a building down in Tottenville came in around 11:30 AM with a list of thirty names, sizes for each, and a budget that he kept close to his chest.
He'd called the day before to give me a heads up. I'd pulled inventory for what I thought he'd need — boots, hi-vis, gloves, knee pads, hard-hat liners — and stacked it near the back. When he walked in I cleared the floor and the two of us spent four hours fitting thirty guys' worth of gear without thirty guys being there.
We worked off the list. Boots first, by name. He'd written next to each name what size that guy wore, what width if he knew it, and what boot if the guy had a preference. Some names had specific notes — 'wide foot, runs hot,' 'bad knee, prefers low-cut,' 'doesn't like Carhartt, will wear Dickies.' The foreman knew his guys.
Hi-vis was easier — sizes only, all Class 2 t-shirts in the same color for crew identification. Gloves: he wanted three pair per guy, two work-glove and one knit-back. Ninety pair. Knee pads: half the crew. Hard-hat liners: full crew because the demo was being done in a draft area.
Total at the end: about $14,200. Largest single transaction we've ever done in one visit.
What I learned that day. Three things, and I still go back to them.
1. The foreman knows his guys better than the guys know themselves. The notes next to each name were better than what I'd have gotten if I'd fit each guy individually. The foreman's been working with these men for years. He knows whose feet swell, whose hands sweat, who'll complain if the shirt is too tight.
2. Big orders are not really big orders. They're thirty small orders done in one visit. The work isn't different. There are just more of them.
3. The foreman's relationship with the shop is the most important relationship. If he trusts you, you do the whole job. If he doesn't, you do none of it. There are no half-orders for a foreman. He's either bringing you everyone or he's bringing you no one.
The crew foreman in question still comes in. He runs different jobs now, different sizes of crews. Last fall he came in with a list of seven names. The transaction was $3,800. Same conversation, same process, smaller scale. The relationship is the same. That's what matters.
I keep his original list of thirty names taped to the wall by the back door. As a reminder. Not of the dollar amount. Of what running a shop actually is when you do it right.