Wisconsin distributor's most unusual customer: gravestone store

John Leonardelli of Southwestern Milwaukee County, WI, has come across some unusual customers in his 27 years as a Mac Tools distributor, but he never expected to sell tools to the owner of a gravestone store. 

“I was at church and a parishioner wanted to talk to me after the service. He wanted to buy a torque wrench for his son,” Leonardelli says. “But at the time, I couldn’t figure out why the owner of a grave stone business would need a torque wrench.” 

The parishioner sold headstones out of an old house he had turned into a store, which was located right next to a cemetery. Leonardelli says, “When I walked into the store and out the back door, here was a drag racing shop. I never expected it.”

In addition to the gravestone store, Leonardelli has also sold a side-cutter with a 45-degree bend to an employee of a dry-cleaning shop. He says, “She wanted it to fix zippers.”

“You never know what your day will be.” Leonardelli keeps an open-mind when it comes to the uniqueness of his customers. He says, “You could go into a shop where you don’t do much business and you come out to a person waiting for you at your truck. He could spend more than the entire shop will.”