Growing through
a RECESSION
Independent distributor Matt Sledge takes over local
route, hires a second dealer and looks to expand.
by Vesna Brajkovic, Assistant Editor
When the economy was in a
recession in 2008, that’s
when Matt Sledge went independent.
He would drive 22 miles from
his hometown in Murfreesboro,
Tennessee to service a route of
anyone from automotive to manufacturing
technicians, and that
was working for him then.
Since Professional Distributor first
covered his business in 2008, Sledge,
much like the flourishing Nashvillearea
he services, has grown substantially,
and has plans to expand.
After hiring another distributor,
Stephen Caswell, to take over his last
route in La Vergne, Tennessee, Sledge
started a new, more automotive-focused,
city route in his hometown. Now, he’s
on the lookout to take on a third truck
in Wilson County.
“I don’t know what happened in the
last 10 years, but there are hundreds of
people moving here every day,” Sledge
says. “And as big as this route is — I mean
it’s the Nashville area, Nashville’s booming
big time — so as big as this area is, I
still don’t cover it all. And I’m still running
the full five days, a full eight to nine
hours a day, just trying to get to all of it.
And I can’t find time to get to all of it.”
Even with competition from all major
flags, Sledge still pulls in anywhere from
$12,000 to $14,000 in tool and product
sales a week just on the Murfreesboro
route alone. (And that’s without a
22 Professional Distributor I October 2018 I VehicleServicePros.com
Independent distributor Matt Sledge
runs Tech Choice Tools, which now
services two routes with the
addition of a second driver.
SPECIAL FEATURE
/VehicleServicePros.com