National Wholesale Co. was well-prepared long before its founder’s passing

By Paul Miller

Tight With Customers
Smith became close to many customers over the years, often talking to them on the phone. “Customers would actually travel here, stop in and ask for him,” Swann says. “If they’d get upset, he’d send them flowers. And we maintain the same kind of relationship with them today.” (According to a current datacard from the company’s list manager, Belardi/Ostroy, the average National Wholesale customer has household income of $40,000.)