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

By Paul Miller

Succession planning is obviously never an easy thing. It’s sort of like choosing your own grave site or writing your will. Not fun stuff. But for Smith, who founded, owned and operated National Wholesale from 1952 until 2005 (shortly after he suffered a stroke and later developed cancer), succession planning was essentially ongoing. Aside from the legalities Smith attended to — to ensure his company would wind up in his family’s hands once he was gone — he didn’t necessarily put together a specific succession plan because it was in place all along.