Total Tool News & Announcements

DealerShop acquires Total Tool, Expanding Automotive Shop Equipment Sales and Service Capabilities

BLOOMFIELD HILLS and CLEVELAND, February 16, 2022 – DealerShop, based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and Resilience Capital Partners, a Cleveland-based private equity firm, announced today that it has acquired Total Tool, a full-service distributor that sells and services a wide variety of automotive shop equipment in the Northeastern USA.

The expertise of market-leading Total Tool builds on DealerShop’s equipment offering by expanding into new products and includes value-added services such as expert installation, preventive maintenance, spare parts, training, and equipment certifications.

As a result of the acquisition, DealerShop plans to accelerate its automotive equipment sales and service growth in upstate New York, Vermont, Western Massachusetts, and Connecticut.

“The talented and experienced Total Tool team has provided exceptional equipment distribution, maintenance and repair for 40 years,” said Bill Gryzenia, DealerShop’s President & CEO. “We look forward to enhancing our full-service value for all customers by combining Total Tool with DealerShop’s wide array of dealership and collision center offerings.”

“When we were approached by DealerShop, we knew the fit would be ideal for the continued success of our mission after 36 years” said Lou Spada and Kathy Dederick Spada, owners. “Continuity for our employees and customers was the deciding factor in choosing DealerShop to take our business to the next level of success. We look forward to helping ensure a seamless transition for our longstanding dealership, repair shop, school, and transportation authority customers.”

About DealerShop

DealerShop is part of the Leader Auto Resources (LAR) family of companies, which is the largest sourcing partner for franchised new vehicle dealerships in North America, serving over 2,000 dealerships and 270 collision centers across Canada and the United States. DealerShop provides dealers with time-tested solutions in virtually every area for dealerships and collision centers. The company offers a broad range of products and services, including high-volume and private-label products; direct products and services, which provides negotiated rates with the industry’s largest base of certified suppliers; equipment for the buildout or retrofit of new dealerships and collision centers; and training. The company was founded in 1999 with headquarters in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. For more information visit www.dealershopusa.com.

About Resilience Capital Partners

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Resilience invests in niche-oriented manufacturing, value added distribution and business service companies with sustainable market positions. Resilience provides a flexible transaction approach to accommodate the needs of businesses and sellers.

Since its founding in 2001, Resilience has raised and advised funds with aggregate capital commitments in excess of $675 million on behalf of its global investor base, which includes pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and endowments, fund of funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals. These funds have been invested in 84 companies under 41 platforms in numerous industries.

In Loving Memory of Mike Anatriello

Our gentle giant has gone away.

There’s now a huge empty spot in our day.

He always had a smile and upbeat mood.

He wasn’t one to be moody or sit around and brood.

He added so much to our crew.

He was a true king pin I’m telling you.

So we all wish him well on his next life chapter.

Hope he’s smiling down at us from the here ever after.

So bow your head and say a small prayer.

For our missing comrade no longer there.

Mike know you’ll be missed, and we send you our love.

As you watch over us with the good lord above.

Total Tool’s Greater Albany Zone Welcomes Dean Benamati

Total Tool Ltd. is pleased to announce that Dean Benamati will cover the automotive equipment distributor’s Greater Capital Region sales territory, including Albany, Schenectady, Troy, Saratoga and Rensselaer counties.

Dean, who previously served Total Tool’s Southern Zone, lives in the heart of Total Tool’s Capital Region sales territory. This relocation brings Dean closer to his customers, and able to respond very quickly to their needs.

“We felt that with Dean’s home being centrally located within this territory, this close proximity allows for even better customer service,” said Evan Calarco, operations manager for Total Tool Ltd.

Dean’s relocation was possible because of the recent addition of Mike Block, who now covers Total Tool’s Southern Zone.

Total Tool Announces Exclusive Agreement With Rotary Lift, The World’s Leader in Heavy-Duty Hydraulic Lifts

Total Tool Now Holds Distribution Rights For Upstate New York and Vermont

(Castleton, New York) — Total Tool, one of the Northeast’s largest distributors of automotive service equipment for vehicle repair shops, today announced an agreement with Rotary Lifts that names Total Tool Ltd. the heavy-duty distributor for Rotary Lift for most of Upstate New York and all of Vermont.

Total Tool now has exclusive distribution rights for sales, installation, and service of Rotary Lift light duty 2-post lifts and heavy-duty in-ground and above-ground vehicle lifts in a geographic area that spans from New York State’s Orange County to the south, Canada to the north, Utica to the west, and all of Vermont.

The agreement will shorten the purchasing process for municipalities, schools and other public agencies, as Rotary Lift’s heavy-duty lifting products recently became available through the National Joint Powers Alliance (NJPA). The purchasing cooperative allows government agencies to buy competitively priced equipment using a simple purchase order instead of having to individually bid out purchases, a system that can take time and tax resources.

“Our customers will now be able to streamline their buying process through Total Tool with the addition of Rotary Lift’s NJPA-approved products,” said Kathy Dederick, owner of Total Tool.

Total Tool, a woman-owned family business that has operated since 1982, sells automotive repair equipment, vehicle lifts, compressors, wheel-service equipment, alignment equipment, waste oil burners, lubrication systems, exhaust systems and other equipment for automotive repair shops. Rotary Lift, based in Madison, Indiana, is a world leader in the lifting equipment industry.