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After over four decades in the independent home improvement industry, including manning the helm for Wilco Co-op for the last four years, Sam Bugarsky retired at the end of 2023, replaced by John Bowersox.
As he ended his tenure with the company and in the industry, Sam chatted with Hardware Retailing about his career with Wilco, mentors and advice that guided him along the way and what’s next in retirement.
Hardware Retailing (HR): How did you get into the home improvement industry?
Sam Bugarsky (SB): I started at Wilco in high school in 1979 working part-time, and they’ve been my only employer since. Back then, Wilco was just a small hardware store that also sold agricultural supplies.
HR: Walk us through the various roles you’ve had with Wilco during your tenure.
SB: I’ve owned a store and have been a store assistant manager. When I was promoted to the corporate office, I started our centralized purchasing department, so I was Wilco’s first centralized buyer. Like a lot of small companies, before I took that role, every store manager did their own buying, ordering and assortment planning.
That role quickly became a leadership role managing the stores. Eventually, we formed a division that carved out the stores, and I was the manager of that division. Over time, I was promoted to chief operating officer of the company and had a hand in our energy department, transportation and distribution. In 2019, I moved into the role of CEO.
HR: Who were some of your mentors during your career with Wilco?
SB: Former Wilco CEO Doug Hoffman was a mentor. I also learned a lot from industry folks. Serving as the first purchasing agent and starting the purchasing department from the ground up, I learned a lot from our vendors about product positioning and how to make programs work. NHPA roundtable meetings and visiting other companies had a huge influence on me as well.
HR: What is the best professional advice you’ve been given?
SB: I don’t remember who the advice came from, but I was told that it’s really important to listen and to value other opinions. As the CEO, that advice was of high value to me because there are a lot of companies that are led by individuals where it seems like there’s someone at the top who is making all the decisions and not taking into consideration anyone else in the organization. Basically, don’t try to know everything. Use your teams and collaboration to make important decisions that affect them.
HR: What is your favorite part about working at Wilco?
SB: Our culture. It’s a culture that starts from those who work in the warehouses and the stores and runs all the way through our management ranks and to the board of directors. It’s a respect for people and respected adherence to our core values.
HR: You became CEO right before COVID-19 hit. What were some of the biggest lessons you learned navigating through that time?
SB: My biggest takeaway centered around communication. I remember when the pandemic started to break, leadership was doing a lot of brainstorming about what we were going to do and what decisions we were going to make.
One day I got a message from an employee in one of the stores, one of our 1,200 employees, that said, “You’re always communicating about how the business is doing, how sales are doing and what’s coming up and going on, but we’re not hearing enough about what’s going to happen to us in this COVID environment.”
It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I realized that we need to overcommunicate in these situations. Communication is so important, especially in a multi-location environment. You just don’t realize how much need there is for people to hear about what’s going on and what we’re doing.
HR: What are your retirement plans?
SB: I’m going to rest for a while. I picked up a few commitments that I’m going to do to still contribute to the industry, maybe participate on a company board or two. I’m a runner, so I also plan to be on the street more, getting some more miles in.
