Stronger together: A merger grounded in experience and vision

With women at the helm, Caster Town and Trail Hammer and Bolt usher in a new era for industrial supply in Trail

L to R: Aimee Macready, Michelle Torbic-Smith, Al Boucher, Lisa Boutilier. — Photo courtesy Trail Hammer and Bolt/Caster Town

Trail Hammer and Bolt isn’t your typical industrial supply store. Founded in 2018 by a tight-knit team of industry veterans, the company has built its reputation on deep product knowledge, customer-first service, and a fierce sense of local loyalty. When longtime partner and founder Scott Macready passed away in 2024, his legacy of care and community continued through a next generation of leaders—many of them women—who are redefining what success looks like in a traditionally male-dominated sector.

In 2024, Trail Hammer and Bolt joined forces with Caster Town Ltd., a second-generation, family-owned distributor known across Western Canada for casters, wheels, and material handling equipment. At the heart of this merger are two remarkable leaders: Adrianna Hanson, president of Caster Town, and Michelle Attwood, branch manager in Trail. We had a chat with Attwood and Hanson—and they shared their thoughts on merging values, expanding vision, and what it means to lead with compassion, competence, and community at the forefront.

How long has Trail Hammer and Bolt been in business? Can you tell me a bit about the company's history?

Hanson: Caster Town has been in operation since 1977. We are a small family business which started in Edmonton, and has now grown to operate in five cities across western Canada. Caster Town is currently in its second generation of family leadership, with Adrianna taking over the helm from her father Sid Hanson in 2022. Caster Town is the premier distributor of material handling equipment, casters, wheels, dollies, and related industrial equipment. In 2024, we had the opportunity to join forces with Trail Hammer and Bolt Co., to bring an even more diverse inventory of industrial products to the Trail community. We are proudly local to each city we operate in, and we maintain a robust inventory of Canadian-made products and specialty inventory from all over the world.

Attwood:  Trail Hammer and Bolt (THB) has been in business since 2018. The Hammer and Bolt building location in Trail was previously occupied by Acklands Grainger where myself and THB team members were previously employed. After Acklands Grainger shut over 100 branches down across Canada, which included the Trail Branch, we were left with an opportunity for Trail Hammer and Bolt to open its doors. The previous branch manager of Acklands Grainger, Scott Macready, had an idea to fill the new void in the industry in our area. He assembled his team consisting of all previous Acklands Grainger team members, myself and Al Boucher. Together, the three of us built Hammer and Bolt from the ground up. We had already worked together as a team for 7 years under Acklands management and were well-versed in the needs of our local customers, with an abundance of industrial parts knowledge.

When Hammer and Bolt opened shop in 2018, the amount of customers that were loyal to us as a team was overwhelming. Quickly, we built up our inventory database, stock levels, customer relationships and supplier network, which enabled us to flourish with the help of our customers wanting to support a local, family orientated business. Unfortunately, Scott Macready has since passed as of November 2024 after his battle with ALS. His dedication to the success of his team members and the business as a whole will carry on in Trail Hammer and Bolt, where the original team members have now been joined by his daughter, Lisa Boutiler and daughter in-law, Aimee Macready. Trail Hammer and Bolt has a strong foundation built by the knowledge, experience and compassion of our previous leader, Scott Macready. A legacy we work to honour every day.

How has the transition to Caster Town Ltd. influenced your operations or customer experience?

Hanson: Caster Town and Trail Hammer and Bolt Co. have always operated with a similar set of values. Both businesses are family-owned, and deeply entrenched in the communities we operate in. We are committed to our values of excellence in customer care, integrity, professionalism, and innovation. We are problem solvers to the core. We help people and businesses achieve their goals, and that is very rewarding work to be a part of! The benefit of Caster Town and THB working as one, is that we now have more resources to achieve these goals. We have a more robust inventory, we have access to new products, we have improved logistics capabilities, and a growing knowledge base of experts in the field of industrial supply.

Attwood: Having Caster Town as our owner enables us to gain more knowledge as a whole. With a dedicated, established business backing us, we have more resources than ever before. Their expertise and experience will allow us to better service our customers by providing more access to industrial products along with the support of knowledgeable team members. We are happy to be part of a family owned business that will keep Hammer and Bolt’s core values alive. 

Can you share more about the journey of your new branch manager and what makes her leadership style unique?

Hanson: Both Caster Town and Trail Hammer and Bolt are proudly women-owned and operated. Our leadership team is largely female, and that allows us to bring a unique lens to the world of industrial supply. The impact of our female leadership and what that brings to the world of industrial supply isn't just about representation—it's about transforming how we build our business relationships and maintain them in a sector where trust and reliability are major keys to success.

Attwood: To add to Adrianna's comment about the Caster Town leadership team being largely female, Trail Hammer and Bolt also has a majority female team. In this notoriously male-dominated industry, I do believe this deserves to be celebrated! Our attention to detail and open-mindedness allows us to work well as a team and deeply understand our customers' needs. What makes my leadership style unique is my experience in all roles of the business. I started by working in the warehouse, then moving to front counter sales and later working as an outside sales representative on-site at customer locations. This wide breadth of experience has given me the insight of how the business works as a whole. I believe understanding all the moving parts in the business is key to being a successful leader. Trail Hammer and Bolt consists of a small intimate team of 4, where we are more like family than co-workers. Being closely engaged with my team enables me to better understand their needs and allows me to adopt a compassionate, nurturing approach in leadership.

What initiatives or goals do you have for the branch’s future?

Hanson: The expansion of our product offering aside, we are also looking to expand our service offerings in order to leverage the deep knowledge of our mighty team. Two initiatives that are actively being offered or developed are complimentary ergonomic site assessments where one of our teams will conduct a walkthrough with businesses and make suggestions for how they could improve their office or warehouse functions. The other service offering is safety equipment review and compliance. Our staff are certified to inspect safety equipment and attest that it meets current industry standards as part of a business’s safety compliance program.

Attwood: After being on maternity leave, I plan to reconnect with all the customers I can. I believe having a close relationship with customers enables us to better understand their needs and how we can help their businesses grow. I hope to increase our presence in the community by touching base in person with current customers and also reaching out to new demographics. Ensuring that all potential customers know that even though we are a small, local business this does not prevent us from being competitive on price and product availability. Our access to the product is limitless, we have the knowledge to back it and I hope to communicate that to our community. Also, with our changing world I will make a sizable effort to continue to source and support Canadian suppliers.

What’s the most unexpected or innovative use of a product you’ve seen from a client?

Hanson: One super innovative and fun project we saw from one of our individual customers was a homemade snow removal robot. There comes a point where people get tired of shoveling, I guess, and we were happy to work with our customer to source wheels that worked for his robot.

A slightly more pragmatic and large scale application that we worked on with a customer, was the use of casters on the SIDE of a cart in addition to the bottom. In a massive facility where there was a fleet of carts with hard edges and big maneuverability demands, we came up with a solution to mount rubber casters on the corners of every cart so that they could bump and roll off walls without damaging the walls and reducing noise.

Attwood: Operating out of a small town doesn’t decrease a business’s need to source specialized products. We are proud to be the bridge that connects our customers to the products they need, no matter how specialized, by tapping into our wide supplier network. Our whole team is incredible at tackling any request head-on, but Al Boucher (our inside sales rep) deserves a special shout-out for his innovative suggestions to customers looking for immediate solutions. His 20-plus years of experience and comprehensive understanding of industrial parts allows him to make suggestions that help customers get the job done.

What new products are you most excited about this year?

Hanson: At CTCL, we're seeing a noticeable uptick in customer requests for Canadian-made products, and we're excited to meet that demand. More and more customers are recognizing the value of supporting local manufacturers, and we're proud to offer a wide variety of products from top Canadian suppliers. This growing trend has encouraged us to expand our selection of Canadian-made material handling equipment and hardware, ensuring that our customers have access to the very best products made right here at home..

Attwood: We are excited to focus more on our Canadian suppliers, a big one is Gray Tools. Made in Canada, they offer sturdy hand tools and a variety of other products like hoists and pullers that customers may not potentially realise are manufactured by Gray. Our expertise lies in sourcing oddball fasteners and we jump at the opportunity on our customers' most challenging requests!

What trends in the industrial supply market are you keeping a close eye on?

Hanson: Automation! There is a huge push towards automation for efficiency, ergonomics, safety, and productivity. We are currently supporting several projects in this space, including new facility builds utilizing AGVs for cart movement. We have dedicated a team of staff to this topic, and we are working with local contractors to build custom solutions for these projects.

Another topic that is getting a lot of attention is workplace ergonomics and safety. This has been on everyone’s mind for quite some time, but we’re seeing businesses take this very seriously now, and invest in facility audits and upgraded equipment. Attention to ergonomics not only improves workplace safety by reducing workload, it also improves efficiency and productivity.

Attwood: Customer needs are ever-changing. Being intuitive to what our local customers require will allow us to purchase and align our inventory levels in store to better service them. Spending trends will also be closely monitored, with rising costs of goods and tariffs on the horizon, it will be more important than ever for us to do our due diligence in purchasing in order to pass down the most economic prices possible.

What’s something about your team culture that makes this a unique place to work?

Hanson: “Yes, and…” We never say no. To each other, to customers, to suppliers. We are in the business of finding solutions. Yes, it makes work a little more challenging at times, but our team feels the reward and success of problem solving. It also means that no two days are the same, because no two customers are the same.  This level of care for everything that we do is what led to synchronicity between Caster Town and THB so quickly - two businesses cut from the same cloth, ready to say yes.

Attwood: Totally agree with Adrianna. Trail Hammer and Bolt also never says no. We will go out of our way to find the customer a solution even if it ends up not being purchased from us. Trail Hammer and Bolt is a unique place to work in that every employee is well-versed in every aspect of what goes in the business as a whole. With being a small team, everybody needs to know what is going on so we can work together efficiently for our customers’ sake.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting in the industrial supply business, what would it be?

Hanson: Take it one day at a time! There is an endless amount of information to learn, and each customer is unique. But in time, knowledge and experience become second nature. This is what makes the THB experience so positive - each one of the team members knows their customers so well, they have an incredible amount of knowledge and expertise, and no matter how challenging the request, they will find an answer.

Attwood: Going into the industrial field, especially with a company like Trail Hammer and Bolt that deals with not one specialized category of industrial product but rather hundreds of categories of industrial product, can be daunting. You will never know everything about every little product, however you have to know where to find the information. Whether it be a quick Google search, searching through a paper catalogue, or contacting the appropriate supplier for help, the information is usually at your fingertips.

Do you have any exciting plans for the future?

Hanson: While the Trail Hammer and Bolt team already has access to material handling inventory and equipment, we will be growing our in store inventory in the months to come. This includes a variety of casters, wheels, dollies and hand trucks. This addition to the existing robust inventory in Trail, will be well-positioned to serve the local industrial market. Additionally, we are excited about the aforementioned facility audit program, to review and evaluate facility ergonomics in the context of material handling.

Attwood: I plan to work to merge THB’s background in fasteners, safety supplies, and all the products we are familiar with Caster Town's widely known knowledge of the caster realm. Ensuring customers know we have such valuable resources at our fingertips.