Maslack Supply Limited marked 65 years of serving northeastern Ontario with a trade show and golf tournament in Sudbury, Ont.

The trade show, held at the Caruso Club, a cornerstone venue of Sudbury’s large Italian-Canadian community, attracted more than 50 key suppliers for the one-day event. More than 1,000 shop customers and allied industry professionals had registered for the trade show.

“We had a ton of support from our exhibitors. I’m proud to say that they came to Sudbury and supported the Maslack and Uni-Select/Bumper to Bumper,” says Pino Vocaturo, Vice President and General Manager at Maslack. “Even though we are one company today, they still treat us as a whole different company in the north. But the booths were fantastic and the attendance from our customers on the automotive, the PBE, and the mining and industrial was very supportive.”

The mood was friendly and the venue provided a more personable atmosphere than the local arena that had been the site of a previous event, says Vocaturo.

Attendees included senior executives from Uni-Select Inc., which acquired Maslack in 2022.

Key among executive attendees were Emilie Gaudet, President and COO Canadian Automotive Group, Uni-Select and Nick Field, Vice-President of Sales and Sean Williams, Vice President, Merchandising, Marketing, Supply Chain. Notable alongside the Maslack identity was the high-profile presence of the Bumper to Bumper branding, with a strong focus on the training offered.

Billy V. Thomas, Training Specialist at Bumper to Bumper Uni-Select, was on hand with a f riendly “Ask Billy” invitation, helping attendees learn about the offerings on the training front. Thomas indicated in conversation that while the EV topic remains of interest, most shops are looking to focus on training in ICE-related systems and other more conventional component repairs that continue to make up the vast majority of cars they are seeing in the the bays.

A day of golf the following day at the premiere Timberwolf golf course was well attended, with some 140 golfers, 100 from out of town, and 150 plus for the gala dinner which followed.

Overall Vocaturo was pleased with the attendance and support, a fitting way to mark the 65th anniversary.

“I was happy to see that a lot of the people from headquarters, especially our upper management like Emilie and Sean and Nick and obviously the marketing team and purchasing team. We also had people from national accounts from headquarters show up. We do very big numbers with the national accounts here in Northern Ontario. So we had great support and, and I think our customers were happy to shake hands and finally meet the new owners.”