Fall 2022 Hardlines Strategies

HEART OF HARDWARE

Vince Fitzgerald (second from left) spent 10 years coaching at local schools before he began working at Texas Tool & Equipment to spend more time with his sons, Brock (far right) and Bron (far left), and his wife Shelley (second from right).

A Survivor’s Story How Vince Fitzgerald Celebrates a Second Chance at Life

V ince Fitzgerald located in Lubbock, Texas, in 2000 with plans to stay only three to five years to spend more time with his newborn son, which the job allowed with its convenient work hours. joined Texas Tool & Equipment,

Founded in 1960 as Surplus Center of Lubbock by Troy and Norma Montgomery, the operation was a military surplus store until 1969 when Greg Williams, Troy and Norma’s son-in-law, joined the company and began diversifying its inventory to include tools. In 1980, Greg and Linda Williams, who are also Vince’s in-laws, purchased the company and changed its name to Texas Tool & Equipment. The operation now specializes in hand and power tools. Twenty-two years after Vince left a career in coaching football, basketball and track at local schools to join the industry, he has worked his way up to assistant

manager and recently overcame a long and difficult fight against COVID-19. Fighting for a Chance On August 4, 2021, Vince, his oldest son and his wife tested positive for COVID-19. “I am a fairly healthy individual, so at the time I thought it would be like a bad flu and ultimately pass,” Vince says. A week after his positive test, Vince’s breathing took a turn for the worse, and he was convinced by his wife Shelley, who has been a nurse for over 25 years, to go to the emergency room. “I was not overly fond of the idea of going to the emergency room,” Vince says.

20 Fall 2022 • Hardlines Strategies