Epicor is proud to celebrate remarkable leadership with the 2025 NHPA Top Guns Award honorees.
At Epicor, we appreciate our hardworking retail customers every day. From the time their businesses open, until the last sale in the evening, they go the extra mile to exceed buyer expectations at every stage of the shopping experience. In the world of hardware and paint retail businesses, it turns out we’re not alone in noticing outstanding performance.
In partnership with the National Hardware Show (the exclusive sponsor of the Top Guns Award program and reception), the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) has selected three outstanding retailers as Top Guns Award honorees for 2025.
Bob Cutter, NHPA president and CEO, defines Top Guns Award recipients as “pillars of innovation and forward thinking who have helped grow their businesses through strategic leadership with consideration for their communities, their teams, and the industry. Top Guns honorees exemplify what makes the independent channel great.”
The awards will be presented at the Independent Home Improvement (IHI) conference in July in Orlando, Florida. As a sponsor of this event, Epicor is pleased to attend and support our exceptional customers—Jeff Grasty from Florida Paints (Decor Fusion), Ryan Ringer) from Gold Beach Lumber Yard (Eagle), and Hervey Wright from Home Lumber and Supply Co. (BisTrack)—who have earned this well-deserved acknowledgement.
Jeff Grasty, President of Florida Paints, started as a van driver for Color Wheel Paint in Melbourne, Florida, eventually working in a Color Wheel store in the Orlando area. He learned every aspect of the business from the Strube family (founders of Color Wheel) as he broadened his knowledge of manufacturing, distribution, and corporate operations.
When it came time to strike out on his own after Color Wheel Paint was acquired by Consorcio Comex in 2006, founding family members Rick and Dan Strube partnered with Mike Davis to launch a new venture—Florida Paints, built on decades of industry experience and a shared passion for quality and service.
Starting with three locations in 2012, the business added a manufacturing plant in 2013, grew to 10 retail locations, and in 2016 acquired Scott Paints and its 17 locations on Florida’s west coast. The pandemic, when home improvement projects boomed, saw another leap in growth, bringing the current retail store total to 29 with more anticipated.
To stay grounded during these times of change and expansion, Florida Paints emphasizes its three foundational goals: maintaining a family atmosphere, living out a legacy, and making products that Florida customers want and need. According to Grasty, he and his employees always come back to their core values, known as F.O.R.C.E: faith, ownership, respect, communication, and excellence. As part of a long legacy of delivering exceptional service, Grasty is honored to be named one of this year’s Top Guns.
For Ryan Ringer, president of Gold Beach Lumber Yard, the business is in his blood—he’s the fourth generation to continue serving customers and help take the company to a new level of growth and expansion. From sweeping floors as a school-age child to now overseeing nine locations in western Oregon, Ringer is continuing the tradition his great-grandparents, Clarence and Pearl Ringer, began with the original location in 1959.
Since then, Gold Beach Lumber Yard has continued to survive and thrive, even in the face of economic recessions and constantly changing markets. Ringer attributes this to preserving the small-store feel and customer-friendly environment across all the businesses, as well as having the agility to pivot quickly when conditions change.
He also emphasizes the importance of mentoring and supporting experienced team members so they can grow along with the business. This includes giving store managers the autonomy to make key decisions that they feel are best for their location.
Ringer honed his ideas for managing successful growth from the mentors he has worked with throughout his career. For example, Art Freedman, a Margin Master software expert, was instrumental in teaching him about retail pricing and managing margins. In addition, Ringer continues to learn and exchange ideas with home improvement industry colleagues at an NHPA roundtable he attends.
When it comes to the Top Guns Award, he is quick to pull in the outstanding teams he’s worked with in his two decades in the business, along with the support, guidance, and leadership of his family for helping him and the business to soar.
Hervey Wright first visited Home Lumber and Supply Co. in Ashland, Kansas, as part of an interview process for a potential healthcare administrator job in the area. In an interesting twist, then-CEO of Home Lumber and Supply John Humphreys remembered Wright from that visit. When he learned Wright was not taking the healthcare job, he got in touch and offered him a Sales Manager position with Home Lumber and Supply Co. instead.
Even though it was a career pivot, Wright accepted right away. He and his family liked the area, and he was impressed with the positive working environment of the business. Within a year, he was promoted to general manager, the title he holds to this day, along with his other role as president of the board.
The GM role gave Wright a great big-picture view of the day-to-day operations, employees, and customers across locations—connections that continue to inform his decisions as board president. The framework that guides the business is based on trust, transparency, and honesty.
At Home Lumber and Supply Co., potential leaders are not micro-managed, but rather mentored and empowered to seek the training and knowledge they need to move forward. This vision has paid off; Wright is honored to accept the Top Guns Award on behalf of his entire team and the hard work they put in every day to exceed expectations and deliver success.
It's a privilege to congratulate our customers on this well-deserved achievement.
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