Huge success: Bill Fuccillo has come a long way since his early days
Rick Forgione
Sunday, October 03, 2026

In 1978, Bill Fuccillo was kicked out of his apartment because he couldn’t afford to pay the rent.

He had just graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in marketing, but was unable to land a job. With no money, he was struggling to keep his head above water.

To say what happened to him next was “huge” would be an understatement.

“I took a job as a Chevrolet car salesman,” Fuccillo said. “One thing led to another.”

Today, Fuccillo owns 21 dealerships either open or in development from California to New York, including a multi-million-dollar complex in the works on Grand Island. He sells thousands of cars a year and is the creator of the area’s most recognizable slogan: “It’s Huge.”

Not bad for someone who once thought he was the richest man in the world after earning $1,200 during his first week as a car auction buyer and seller.

The early years

Fuccillo grew up in Greenport, a village with the population of about 2,200 located on the eastern end of Long Island. Back then, he was known for catching footballs, not tossing slogans. As the star tight end for Greenport High School’s football team, he earned a full scholarship to Syracuse University in 1974.

After graduating from Syracuse four years later with a bachelor’s degree in marketing — he also minored in psychology — Fuccillo knew he would work his way into the spotlight. The first few months, however, weren’t so encouraging.

“I had no money and no job,” he said during a recent telephone interview from one of his dealerships in Los Angeles.

Even after getting his first job as a car salesman, Fuccillo spent the next 15 years making a name for himself.

“He has amazing drive and focus,” said Scott Fox, a close friend and corporate general manager for Fuccillo’s dealerships. “His personality is to strive at things and keep going forward.”

After owning a handful of used car lots in the Syracuse area, Fuccillo opened his first dealership in 1989. Being the boss didn’t change the way he did business.

“He has a very unique quality in that he’s a businessman, but he treats each customer like a personal friend,” said Debra Richardson, a Niagara Falls resident who purchased her first vehicle from Fuccillo two years ago. “He has a lot of people working for him, but he took the time to personally come out to meet me and make sure I was comfortable with what I was buying. You don’t see that with your typical dealership owner.”

It’s not just the customers receiving special attention. Fox said when he first started working for Fuccillo he was amazed to discover he knew each one of his employees personally.

“Most owners are lucky if they know all of their manager’s names,” Scott said.

The birth of a slogan

No matter how many cars he sells or how much money he donates to local charities, Fuccillo will always be primarily recognized for his “Huge” advertising campaign.

And it’s all thanks to a little ad-libbing.

“We were doing a commercial one day and at the end I just said, ‘That’s Huuuuuggggee.’ ” Fuccillo said. “After that, people started coming to the dealership saying it. Radio stations were having contests on who could say it the best. It just caught on. No matter where I went, people loved it.”

Fuccillo’s advertisements are spread out on both local and cable television stations — there’s even a 30-minute television infomercial program which airs in several markets throughout the year.

The advertising slogan is not limited to television and radio. It has also taken over the print media market — newspapers and magazines, not to mention advertisements on fleets of Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority buses, consisting of Fuccillo’s face, the name and address of his Chevrolet dealership on Grand Island and, of course, the catch phrase.

“If you haven’t heard ‘It’s Huge,’ you must have been living under a rock,” said Niagara Falls resident Trevor Long. “He’s on buses. He’s on TV. He’s a master at getting people’s attention.”

Fuccillo excels in the spotlight, but when the cameras aren’t rolling, he becomes a different man.

“I’m very high energy at work and in commercials, but in the evening I’m very mellow,” he said.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy the night life — especially when it comes to going to the Chippewa strip in Buffalo.

“Every once in a while I’ll rip up the town and you’ll see me at the bar at 3:30 a.m.,” Fuccillo said. “Sometimes I go into bars and people will start screaming ‘Huge.’ It’s really become a lot of fun.”

A big hit on Grand Island

Following up on his success in the Syracuse area, Fuccillo eyed Grand Island as his next conquest.

“It’s not only a great place, but it’s in between Niagara Falls and Buffalo which connects us with those two markets as well,” Fuccillo said.

In 2000, he purchased Island Chevrolet and renamed it Fuccillo Chevrolet, which has up to 600 new cars and trucks in stock at all times.

That’s just the start of his plans. He’s now in the process of expanding to a five-dealership facility which will also include a test track at the site on Alvin Road. The newest addition, Fuccillo Toyota, is scheduled to open on Nov. 1.

“It’s going to be quite a facility when all the parts are done,” Fuccillo said, pointing out he’s done similar large-scale projects in other areas. “We have a lot more to do.”

Grand Island Councilman Richard Crawford said the town is grateful for Fuccillo’s contributions — both in a financial and publicity sense.

“It has been a huge economic boom for Grand Island,” he said. “He utilizes us in all of his ads which gives Grand Island great exposure.”

Crawford added that Fuccillo has been a major sponsor for several local events and serves as an ambassador to the community.

“He’s a wonderful and very intelligent business man,” he said. “He has a sound philosophy on how he does business — and he sells a lot of cars and brings people to the Island who might stay and visit our other businesses.”

Fuccillo, who lives in Skaneateles, is often traveling between dealerships in his brand new Lear Jet 60. He recently purchased a condominium in Buffalo and compares Western New York to his hometown.

“The people are really friendly, into sports and family-oriented,” he said. “They are my kind of people. I feel very much at home when I’m there.”

Part of the family

Greg Santoro started admiring Billy Fuccillo after seeing his advertisements.

“One day, I went to see him at his Grand Island dealership and we shook hands and instantly bonded,” said Santoro, a teacher with the Niagara Falls City School District. “Whenever we see each other now, it’s always with a hug and a lot of laughs.”

That friendship has proved to be very beneficial to Niagara Falls students. Fuccillo has made guest appearances to speak in Santoro’s classes and sponsored a class trip last year to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

“He also wanted to do something special so he called ahead and bought each one of the 40 students a gift bag with a baseball bat, baseball, notebook and other items,” Santoro said. “He has a big heart, especially when it comes to children.”

Last week, Fuccillo invited students at Niagara Street Elementary School to be in his latest commercial to promote his “Huge-A-Thon” October drive. For each car he sells at the Grand Island location, about $200 will be donated to Niagara Street, Fuccillo said. With a goal of selling 500 cars, that would mean about $100,000 to the financially-strapped school.

“I really like to give back to the communities that have been so good to me,” Fuccillo said.

The donation to Niagara Street just scratches the surface of his philanthropy. Fuccillo is a frequent contributor to children’s hospitals, the American Red Cross, March of Dimes and “whatever else I can get my hands into.” He especially likes visiting children and making sure they stay on the right track.

“A lot of kids out there don’t have the proper chance in life,” he said. “The one thing I always tell them is to stay off drugs. I’ve seen too many people go the wrong way.”

Santoro refers to his friend as Western New York’s version of Donald Trump.

“While a lot of people know ‘The Donald,’ I see him as ‘The Billy,’ ” Santoro said of Fuccillo. “And the famous two-word saying isn’t ‘You’re Fired’ it’s ‘It’s Huge.’ ”

What’s most impressive about Fuccillo is how he lives his everyday life, said Fox, who has known him for 10 years and is his next-door neighbor.

“Billy’s a very caring man,” he said. “He’s a people person more than anyone I’ve ever seen.”

Fox has countless stories of him having breakfast or lunch with Fuccillo and being crowded by autograph seekers. One time, Fuccillo had a long conversation in a restaurant with three nuns and a priest he’d never met before, and then insisted on paying for their meal.

“Things like that happen all the time,” Fox said. “Last year, he sponsored the New York State Fair and sat in the midway signing over 200 autographs in the 90-degree heat.”

When he’s not selling cars, shaking hands and signing autographs, Fuccillo said he likes to play golf, watch horse races and study aviation. Not a day goes by, however, that he doesn’t think about his humble beginning and rise to success.

“The key to success is getting up early and working hard” he said, pausing for a moment. “And having a marketing and strategy plan.”
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