Locksmitherie

I started out as a refugee from working in a hardware store. ( Actually, it was my dad's store in Boston ) where we made tons of keys, but really had limited resources to properly do much else... lots of shoebox rekeying. I wanted to add more services alogn these lines, bring in a real locksmith.... dad was not really interested, and space was limited. He was happy making about 60K keys a year, without having to hire specialists, and allocate more space.

I wanted to do my own thing, so started Jeff's Key Shoppe, a Kiosk inside the Building 19 1/8 Store in Dedham Massachusetts. After School and Saturdays, cutting keys. I also sold key blanks wholesale to other locksmiths and rebuilt Rinse-N-Vac carpet machines for hardware stores that had piles of broken ones.

This went for a while, and I graduated to the Zayre dept store chain. I tested various locations. As they renovated stores, I got displaced. Once I exhausted all their high traffic stores, I moved North to New Hampshire. By this time, I had been gathering info, and being taught as I visited lock shops peddling key blanks. The economy of the area was pretty flat, the industry was pretty much stagnant, as it had been for about 30 years.....and I saw this as a huge opportunity to learn, learn, catch up and learn more.

I opened City Lock in Manchester, NH on Nov 19, 1978.... my first client stopped in at about 4:00 PM, and I had him hold up one end of a sheet of pegboard, while I put in a few screws, then I made my first sale.

Business was good from day 1, as I was across from a Dunkin Donuts, and on the best intersection in the City.

My building was huge.... 20' X 20' ! I could do everything from a swivel chair.... actually, I nearly HAD TO ! Deduct the furnace room, and the bathroom.... that left me with 280 sq feet of shop/retail area, backroom, and corporate offices !

This was good for about 8 years, until my landlord decided they wanted the space back, for their own use. I was prompted to upsize a bit. Also in Manchester, we now had 1200 sq ft.... man did THAT fill up fast!

In 1991, a big move to Colorado, and in 1995 I closed the Manchester store, turning the accounts and key systems to capable hands.

Just finishing up some re-do of my current location, something everyone should do occasionally.

Well, there you go, it is more about my business "me" than my personal self.