Audio clip
Larry Wallace
After 17 years in the food industry, Larry Wallace was ready to hang up his 9-to-5 schedule and start a second career.
So the man who had worked for S&D Coffee Inc. for nearly two decades decided last May to trade the coffee business to become a professional lock picker.
Mr. Wallace went into business with his half-brother, Eddie Harris, and opened Hamilton County’s first Pop-A-Lock franchise.
“I wanted to do something that I had a opportunity to grow, a business where I could reach out and touch everybody,” he said. “I wanted to do something that I could really feel like I could help out, but I could also make money.”
Now Mr. Wallace is helping people — almost 24 hours a day. He carries a Blackberry so he can be available around the clock to help those unfortunate enough to get locked out of their cars, houses or businesses.
He and Mr. Harris initially invested about $200,000 in locksmith training, high-tech keying equipment, and vehicles to get the business going. Within their first week they had 10 calls without doing any advertising, he said.
By the end of the year, he projects his sales will average $20,000 to $25,000 a month.
In just less than a year, the business already is turning a profit, something Mr. Wallace said he and his partner are putting right back in to growing their franchise.
In addition to Hamilton County, the two brothers and their five employees serve Bradley County in Tennessee and Walker and Catoosa counties in Georgia. The Pop-A-Lock business has continued to grow since that first week last spring, and received more than 400 calls in February.
Fees for the services start at $40 and vary depending on the time of day and the tools required to get the lock open.
Those calls include more than people locked out of their cars, but also requests for locksmith services at homes and businesses.
The mobile locksmith part of the business was up 22 percent in February, Mr. Wallace said. He said he has been averaging about 30 calls a day.
Like his brother, Mr. Harris, 52, had worked in the food industry for 28 years, and had reached a point where he was ready for a change.
He is one of the six certified locksmiths now available 24 hours a day, seven days a week in their service area. He even finds himself working on his days off, like one day this week when he responded to four locksmith calls. He said he enjoys the new career and, as his brother does, he likes the idea of providing a service people need.
“Working in the food industry, I knew I was making a good product,” he said. “But to actually get out here one-on-one and see customer satisfaction, to see it in their faces, it is very enjoyable.”
When Mr. Wallace researched franchises, he came across Pop-A-Lock and was surprised to learn there was not one here.
“It had been in Tennessee since the mid-’90s, in Knoxville, Memphis, Johnson City and Nashville, but not in Chattanooga,” he said. “In Hamilton County, it was a sleeper.”
Mr. Wallace jumped on the opportunity to reach an untapped market and, while they were vacationing in Alaska, began convincing his younger brother to join him in the venture.
“We talked about, and I laughed at him, and here I am,” Mr. Harris said.
at a glance
Pop-A-Lock roadside assistance partnerships
* Cross Country Car Club
* General Electric Motor Club
* United States Auto Club
* Allstate Motor Club
* Coachnet
