Butler Locksmithing has only been open for about a month, but owners Erin and Jenny Butler are already doing a steady business.
Butler says he learned the the basics of the art of locksmithing in his father’s shop on Salt Spring Island. After many years of being an employee, Butler decided he would employ himself.
“I’ve actually been a locksmith in town for three years,” said Butler. But he explains that he was working out of his home, and was not able to put signs up or receive customers, so when the location 122A South Shore Road came up, he jumped at the opportunity.
“Since I didn’t advertise, it was more a hobby than anything else. We had our eye on a few different spots in town and commercial rentals in this town are quite cheap, especially compared to Salt Spring, Victoria, or even Duncan, and we just liked this spot, it’s one of the oldest buildings in town, [and] it’s got a great history to it,” said Butler.
Butler says he’s just really interested in locks and likes puzzles, “and locks are puzzles.” So that’s probably why he has such a wide variety of products and services available and plans on offering more in the future.
Because the store front was once the local post office, among many other businesses, Butler says he will be talking to the Kaatza Station Museum to see what they locks they have left over from the days of the post office so that he can display some of the building’s history along with his merchandise.
“There’s some great pictures that they’ve loaned us,” he said. “There’s stories from old newspapers and that. It’s a really historical building and I like that about it.”
With all the renovations they have done, Butler says it was about six weeks between the time he decided to open the shop, to opening day, and right now his wife and him are doing everything.
“I can’t afford anybody else right now. It’s just me an my wife . . . so it will be expanding very slowly,” explained Butler.
Butler offers everything from key cutting (to code), to a wide variety of locks, out calls, and order-in sales.
He says that in terms of keys, he has found that so far people have been bringing him special and obscure items for which they need keys made. Things like old cabinets, RVs, boats, clocks, and hand cuffs.
He has many cool locks to choose from, including a directional lock.
“There’s no numbers on it, so nobody can guess your birthday or anything like that. I call it my Nintendo controller padlock,” said Butler.
Take a minute to browse through Butler’s new store on South Shore Road across from Saywell Park, or phone for more information: 250-932-8422.