Harry’s Locksmith, located in the heart of uptown Vancouver on Main Street, has roots that can be traced back to 1949. The company moved to Clark County from the Los Angeles area as a bike, hobby and engine shop that also offered locksmith services.
In the 1990s, brothers Mike and Patrick Werbowski took over the business with four employees. Today, there are 30 employees and the company has expanded to become a full-service commercial, residential and automotive locksmith shop that provides mobile services as well.
The “more than mom-and-pop shop” meets the security needs of hospitals, schools, retail shops and apartment complexes, in addition to offering a variety of key and entry systems for residential homeowners. On the automotive side, Harry’s Locksmith makes duplicate keys and can rekey car locks. The company is also committed to staying on top of current industry trends – especially in the area of electronic security. Employees are trained to stay on top of new and developing technology in order to provide customers exactly what they’re looking for.
The team also goes above and beyond to travel to customers that need assistance.
“We’re not just an average locksmith,” said Patrick. “We do more than that. We’ve traveled throughout the West: Washington, Oregon, Arizona, California, Utah, Montana and Idaho. You wouldn’t think about a locksmith doing that. But we go to places that most people don’t have access to.”
Patrick went on to explain that people – whether that be new customers walking through the door or long-time employees – are the key to keeping their business on the path of longtime success. He believes that the people who work at Harry’s Locksmith and the experience they bring to the table are truly what make the company stand apart. In fact, their technicians bring more than 100 years of combined industry experience to the business.
“We believe we have a great culture where our employees are able to thrive, learn and expand in their own selves, which in turn allows them to go out and be confident with the customer,” he said. “We treat people the way that they want to be treated. We do a professional job at a fair price and go above and beyond to make sure that our customers are happy.”
Looking ahead, Harry’s Locksmith plans to continue to stay on top of what customers in and around the community need by adding new products and services as requested. They believe that as the community grows, Harry’s Locksmith will grow, too. Patrick said that the future looks bright and he anticipates the outstanding team of employees is what will help lead them into the future with a continued trajectory of success and progress.
“Over the years, we learned a lot from other business owners, mostly on what not to do,” Patrick said. “We wanted to start something where we could treat customers with honesty, integrity, and with a bit of a sense of humor, and hope that would translate into a successful business. So far, so good.”
Harry’s Locksmith is located at 2213 Main St., in Vancouver.
