Gus Estrada, co-owner of ABC Locksmith Services, changes the locking mechanism on the door of an apartment unit in Chehalis on Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
Hundreds of keys hang on the wall of the ABC Locksmith Services office in Centralia on Wednesday afternoon.
Gus Estrada, co-owner of ABC Locksmith Services, changes the combination to a locking mechanism at an apartment unit in Chehalis on Wednesday.
Gus Estrada, and his wife, Shawna, work together to change the locking mechanism in an apartment unit in Chehalis on Wednesday, May 17, 2017.
With its inventory of thousands of keys hanging along the business’s walls, it’s likely ABC Locksmith Services has the key to fit your lock.
But if they don’t, they’ll hunt it down.
“Tom (Davis) was really, really known for the unique keys,” said co-owner Shawna Estrada, who with her husband Gustavo bought and took over the business from Davis, her stepfather, about a year and a half ago.
A good percentage of the business is still tracking down rare or antique keys, she said.
The most interesting puzzle she’s encountered, Estrada said, is a lock requiring a skeleton key from the 1800s.
“The skeleton keys are pretty easy,” she said. “They only had so many patterns.”
ABC displays a collection various antique and unique locks in a case in the front office on South Street in Centralia.
Tom Davis spent about 40 years tracking down rare keys and helping people locked out of their cars or apartments.
Davis, 80, briefly closed, then came back before the Estradas purchased it from him. Davis still helps out at the shop from time to time.
“He comes in for a few hours a day in the morning,” Shawna Estrada said.
Davis is happy the business stayed in the family, she said.
The business works with individuals as well as landlords, and changes locks and keys for several apartment buildings.
“We do a lot of safe openings,” Estrada.
ABC has thousands of key blanks for homes, businesses and car locks, and can find and cut specialty keys.
Gustavo Estrada worked with Davis to learn the trade and has a background in maintenance, and Shawna Estrada said they are still learning.
“We always find things we don’t know,” she said.
Davis didn’t start out as a locksmith either, she said. He had degrees in teaching and architecture and started the business out of a fascination with keys and locks, she said.
While the Estradas can track down a key to fit a 200-year-old lock, they can also bring a business’s security into the 21st century.
The business also offers high-security coded keys for cars as well as high-security locks for businesses.
Estrada said she plans to expand ABC’s offerings of electronic door locks and high-security hardware for businesses.
“Everyday they’re coming out with something new,” she said.
