Key Blank Setup

[CanadaMPC]

I'll have to put everything into a single directory and see how it all works together. Thanks. Sorry for outing your secret, but it appears to be quite useful, especially for someone doing keys of course.

OK, so using the keys on the Sargent page as an example, and the choice of some of the keys are very popular or the choice of most of the keys are not very popular:

What Sargent keys would you normally stock? The 5-pin 1007LA or the longer 7-pin L1007LA so you could cut it down to the 1007LA or O1007LA?

Or would you stock the 1007LD or the L1007LD to handle all nine keys from 1007LA to LC and up toL1007LA to L1007LC?

When would you NOT want to use a submastering or mastering key for cutting for someone?

I'm still very much a noob on this and I want to make sure that I'm not getting into trouble for getting a key and using it for a customer. I'll have to ask my vendor when I go in to pick up some keys tomorrow.

Part of getting a code cutter would be that I have a number of mailbox locks from mailboxes I picked up at an auction that didn't have keys. The cost to code cut all these locks to get a single key to use each, if done by someone with a code cutter, would equal about a third to a half of the cost of the code cutter.

So, justifying the cost of the code cutter is partially done on economics. If I can get my mailbox customer to turn me into his code cut key supplier, then it just adds to the justification, and gets me another toy to play with. I would only add in the code books as they were needed/wanted or if I was able to get hold of them from a retired/retiring locksmith or shop that had them.

Are you a locksmith or just know a lot about keys?

Thanks for the lesson. I eagerly await the next lesson in "Your Key To Cutting Success" from Dale Harris.

BTW, any problem in showing the KEYFIND program to my key supplier? I know they have a subscription to a key display/information database that they get every month or quarter with key updates, changes, etc.

Reginald

[daleadmin]

Reginald,

It is not really a secret, it is just an undocumented feature. It is mentioned somewhere on this forum.

Here is Chicago the “L” and “R” Sargent keys are fairly popular so we carry the “change” blanks listed at the top of the page and the grand master blank. But then Chicago is an old, huge urban city. In the suburbs of Chicago you would not sell many. The other Sargent series are not as popular and I carry only the grand master blank.

So which keys series should you carry all the blanks? That would require experience in your location. I have the experience but not in your area.

For any slow moving key that comes in various lengths I carry only the longest version and then cut it to length. Although if the longest blank is extremely unpopular and much more expensive then I might go with the second longest.

The code cutter and codes is up to you. However it is very likely that the number printed on the mail box locks you have is a code number and not the cut number so if you do not have the code pages for them the code cutter will not help.

The State of Illinois thinks I am a locksmith, at least they cash the checks I need to send to them for my license.

You can show the KEYFIND program to your supplier but I would rather if you did not give them a copy of it.

Dale

[CanadaMPC]

Dale,

How do you display your Klinky, Sports and other specialty/painted keys for people to look at?

Or do you have a catalog of keys that people can look through and ask to see specific keys that you might have or to order?

You showed off your key cart and there is not a lot of space on there to display things. Just wondering how big a space/area you have for your key department. The key departments in Home Depot and the department stores around here are usually the width of two key towers and the space in front of the towers, sometimes a little wider for a cash register/POS.

It doesn't take a lot of space for a key cutting shop, unless you want to display stuff or have lots of key cutting machines and/or locksmith stuff. I don't want to get too too big, but I do want to have some higher value keys to sell to those that want them.

Reginald

[daleadmin]

CanadaMPC,

Unfortunately my key shop is not really mine. I work for a large retailer with over 600 stores although only 21 of them are key shops. In their infinite wisdom they have decided that KW1 and SC1 blanks in US flag, flower, and tiger along with 3 Chicago sports teams are all the painted keys that I should carry.

In an amazing story, when the Chicago White Sox won the World Series 2 years ago (the first World Series win for either Chicago team in over 90 years) my company decided not to replenish my stock of White Sox blanks until April because they did not think I could sell any since the White Sox were not playing any games. Meanwhile absolutely anything with "White Sox" on it was selling like hot cakes all over the city.

But anyway. The mobile key shop has 640 hooks to hold keys and is able to carry the blanks to accomodate about 95% of what my customers need. It also has two 2.5 foot wide doors that hold a full selection of key chains on one door and a tiny selection of locks on the other.

However the main shop has 2,160 hooks to hold keys (It is a key wall 18 feet long) and can carry almost any key that is not restricted or requires machines that I do not have to cut them. The shop itself is 28 feet wide and 12 deep with a 9' X 11' back room. It has five 4 foot show cases and a 6 foot display wall that holds the locks that I sell. There are also counter spinners to hold the key chains.

So, how do the two shops compare? You would think that the main shop just kills the mobile shop.

Not true. The main shop is not in a main traffic flow. Meaning pedestrians. Its customers are mainly what we call "destination" customers. That means people who are out shopping for a key and are looking for a place to get one made.

The mobile shop can be moved right into the middle of the traffic flow. It is small so my host store does not object since it is usually outside the main entrance to the store. The mobile shop gets the "impulse" customers, those that are not shopping for keys but when they see the mobile shop will stop and buy.

The main shop is open 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. The mobile shop is open only on weekends for 9 hours a day.

As I said earlier we have 21 shops, you can count the mobile shop as the 22nd. Just counting the hours the mobile shop is open, on an hour by hour basis. the mobile shop is by far the busiest of all 22 shops. (This is counting only weekend sales for the other shops.)

So this is a case of "size does not matter" but like real estate the 3 most important things are, "Location, Location, and Location"

The mobile shop is set up exactly 140 away from the regular shop and they have to compete with each other.

Dale

[CanadaMPC]

I have a number of the hockey teams but sometimes it is difficult to get other sports team keys. The distributors in Canada either won't bring them up due to limited demand or there might be licencing issues with getting them into Canada.

Consumer demand can be a fickle thing and which can drive "planners" of distribution wacky. Just as these planners get their head wrapped around the idea that something is popular and they should stock it, the fad dies and they are left with tons of the stuff in the warehouse that doesn't move, and will only move at firesale prices.

This is the difference in business where little shops can zip by bigger rivals by being fleet of foot. I don't see the Klinky keys around much and I think they are cute and so do a number of my customers. I just need to get the display space set up which, now that Christmas is over for the store, I should be able to start on, among other changes.

The little guy must make decisions on what to stock and can't spend a whack of cash to have everything, or to have it displayed in fancy cases or displays. I go into a few displays shops to look at the old, rejected and used display cases to see what fits into the shop here. Prices are anywhere from 20 percent to 1 percent of what the big shops pay for this stuff when it is new.

The counters we are using I picked up from three different Canada Post outlets who had to change to the newer Canada Post style of cabinets. They are multiple years old but are a modular design of interchangable pieces. Some parts were broken or damaged, but overall well worth it. For a few hundred dollars, I was able to buy a few thousand dollars worth off building materials to reshape into the counters we are using now. I've tossed or fixed the broken pieces, switched things around and modified stuff to work the way that we want it here.

Your key shop is huge compared to my 7 feet of counter space with 3 key spiners and a key machine on another 2 feet of counter facing the customers. Using my 3 towers, I am a third of the hook space that you have, but I am building up the key section as time, money and demand decide.

We are a bit of a destination shop in a free standing building just north of the downtown core. We are a Mail & Parcel Centre selling shipping services, money transfer services and private mailbox rentals. The key cutter is so we can cut our own keys for the mailboxes and it becomes a revenue source for those who come in to see us as well, provided they can see the cutter or know that it is here. We have a bit of stationery for sale, stuff we use that we offer for sale and other bits and pieces I've picked up on a deal that we can sell for a buck.

I can see where your mobile shop would do more business. Keys are an impulse item and most people don't think about keys until they have that last key and they don't want to lose it so they actively seek out a replacement. Otherwise, it sort of becomes an item on the things to do list, and the offerings of Klinky/painted keys or different coloured keys or such becomes an alternative to the regular or standard key.

Individuals buy the specialty key because it strikes a chord with them. Businesses buy a key on price, sometimes on being able to differentiate a specific key from the 10 or 20 or 50 or 100 other keys they have, so they can find the one they use the most often quicker.

Sometimes there can be too much choice in what is offered, sometimes too little choice. A smart/smarter retailer will know how to display it, how to market/promote it and how to profit from it. I'm nowhere near that smart, which is why I ask a lot of questions and I thank you for giving me answers and ideas and insight that I can become a tiny fraction smarter in what I do. Your wisdom is invaluable.

Take care and Merry Christmas.

Reginald