New locksmith business opens doors — literally

Jim's Lock Service keys into area

MOSES LAKE — Jim Thompson's wife swears he became a locksmith because he's always locking himself out of places.

"I'm always locking myself out of something," he said with a laugh. "I don't think that's really true, but I find myself doing it all the time. I've learned to carry lots of spare keys."

Thompson recently opened Jim's Lock Service, located at 522 W. Broadway Ave., near the end of July, after locksmithing in the area for about 10 years.

Thompson said he has lived in Moses Lake for about 14 years, and was raised in the Connell area. He became a locksmith after years of being a carpenter.

"I was doing doors and hardware in Las Vegas, Nev., and just got to where my body was not working like it should, so I decided to change occupations," he said.

Thompson said a friend was a locksmith, and said that becoming a locksmith seemed like a logical step, considering he was already working with doors and hardware.

Jim's Lock Service offers 24-hour emergency service seven days a week, and works on automobiles, residences, commercial properties, safes, locks and door adjustments and installations.

An emergency could consist of locking one's keys in the car, or getting locked out of one's house, he said.

"If they have a security problem — say somebody's got keys to their house that they don't want to have keys to the house, that would be an emergency," he said. "If there was a problem with somebody, maybe an ex-spouse, ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend or something like that."

Another potential emergency could involve locking a child in the car, a circumstance in which Thompson said he doesn't charge anything. Moreover, people are not often aware of the fact that their auto insurance policy will cover locksmith services, or that all of their property can be keyed to one key, thereby requiring only one key.

Thompson said there are also a lot of old locks in the area that need servicing. He said in some cases, older locks might not entirely need to be replaced, just one part, and can be repaired instead.

The store employs Thompson and one employee, although he said he would add more if business picked up enough.

"There's a lot of work, and (people) need to have locks that work on their doors," he said. "Times are getting worse all the time, and they need to be able to lock stuff up."