(Editor’s Note: This is another in our occasional series, WN Spotlight, featuring people and places that make our town special.)
By Larissa Lieberson
Since the day his friend recommended that he try working at a Westport locksmith shop during his break from construction work, Daniel Towers has been re-keying, repairing and installing locks.
Daniel Towers (r) helps a customer in his jake the Locksmith shop at 15 Charles. St. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larissa Lieberson for WestportNow.com
Towers took over Jake the Locksmith, located at 15 Charles St. in 2007 from Merritt Jacob, who opened the store in 1992. He had been there about two years when Jacob, nicknamed Jake, retired. Towers said he figured it best to keep the shop’s established name.
Today, he is the only registered locksmith in Westport, and although the majority of his clients come from in town, Towers also services Weston, Fairfield, Wilton, Norwalk, Southport, Easton and Darien.
The store is small (15 feet by 30 feet) and quaint, but too cramped for much work to be done inside other than duplicating keys.
He does the rest of his work from his truck. It can often be seen cruising around Westport, with the shop’s eye-catching logo and bright yellow and orange colors.
With high-tech demands, Towers installs stand-alone electronic keypads. He plans to team up in the near future with a colleague who is well versed in more complex electronic locks.
Since he is so busy, Towers recommends that prospective customers call ahead of time if they need lock service, as he investigates each case specifically and orders any required parts.
“Whenever you move into a new house, you should have it re-keyed,” he notes. “You never know who has the keys and even if the last tenants were great people, they could have had an old babysitter who was angry with them, for example, who could potentially come into your house and steal something.”
He cautioned that there are also many who claim to be locksmiths in town who are not registered, and who can trap customers into paying more for services than they should.
The Jake the Locksmith shop at 15 Charles St. is often closed while owner Daniel Towers is on the road. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Larissa Lieberson for WestportNow.com
Towers said that in order to be a registered locksmith in Connecticut, you must pass both an FBI and state police background check before being awarded a certificate to do business.
He says it’s imperative to always contact a registered locksmith.
“Eighty-five percent of the time with a regular residential lock, you should be able to pick it open if you know what you’re doing,” said Towers. “However, some people will call people who advertise to be locksmiths, and they will drill the locks just to make extra money.”
He noted that registered locksmiths in Fairfield County are not competitive, get along and even exchange parts.
“It’s nice in the respect that nobody is trying to cut each other’s throats,” Towers said of his profession.
On major change on the horizon for Jake the Locksmith is the redevelopment of Saugatuck. Towers said he has been informed that many of the surrounding buildings are going to be remodeled and will need new security system locks.
“It’s nice to have a presence in Saugatuck, said Towers. “I love being able to help people and make them feel secure in their homes.”
