LAWTON – Anthony Johnson has turned his locksmith business into a family affair with his wife, two sons and granddaughter playing key roles in the success that started 21 years ago.
Johnson, a second-generation locksmith who inherited this specific talent from his father, didn’t have any plans for the future when he left the military in 1997. Two years later, Johnson and his wife, Chearlene, opened Johnson & Johnson Locksmith & Door Company as a mobile business for about a year.
From there, the couple moved their business into a storefront and began diversifying the operation.
“The more you do, the more you make,” he said during a recent Southwest Ledger interview.
Johnson & Johnson recently moved from 1913 NW Cache Road where it rented a 5,000 square-foot building to a 1,500 square-foot building at 108 NW 2nd St. Johnson said the company is buying the building at the new location.
The longtime locksmith and his sons, Aundre’ and Anthony, perform a variety of services from opening cars to replacing high-tech security access keys.
“Anything you have at your home that involves a key, we can take care of,” Johnson said. “The same thing goes for your business.”
Johnson also breaks into government, business and private safes – legally of course – when passcodes or combinations are lost or the safes malfunction.
“We do work for the three-letter agencies and some local law enforcement,” he said. “Some government agencies will have me show up in rural areas where they are investigating, and drill safes open so they can safely recover evidence without any damage to it.”
The Lawton locksmith and his crew also helps residents by getting them back into their cars, homes or businesses after being locked out. The company installs, services and repairs all types of residential and automotive locks and hardware, including high-security cylinders and padlocks, door closures, door locking systems and panic bar locks.
“We stay busy all day every day,” Johnson said.
That’s evidenced by the amount of travel Johnson and his sons do. On one given day, Johnson was at Tinker Air Force Base for a job while his son went to Altus Air Force Base on another project. They’ve also traveled to northeastern Oklahoma for a government safe job.
“I’ll travel wherever,” he said. “You pay and I go.”
Aside from the paying jobs, Johnson said his locksmiths will open car doors for free when children are locked inside.
“That’s something we don’t charge for,” he said. “We need to get those babies out of there before something bad happens.”
Back at the office, granddaughter Aiyana and Chearlene are handling the front office portion of the business, which makes Johnson a happy man.
“If you come into the office, the first person you’re probably going to see is my granddaughter and she keeps things running for us,” he said. “Having family around is a blessing. We’ve raised our sons and grandchildren in this business.”
Sometimes, finding enough work to support the entire family can be tough. The COVID-19 pandemic tested Johnson’s company, but Chearlene came to the rescue when she applied for federal and state business grants which kept the company afloat last year.
“There were slow times,” Johnson recalled. “If we’re not moving, there’s no recurring money coming in. That (grants) carried us for a good distance.”
The company also has been aided by the move to a smaller location, which reduced costs by about 30%.
“It’s tough downsizing that much, but we’ve made it work,” Johnson said.
Johnson thinks he’ll be working until the day he dies. “There are very few millionaire locksmiths,” he joked. “I’ll probably be some old guy in the shop answering questions. I really love what I do because no day is ever the same. If you’re a grumpy old man, this isn’t the job for you. You have to be social because
it’s a social thing and people like to talk to you.”
For a complete of services offered by Johnson & Johnson Locksmith, visit www.jjlocksmithok.com or call the office at (580) 355-KEYS or (580) 355-DOOR.