Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore., Home Grown column: Clock and watch repair business all about the timing
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There is Perfect Time in Grants Pass off Redwood Highway. The desire, of course, is to maintain our reputation of being honest and caring about people and one day being able to turn the business over to someone much younger who genuinely is interested in the services we provide and connecting with customers.
Dec. 14--Editor's note: This is one in a weekly series of profiles on locally owned and operated businesses in Southern Oregon.
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What do you do and how long have you been doing it? We repair clocks and watches, and we have been here for about 18 years.
How long have you lived in the Rogue Valley? My wife, Wendy Hopkins, and I moved here in 1989 from Los Gatos, Calif., after the Loma Prieta earthquake.
What inspired you to go into this line of work? It was almost purely accidentally. My background was in machine tool design and mechanical engineering. I worked in the lighting industry for the company that did lights for the Golden Gate Bridge and that kind of stuff. I was always fascinated by mechanical things. When I first came here, I had about 300 clocks in storage. I had been collecting them since the 1970s. I stumbled into this by way of Dick Abernathy, who was pretty well-known in clock repair around here. I encountered him one day at a friend's shop and talked to him for a couple hours. He decided I was going to take over his business, when he got out of it, which was in 1991 or 1992. He came back with a list of clients and parts. About the same time, I met my partner, Lowell Fronek, who was working with local jeweler Wes Pearson. He was in the process of buying his clock repair business and needed someone to help him, and he talked me into coming over here to Poplar Square. Eventually, I bought the business from Lowell in January 2003.
What decision or action would you change if you could do it again? Through a series of events we wound up in a space much larger than we needed. If had to do it over again I would secure my own building or move to a smaller place. Although we are well-established, this is the worst parking in Medford. During this economic downturn I figured we'd be in the same boat with a lot of other people, but our business has stayed pretty steady. We are back-logged four to six weeks on clocks and four to six months on watches. It's pretty much been that way year after year. We have customers from all over Southern Oregon and Northern California, from Mount Shasta to Eugene and from the coast to Klamath Falls.
What's the toughest business decision you've made? Buying the business. It required a money decision and the responsibilities of being an owner. Instead of picking my own hours, now I'm here six days a week Monday through Saturday, kind of like working at a gas station. The thing that keeps us going is not the money we're making. It's not a lucrative living by any stretch of the imagination, but we like working with our clients and love the history involved in the old clocks and the mechanical challenge.
Who are your competitors? There are a couple operations that work out of their homes, but as far as storefront competitor we don't have any here. There is Perfect Time in Grants Pass off Redwood Highway. Mike Neuenschwander does some work at his home in Medford.
What are your goals? The desire, of course, is to maintain our reputation of being honest and caring about people and one day being able to turn the business over to someone much younger who genuinely is interested in the services we provide and connecting with customers. Service such as this is getting increasingly more difficult to find. It's a dying art. There are the hobbyists -- we haven't looked for anyone yet -- but the time is coming up.
What training or education did you need? I have a mechanical engineering background and took private courses when I was at Gardco Lighting in San Leandro, Calif. I was the chief project engineer and tooling engineer for a number of years. I machined tools and did design and construction work.
What's your advice for budding entrepreneurs? If they have a real love for something, they should stay with it. They should contact and communicate with people in similar fields and gain knowledge in what they are doing.
To suggest ideas for this column, about businesses that are at least five years old, contact Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or business@mailtribune.com
Credit: Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore.
