Kwikset sells locks manufactured an assembled in China, the Unites States and Mexico. But the Chinese made locks are not the same as those made in the US and Mexico. The Chinese made locks weigh about 20% less. They are lighter because they use thinner metal and plastic parts to save on weight and shipping costs to send them across the ocean. Not only do they weigh less, they are not made to the same standards and often come improperly assembled or with missing or incorrect parts. We have seen this first hand. Other brand name lock companies like Schlage do the same thing. They sell sub-standard Chinese locks through mass-merchants like Lowes and Home Depot.

The locks that Kwikset and Schlage make in the US and Mexico are not sold at mass-merchant stores. They are sold exclusively to wholesale security distributors who then sell only to Locksmiths and other security companies.  This is where we buy our locks. We do not buy locks from any mass-merchant stores. The Chinese locks cost less but they are not the same and we prefer to sell a higher-quality product, even if it costs twice as much in some cases. They simply work better right out of the box and last much longer.

This difference in product quality is even more noticeable with electronic locks. You might pay $100 more for an electronic Kwikset deadbolt from us, but our lock will not leave you stranded two months later when the batteries are dead and you cannot get into your nice home. With the advances in remote tech, like WiFi and Z-Wave, it's even more important to use a quality product.

Along with Kwikset and Schlage, we do sell and service security products from other well known names like Master, Yale, Best, Falcon, Medeco, CISA, LCN, Von Duprin, Monarch, Abus, Amsec, Gardall, Sentry, S&G, Kaba, La Gard, SecuRam, just to name a few.

When it comes to safes, we have a very similar situation. The safes sold at mass-merchant stores (this would also include Tractor Supply, Harbor Freight, Cal-Ranch, etc) come with big names like Winchester, Cannon, Liberty, etc but they are light-weight, poorly constructed and have cheap electronics that fail way too early. We run across these all the time. They are just garbage. So again, a real safe is going to cost more but it isn't going to leave you high and dry in an emergency. And it's going to be made in the US, or maybe Mexico or Canada.

So, Before you buy locks or a safe from a mass-merchant store, call us so we can give you better options. It just isn't worth the headache. To repeat and old adage, "Buyer beware".