Security Locksmith expands to Cape Girardeau, growing a family business

Josh Holmes of Sikeston is only 39 years old, but he has already been in the locksmith business for a quarter of a century. Having operated a Security Locksmith and Door Service shop in Sikeston for several years, he has expanded north to Cape Girardeau.

His 340 N. Kingshighway location opened Feb. 10. The storefront is a near-exact recreation of his Sikeston store, with the same cash register, organization system and specifications.

“It took 10 times longer to do it that way because it’s basically cloning something that I built the first time in that location 10 years ago,” Holmes said.

The lock and door trade is a family business for him. When Holmes was a teenager, his father, David Holmes, acquired a gasoline and locksmithing store with his brother-in-law. He intended to operate the gas station portion alone. Two weeks later, the brother-in-law left, and David Holmes became a locksmith by default with no knowledge or experience in the craft.

“He has never, ever taken five minutes’ worth of classes, knowledge, anything else. He taught himself how to do it out of necessity,” his son said.

The elder Holmes taught himself the tricks of the trade. Before long, Josh Holmes, who had wanted to join the highway department, had to follow in his footsteps.

In March 2001, when his son was 14, David Holmes was robbed and shot at his locksmithing business. His assailant, Louis Mosby of Sikeston, was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

David Holmes survived, but during his recovery he needed his son to drive him to jobs. Josh Holmes started by helping out and slowly became more familiar with locksmithing, soon going to a trade school in Kentucky.

“By the time I went there, I was used to doing most of the things daily that they were teaching,” he said.

He had done jobs in Cape Girardeau over the years, but said many customers in the community preferred their own local locksmiths. Holmes acquired the inventory and phone number for a shuttering Cape Girardeau locksmith shop, Dan’s Key and Lock Shop, in the spring of 2024. He started work on his Kingshighway location over the winter, with its final layout closely matching his original sketch for the interior.

He employs a team of 10 between the two locations, and they work on hinges, thresholds, knobs, locks, weatherstripping, master keys and safes — most things door and key related — he said. In addition to selling products at the stores, the team also travels an area between St. Louis and Memphis, Tennessee, to perform home inspections and installations.

“What shocks me is how much customers are impressed by you simply showing up and doing what you say you’re going to do,” Holmes said.

When his father ran Security Locksmith, it was called Dave’s Security Locksmith. Josh Holmes did not want to add his name to the front of the company’s.

“I don’t want anyone to walk in and be like, ‘I have to see Josh or no one else knows what they’re doing,’” he said.

Instead, he said he wanted customers to feel like anyone can help them. In this regard, he aimed to make company procedures as efficient and streamlined as possible.

“I can put you behind that counter, and as long as you follow the script, you could work here pretty quickly,” Holmes said.

One difference between the Sikeston and Cape Girardeau stores is the large workroom in the back for use as a training space to teach newer employees the engineering behind being a locksmith. Holmes said he wants his son to eventually take over the business just as he took it over from his own father.

“I think it was huge for me to see at a young age how he (David Holmes) was beloved by so many people for something he didn’t actually know how to do,” he said.

Security Locksmith in Cape Girardeau is open 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Monday to Friday.

For more information, visit www.securitylocksmithshop.net.

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