“I can do a lot of things,” says Pablo Astudillo, with a wry smile, “but I am not, technically, a locksmith.” It's a funny thing to hear from the owner of not one, but two locksmithing operations. Both Foothills Locksmiths and A1 Uptown Locksmiths operate out of an industrial condo in the Southbend Business Park, just off Deerfoot and Barlow Trails.
Pablo bought Foothills Locksmiths in 2002, when he retired after more than 20 years with the City of Calgary. Four years later, he took over A1 Uptown from its 82-year-old owner. He was smart enough to see value in the Uptown brand. Uptown was a franchise dealer for the Medeco line of high security locks, while Foothills had a similar arrangement withMul-T-Lock. Uptown also had an established list of over 1,000 happy customers.
“Anybody who’s worked here for any length of time has been somebody who is a team player,” says Megan McDougall, Foothills’ journeyman locksmith and one of only four employees. She is an unabashed fan of “the boss.” “He knows how to run a business and he knows how to hire people,” she boasts. “He is an excellent judge of character.”
