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Safe Measures -- New home or old, Flam's offers peace of mind
- By E.M. Fredric (Sherman Oaks Sun)

Getting the keys to a new home is a meaningful milestone and one of life’s great thrills. It signifies that the house is officially yours. You can begin to move in your family. Your precious possessions. Giddy with excitement, you’re anxious to give the tour of your new digs to family and friends.

So why isn’t it that one of the first things you do is toss that precious new key away and get a brand new key and new locks? “It’s not stupidity, it’s ignorance,” says Vikki Flam.

Without slipping into paranoia, home safety is something to consider when buying a new home … or shoring up a beloved old home. Whether it be immediately getting new locks on your recently purchased homes or doing a safety check on doors and windows you’ve had for years, safety should be a priority – well above painting, decorating and landscaping.

Education on affordable, intelligent precautions to mitigate crime is why Flam's Key Service has been “the” key service with expertise in commercial, residential and now mailbox security in the Valley for 53 years. Recently relocated with a state-of-the-art showroom, Flam’s sees your security beyond the lock; they see the door as a whole and educate their clientele on the smartest approach to prevent break-ins, keeping in mind your safety needs and finances. Your home need not be Fort Knox – nor do you need all that gold to be able to afford to sleep securely. Flam’s offers both an education and eye-opener on how simply you can protect you and your loved ones. And in the process, you experience three generations of knowledge.

Fifth generation LA native Vikki Flam is as engaging as she is articulate. Flam’s was originally owned by her husband Frank’s father, Samuel. “His dad was ready to give up the business after Frank’s mom died,” she says. “Frank grew up as an apprentice under the quiet morals of his father’s precision and took over the business in the early 1980’s. He was taught more than the tricks of the trade -- any person can go to a locksmith school and put up a mobile sign or drive-by one stop station. His father instilled the ethical standards that have made this store predominant in Studio City, Sherman Oaks and known throughout the Valley. Even the LAPD at a Home Owners Association meeting told the audience he’d never heard a locksmith give a talk as Jack (Frank’s nickname) had with regard to his expertise in safety.”

With safety in numbers and comfort in family ties, daughter Juli works in the store as well, while son Jamie is giving comedy a whirl in San Francisco.

A veritable valley icon, Flam’s originated as a tiny little store on Ventura. “Historically, the elder neighbors know that Flam’s and Eddie’s Shoe Store were the only original stores left on Ventura Boulevard. We’ve literally had customers come in and say, they actually went to a small key kiosk and asked where we are! We’re family to our customers and they are to us.”

Their longevity is due to their ability to keep up with security trends – and customer care. “Some of the older clients get forgetful or paranoid so we’ll keep a copy of their key in our safe, talk to the family and let them know what’s going on and rather than keep recharging them, we send out one of the guys to open their door for them.”

With a wealth of knowledge and experience, Flam’s offers full-service commercial and residential security, including decorative and standard security hardware, safes, remote gate openers and electronic access systems. They also specialize in combination changes and, naturally, key duplication. When buying a new home, Flam stresses, it’s imperative to re-key the house. “You don’t know who has keys to the house,” she says. Over the years, housekeepers, babysitters, dog sitters, house sitters, plant caretakers, handymen and the like may have had their own key to your home. There are no guarantees that all keys issued to your home are accounted for. Flam says that a minimum of just $15 per cylinder plus service call can provide for that very basic safety measure of changing locks. Further measures, such as Interlock – preventing the door from being pried open – offer additional safety precautions. “It’s not very neighborly,” says Flam, “but the goal of security to send the person wanting to break into your home down the street instead.”

Flam’s Key Service is new location is at 4545 Van Nuys Blvd. (across from Gelson’s) (818) 789-5024. Web site for mailboxes is: www.deltamailbox.com and a web site is in the works for the store.

E.M. Fredric is a writer, actress and poet. She studied and performed in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. She’s written, acted and produced for the theater and written and acted for both TV and film. She serves on the Board of Directors for ISFFH, (International Student Film Festival Hollywood) and may be reached by email at emfredic@aol.com or visit her web site at thekeeperofdreams.com

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