After opening its doors in January, Mount Rainier Clock Repair has been off to a busy first month of business in Yelm.
The new shop works on all sorts of clocks, which range from cuckoo to grandfather clocks, antiques to modern pieces, wall clocks and more.
Lance Howard, the owner of Mount Rainier Clock Repair, has been repairing clocks since 1977. Howard opened a nautical retail store in 1974, and three years later, he added a repair shop to his business. Howard began repairing and providing maintenance to clocks and nautical-related items.
With nearly 50 years of repair experience under his belt, Howard wanted to open a clock repair shop in Yelm after he relocated to the area. After nearly a year of searching, he eventually found his current Creek Street location.
“It’s a business that doesn’t exist. The industry has changed in a way where seniors are closing their shops to retire,” Howard said. “It’s leaving vast holes in the industry across the country and locally in the way of Lacey, Fife and Puyallup.”
Howard said he has no plans of quitting or retiring anytime soon as the industry continues to phase out.
Since opening its doors in January, Howard said people have brought in around 30 clocks in need of service to his business.
Some of his customers expressed the area needed a clock repair shop and Howard hopes more people will discover his shop.
“I’m lower priced than most people. I feel that it’s a service and I don’t want to get rich off of it,” Howard said. “Prices will be competitive, but I work on it all from grandfather clocks to cockoo clocks. I just want to help people that’ve been searching to get their clocks fixed.”
In the collection of items Howard is currently working on is a grandfather clock made in 1804. He also has smaller clocks available for purchase that date back to the 1940s and 1950s.
Howard also noted clock owners often forget the importance of cleaning and maintaining their clocks.
“If you have a car and you don’t change the oil in it for a while, what will happen? These clocks have small motors and they need maintenance, too,” Howard said. “What does everybody have that needs to be repaired? Everybody has a clock.”
The new clock repair business is located at 10501 Creek St. SE in Yelm.
For more information on Mount Rainier Clock Repair, call 253-345-0515.
