The History of Magnolia Park Lock Shop

In 1932, the year Al Capone began serving his prison sentence for tax evasion, the FBI Crime Lab opened, and the Dow Jones reached its lowest point of the Great Depression, a man named Utley opened Utley's Lock Shop in Burbank, California.

All we know today of Mr. Utley is his last name. His work tells us more. He saw that it was the right time to help people keep a growing number of burglars out, and he took the risk of opening a business in the middle of the Depression. The shop succeeded, and his name is still with us: original key blanks stamped with the Utley name remain part of our stock. The shop started on Burbank Boulevard and changed locations and owners several times over the decades that followed.

After 17 years, Mr. Utley sold the shop in 1949 to Walter H. Kaup. Walt and his wife had retired to California from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He had formerly owned the Schwinn Bicycle Company and was a founding member of the American Motorcycling Association, holding membership card number 0001. Walt moved the shop to the Arcade in the Magnolia Park neighborhood of Burbank, and he renamed it Magnolia Park Lock Shop because its initials, MPLS, matched those of his hometown.

In January 1961, Walt sold the shop to George Deahl, who left his job as plant superintendent at Photo-Sonics, Inc. in Burbank to run it. With his wife and children working alongside him, the Deahl family ran MPLS for 32 years and built a loyal following of customers who came back for the quality of the work.

In 1993, after a long search for someone who would carry on the shop's tradition of quality and integrity, the Deahl family chose Ara Manoogian, a locksmith with nine years of experience. Ara was then working for a CCTV manufacturer developing infrared illumination devices, work for which he was awarded a U.S. patent. Rose Deahl, George's widow, stayed on for a time to help with the transition, and Ara and his family, including his father Evan, a retired building contractor and seismic engineer, carried the business forward.

Today Magnolia Park Lock Shop is the oldest locksmith shop in the San Fernando Valley, celebrating 94 years of service built on the foundation Mr. Utley laid in 1932.

Owners through the years

• 1932Mr. Utley opens Utley's Lock Shop in Burbank
• 1949Walt Kaup buys the shop and renames it Magnolia Park Lock Shop
• 1961George Deahl and family take over and run the shop for 32 years
• 1993Ara Manoogian and family carry MPLS forward