In 1932, the Hilgren Family founded Weslock in California. Weslock was later merged with Western Lock Sales to form Weslock Lock Manufacturing. Weslock had always operated as a family owned business until 1960, when the company was sold to Tool Research Engineering. It was at this point that Weslock’s corporate owned phase began. During this phase, various large corporate owned companies such as ALCOA, Nalcor, Macklandburg-Duncan and Weslock Brand Company managed Weslock. Manufacturing operations were U.S. based until mid-1998 when Weslock Brand moved manufacturing operations to Mexico in order to be more competitive with other U.S. lock companies.
In November of 1998, a group of entrepreneurs from Tulsa, OK acquired Weslock and began its transition back to a family owned business. The entrepreneurs have been successful in the Oklahoma residential builders market and utilize Weslock locks in their own building related businesses. Weslock’s ownership is committed to the Weslock brand due to its superior cylindrical design and ease of installation.
This transition moved the company headquarters to Tulsa, OK where Weslock now operates and distributes under the name of Premiere Lock Company. In addition, the transition also included changing its manufacturing location, by making a strategic decision to cease manufacturing operations in Mexico and developed a relationship with multiple manufacturing facilities in Asia. This decision to relocate was made to improve quality and enable greater financial strength for servicing customers. As a result of these transitions, Weslock has been able to increase the breadth of its product lines from the 600 series and 400 series to include Molten Bronze, Elegance, Traditionale, Premiere Essentials, and our bath and cabinet hardware collections.
Through the years, Weslock has not compromised its product design or quality. As a note, Weslock’s high-end brass entry handle locksets have been sourced from Asia for many years. Weslock offers the only Grade II cylindrical door lock in the residential market, and continues to be recognized as the best builder lock. Weslock product features include all metal parts, ease of installation, panic proof privacy locking, concealed installation screws, removable knobs and levers, dual spindles and removable rosettes. Distributors favor Weslock products because of its ease of keying.
Weslock looks forward to many more years of future success as it continues to focus on offering superior quality products, world class customer service, at competitive price.