(913) 651-5625Biringers opened in 1859 in the first city of Kansas – Leavenworth. John Biringer was a trained Gunsmith and opened his first shop a stones throw from the Missouri river where he stepped off the river boat with his wife. They rebuilt the store twice after fires, and raised 12 children. As the early days of the state of Kansas passed and the city grew, there was a need for more services than a gunsmith. People began to come for keys and lock repair.
Over 165 years Biringers has transitioned and transformed to fill a niche needed by the local community. In 1902 a young Hoyt Buck was working in the shop as a helper in his early teens. He took some old worn out files and created the first Buck knife with the forge and shop tools. In 2009 Chuck Buck returned to Leavenworth to make a limited number of knives from pieces of the original flooring, calling the model “First Shop” 150 year anniversary. That Buck knife history will forever be tied to Biringers. In the early days of the 20th century they began selling “motorized machines” or as we call them now motorcycles. Biringers installed the first gas pump in Leavenworth to fuel those Harley Davidson and Indian motorcycles. Through much of the shop’s history, many Schwinn bicycles walked out the front door. Biringers was the oldest dealer and repair shop for Schwinn west of the Mississippi right up until the early 1990s when Schwinn demanded all their dealers sell exercise equipment alongside bicycles. People still tell me the story of their first bicycle coming from my store. I have a picture of John Biringer somewhere around 1910 with a Schwinn bicycle hanging from the ceiling right above the stovetop pipe stove.
Over the years they sold seed, violin strings, Lawn Boy lawn mowers, sporting goods, loads of handmade ammunition, and even custom Biringer rifles (One is on display in the Kanas museum of history in Topeka).We engraved trophies and awards and of course made thousands of keys, and repaired and sold a multitude of locks. We continue today as the local provider of premium locksmith service in the area. We specialize in Automotive keys (lost and spares), commercial hardware and master key systems, safe opening and repair, residential rekeying and most every other skill associated with locksmithing. We look forward to serving you today, and tomorrow. Relationships matter, our history tells a story of longevity and resilience.