Selling cellphones a family business for the Swackhammers
Editor’s note: Building the Valley tells stories of businesses big and small and the employees who make them special. If you know of any standout employees, bosses or companies with a great story to tell, contact reporter Madasyn Czebiniak at mczebiniak@tribweb.com.
Separating work and family matters, knowing how to communicate and deal with conflict and not taking things personally are keys to success for the Swackhammers, a Butler County father-and-son trio who together operate more than a dozen Verizon stores across the country.
Jeff Swackhammer Jr., 34, of Middlesex Township runs JAS Technology with his brother Tim Swackhammer and their father Jeff Swackhammer Sr.
A franchisee of Wireless Zone, the business sells cellphones, plans and other similar products and does basic, in-store repairs. It operates 16 stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida. The latest store opened earlier this month in Oakmont.
“We get along actually really well, but in business there’s always going to be differing opinions, different plans of attack,” said Jeff Swackhammer Jr. “If we have a disagreement at work about how something should be administered, it doesn’t carry over to my son’s birthday party later that day.”
When Jeff Swackhammer Sr. opened the family’s first store in North Fayette 14 years ago, he never thought the business could become a legacy for his family. Watching his sons grow up and seeing them evolve from employees just working for a paycheck to thinking about the business and ways to improve it changed his mind.
“In the beginning, to be honest … I couldn’t even imagine working with them. I had a hard enough time raising them,” Jeff Swackhammer Sr. said.
Jeff Swackhammer Jr. worked at the North Fayette store part-time during college and graduate school. That store closed seven years ago.
Jeff Swackhammer Sr. said his sons have produced and trained good salespeople, which has led to more sales and income for the business.
“My kids are great, responsible business owners. I can live in Florida half the year and not have to worry about the business,” he said.
The family opened a store in Oakmont because they saw the need for one. The store is the only cellphone retailer in the borough.
“Verizon has a strong presence in the community here, and there’s really not much on this side of the river servicing the customers,” Jeff Swackhammer Jr. said. “I think we’re going to really be able to help the different people, individuals and businesses in Oakmont connect in a different way.”
Jeff Swackhammer Sr. has hopes the business will continue to be successful, but he doesn’t know what is on the horizon because the cellphone industry is constantly evolving.
“In this business if you’re not willing to change you’re out of business because things change drastically,” he said.
Jeff Swackhammer Jr. said such changes can be seen within their own stores, from the way they sell products to the layouts of the stores.
Ten years ago, roughly 1% of their customers would buy some kind of smartphone device, he said. Today, their stores only sell a “handful” of basic phones. A decade ago, a cellphone would cost about $300. Now, a high-end iPhone can cost anywhere from $1,300 to $1,400.
The stores also sell ancillary products that didn’t even exist five years ago, such as mobile routers that provide Wi-Fi for devices, he said.
“The product lines have changed in the sense of pretty much everything,” Jeff Swackhammer Jr. said.
Madasyn Czebiniak is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Madasyn at 724-226-4702, mczebiniak@tribweb.com or via Twitter .
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