Local Company Gets a Grip on Decorative Hardware

Guest article by Sam Small

What do you handle most in your home? (Hint: the answer’s in the question.) Jonathan Hiebert, founder and mastermind of Austin’s Push Pull Open Close, thinks you should take another look at the handles in your house.

“Cabinet knobs and door knobs are the point of contact between you and your environment,” says Hiebert. “And it’s that point of contact which unites a person with their home. Every structure has a voice, and every person who lives in that structure has a voice. I believe that cabinet hardware helps bring those voices into accord.”

A Mobile Hardware Store?

We know Austin is a booming, contemporary town. And Hiebert has been busy all over it. Trying to keep to a 50-mile radius, he visits homes from San Antonio up to Georgetown, and as far east as Houston.

That’s a lot of traveling, but for Hiebert, it’s the only way. He believes in meeting face-to-face and having a real conversation. Perhaps the most important part of Push Pull Open Close is the ability to bring the entire store to the customer’s home. Think of it as a mobile decorative hardware store, with over 3,000 items in Hiebert’s van.

Anything and everything in your house can affect knob and handle choices. Think about your floor, lighting, backsplash, cabinet profile, ceiling height and twenty other things. “A poorly lit store cannot compete with that,”Hiebert points out. It’s best to make selections where they’ll be utilized.

Path to Hardware Glory

How on earth did Hiebert become the knob champion of the open road? “I have a degree in costume design and technical theatre,” he says with a smile. “But I wasn’t prepared to move to the east or west coast, so I stayed in the area and did jobs like carpenter’s assistant and other building trade jobs. I needed work, so a friend got me into a decorative hardware store on 35th Street in Austin. I dusted shelves and carried packages for ladies. By and by, people either left or were fired. After four years I found myself managing the store. I then realized I had a real affinity with decorative hardware.”

The Knob-Father

Guess who’s at the head office in deep south Austin, while Hiebert is on the road? None other than his father. “My first level is to process all the orders as they come in,” says Arlis Hiebert, the family patriarch. “I correctly label them so that they can go out to the right home and be properly installed. Secondly, I do anything that might help the company flourish and grow.”

“My father is known to many of the customers as the most charming, affable and courteous gentleman they have ever met,” notes Jonathan Hiebert. “He will certainly be our brand ambassador in the very near future.”

Brother Jay Hiebert does all the number-crunching, accounting and associated mathematics in the office. “I handle finance and strategic planning, supporting Jonathan and finding ways to expand our customer base,” says Jay. “We are on the cusp of expanding with more trucks and more consultants.”

It’s so nice to experience a small Austin company staffed by a local family who understands their fellow citizens. Push Pull Open Close is a delightful combination of profit-based free enterprise and a genuine desire to provide a community service that can enhance Austinites’ lives.

For more information, visit the Push Pull Open Close website.

 

@theAustinot wants to know: 

Do you have a handle on decorative hardware in your home?

 

Sam Small and his wife made the permanent move from London to Austin in 2014. Sam is a writer of songs, articles and screenplays and also runs a small recording studio in south Austin.