Being at show is next step for blade sharpening business SB Sharpening is carefully grown by Brooks couple

By Cal Bratt

For the

Tribune

FERNDALE — Toni and Wayne Brooks wanted to build their new business carefully and not make mistakes.

So in four years of owning SB Sharpening, based on Paradise Road, Ferndale, they have quietly taken deliberate steps in training, pricing and customer service to make sure it all measures up to high standards.

They didn’t advertise much, instead relying on word-of-mouth endorsement of the blade sharpening business.

They decided to be at the Lynden dog show for two days, out of which came $2,500 of business.

They realized they really had a service in demand and only needed to ramp up their visibility.

And so SB Sharpening will be at the Whatcom County Home Show for the first time ever and see what comes of it.

“There’s no sharpener like us in Whatcom County that does everything,” Toni said.

That “everything” is true, meaning blade sharpening for professional tailoring and cosmetology services, for restaurants and on to animal grooming shears of all kinds and the yard tools that dig into the soil. The website, sbsharpeningbybrooks.com, details it all.

Toni is the main face of the business for now, as Wayne continues to finish out a career in the oil refining industry. They may be able to build SB Sharpening even more in his retirement.

They have created a 40-by-60-foot shop building at home with ample work space for the future. They have added a sharp-looking trailer that advertises the business as it goes around to wherever, and “we sharpen right there,” Toni said. She is building relationships with business clientele.

A year ago, the couple went to a weeklong training conference in Georgia earning them certification in the blade sharp- ening field.

These folks are solidly rooted. The Brooks household has raised seven children plus helped some foster kids. Toni says the goal was to “stay local and try to build a business here.”

Beyond the sharpening main component of the business, the couple also offers sales of certain high-quality blades and shears and the protective storage and sheaths for sharpened blades.

Items that need sharpening can also be dropped off at 1293 Paradise Road by using prior online check-in. Reach Toni directly at 360-820-3474.

For more information, visit sbsharpeningbybrooks.com.

Visit SB Sharpening at the Whatcom County Home and Garden Show®, April 28-30.

The wellequipped trailer of Wayne and Toni Brooks includes an all-automatic blade sharpening machine, right. The trailer is ready to go wherever there is business to be done. (Cal Bratt for the Tribune)