Local couple also has plans for a Mukwonago location
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Area residents who’ve cracked their cell phone screens, need a key fob replacement for their vehicles, or struggle to find batteries for electronic components now have a specialty store to turn to with the opening of Batteries Plus in Burlington.
Batteries Plus, founded in 1988 with a headquarters in Hartland, is among the leading retailers in batteries, specialty light bulbs and phone repair services for direct-to-consumer commercial channels.
Beth Stowell Reed, co-owner of Batteries Plus with husband, Joseph Szymanski, said the couple spent weeks stocking shelves and setting up the store at 1106 Milwaukee Avenue in Fox River Plaza preparing for Monday’s opening.
“We are excited to have the store open and we are excited that we have had customers already stopping in this week because we have been in here,” Stowell Reed said on Oct. 7.
Stowell Reed returns to her hometown of Burlington after spending years living in Milwaukee-area.
The Burlington native, and now resident, graduated from Burlington High School in 1995 and felt drawn to reunite with her community.
“My parents own businesses in town. My sister has a catering business,” she said. “My mom and dad both grew up here, so my mom’s family has a farm over in Dover. I think it was just the right time to come back home and be a part of the community.”
A battery background
Stowell Reed said the idea of opening up a Batteries Plus franchise came from her husband.
“Joe actually found the opportunity. He had been working in manufacturing – he worked for a battery manufacturer just prior to this – so he has always been looking to open up his business and had been researching franchise opportunities,” she said.
At the time Stowell Reed wanted to learn more about Batteries Plus because she has experience working in the financial services industry.
“I said, ‘Tell me more about it’ because it was more in his wheelhouse,” she said. “The big surprising thing was the phone repair.”
Szymanski, a U.S. Army veteran and former Air Marshal, had worked in manufacturing for a battery maker prior to open Batteries Plus.
“He liked what Batteries Plus had to offer. He also likes technology,” Stowell Reed.
Szymanski, who grew up in the Milwaukee-area, found Batteries Plus as an ideal business opportunity because of his background and passion for serving the community.
“This is right up my alley, both from a batteries standpoint, and technology standpoint,” he said. “I was in the U.S. Army for three years. Shortly after 9/11 happened, I joined up to be an Air Marshal.”
“One of my things is to serve so this just another opportunity,” Szymanski added.
Variety of services
Batteries Plus in Burlington, like other franchise locations, will provide customers with products and services to keep their homes, businesses, phones, tablets and vehicles running.
Services include free car battery testing and installations on most vehicles, phone and tablet screen repair and battery replacement and key fob programming.
Additionally, according to a news release on the opening, the store will offer products ranging from automotive batteries, alkaline batteries, chargers, generators, and phone accessories as well as batteries for medical devices, hearing aids and power tools.
“Batteries Plus is one of those opportunities where there is a battery for almost everything, whether it is a cell phone, a scissor lift, a golf cart,” Szymanski said. “What people don’t know is Batteries Plus does cell phone (accessory) replacement such as cracked screens and bad batteries.”
Burlington, however, isn’t the only place Szymanski and Stowell Reed plan to open a Batteries Plus franchise.
Stowell Reed said she and her husband also were awarded a franchise in Mukwonago.
She anticipates opening the Mukwonago store between July-September of 2022.
“We have been awarded the opportunity by Batteries Plus for Burlington and Mukwonago, but we wanted to start in Burlington, since Burlington is my home,” Stowell Reed said.
To read the entire story see the Oct. 14 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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