CITY FOCUS:Just let the pros handle it

If you wished you could rent a husband for a day to take care of all the chores on your “Honey-Do” list, there is a service in town that can actually do that.

Rent-a-Husband, a national handyman service, is offering up its “husbands” at the Crown Ace hardware store on Adams Avenue. Although its service is pricey, the Maine-based company promises to be a one-stop shop for home repairs — and to listen quietly and be a sounding board for wives, said Patrick Turner, the local “husband” available at the Ace store.

Rent-a-Husband opened its first California operation in Huntington Beach on Wednesday as part of a partnership deal with Ace hardware. The store conducted home improvement demonstrations as a promotional effort on Oct. 27 and 28 with Rent-a-Husband Chief Executive Kaile Warren Jr.

Warren is the resident handyman on CBS’ “The Early Show” and a three-time guest on Oprah Winfrey’s TV show, where he offered advice on home maintenance.

The response over the weekend was overwhelming, Ace store officials said. About 15 people have signed up to get jobs done, including painting, cleaning windows and doors, replacing windows or doors, hanging shelves for books, gutter cleaning and other services.

The company chose Huntington Beach because “Huntington Beach demographics support what we were looking for,” Warren said. Ace store officials said many customers had been asking for help with their home needs and they realized the handyman service would be a perfect fit.

“People maintain their cars and service them,” said Robert Mickelson, spokesman for Rent-a-Husband. “They need to do the same thing to keep their house in order.”

Warren compares handymen’s work to maintain a home to that of a doctor or a teacher.

“People don’t have the tools, the time and the talent to maintain their homes,” he said. “As a last resort, they take a wild guess and call someone from the phone book.”

“If your husband doesn’t do it, you just have to rent a husband to do the things on your ‘Honey-Do’ list,” Mickelson added.

With a large retired community in the city, a lot of people want such a service, said Pete Cavello, Ace store manager.

“Do-it-for-me” homeowners make up about 20% of all U.S. households, said David Sonnen, Ace corporate manager, referring to a McKinsey Consulting Group study on the handyman industry. The “Do-it-for-me” market is growing at 11%, compared to the 4% decrease in the number of people who believe in “Do-it-yourself.”

Warren believes a nationally recognized brand name in the handyman industry will help Rent-a-Husband capture a big slice of the $50-billion market.

“Customers don’t have a way of getting consistent service that is safe and professional,” he said.

There are about 4,500 Rent-a-Husband franchises across the country and about 1,100 are at Ace hardware stores.

The company offers a free home assessment and charges by the hour for services rendered.

Warren called the $85 per-hour rate economical.

“Home repairs cost 10 times more than what it takes for home maintenance,” he said.

And then there is the loss in value of a home that directly affects people.

“People’s retirement and investment is tied to their home,” he said.