Harlan Hartstein keeps family scrap metal business going

Aluminum shavings, looking like several season’s worth of leftover Christmas tinsel, collect in enormous mounds at Wichita Iron and Metal.

A tornado’s worth of twisted aluminum guttering and siding sit in piles across the drive. Soda cans compressed into giant bricks are stacked to form a wall.

It has been home for Harlan Hartstein since 1957, when his father, Kenneth Hartstein, started the scrap yard along the railroad tracks a block southeast of Harry and Seneca.

Today, hidden from view by buildings, it contains enormous piles of aluminum in various shapes, grades and alloys; large boxes of brass shell casings; copper pipes; car radiators; titanium parts; and so much more.

Harlan Hartstein, 66, short, wiry and lively, wears a pistol at his side that he said he has never had to draw. He has made a good living buying and selling scrap.

He specializes in metals other than iron. He discourages people from bringing in the cars and appliances that other yards desire.

Instead, he buys the more expensive, nonferrous metals. He buys from Spirit AeroSystems, Textron Aircraft and the city of Wichita, and he buys from homeless can collectors. Scores of machine shops around town throw their waste metal into his containers. Prices are updated every 20 minutes.

“I love it,” he said of the business. “I consider myself an entrepreneur – my wife says I’m a ‘preneur’ of some sort – and I love buying and selling, and this place brings plenty of opportunity to buy and sell.”

All of that metal used to go to mills to be melted down, but not so much these days.

Demand for metals of all kinds are way down, so prices are way down. China’s economic slowdown has meant it is no longer vacuuming up the world’s surplus industrial input.

Copper that was $4.50 a pound in 2011 is now closer to $2.50 a pound. It has caused a lot of pain in the scrap industry, because it means lower volumes and lower margins – and it certainly hurts those who contribute the scrap.

But Hartstein isn’t particularly sad about it. He said he has seen this a dozen times before and that this is a buying opportunity. His packed yard is his bank; he’s just waiting for the day when prices head back up.

“If you see $4 (per pound) copper, this yard will be empty,” he said. “You can play football here.

“Until then, I sell enough to pay the bills, and I wait.”

His wife, Bonnie, the company president, works in the company office, where a large drawing of Kenneth Hartstein keeps the employees company. She said her husband likes the work, but it’s more than that.

“His dad built it from scratch, and he’s paying tribute to his dad by keeping the business going,” she said.

Hartstein acknowledged that, but after working six days a week for decades, he’s ready to dial back. Four years ago, he hired Adrian Rogers as director of operations to take over some of the day-to-day operations.

“I’ve been here since 1957,” he said. “I don’t want to die here.”

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 6:43 PM with the headline "Harlan Hartstein keeps family scrap metal business going."