Scientist opens battery store in Mt. Prospect

Leo Frederick of Wheeling had expected to retire from his job as a research scientist at G.D. Searle in Skokie where he'd spent 25 years testing drugs that would help people with irregular heart beats.

But in 2003, at age 53 and a few years short of retirement, Frederick heard the two words that strike fear in the heart of many 50-somethings: severance package.

Too young to retire but too old to find a similar job --employers tend to prefer to hire less-experienced people at lower salaries -- Frederick found his life plan had changed.

"I always thought I'd retire from the pharmaceutical industry," he said.

After a few years of wandering the job market, Frederick said he's found his perfect fit as owner of Batteries Plus, 1212 E. Central Road in Mount Prospect.

Now, he and his buddy, 65-year-old Osman Suleymanov of Arlington Heights, also a former G.D. Searle research scientist, are helping the area meet its battery needs.

Suleymanov was retired when he got a call from Frederick a few months ago, asking if he wanted to join his business endeavor. He now works there about 30 hours a week as a sales associate.

"My wife wanted me out of the house, so I figured why not," said Suleymanov, who was spent 35 years testing drugs for hypertension.

Palatine mechanic Glenn Palomeno rounds out the store's employee roster.

Frederick said he's filled some interesting orders.

Just recently, village of Mount Prospect employees came in with an odd, oblong battery for an old water meter. Lacking an off-the-shelf replacement, Frederick and his team were able to build a battery pack for the meter at the store's tech center.

That's part of what the store does -- building battery packs, he said.

If someone has a cordless drill but the battery isn't keeping a charge, Frederick and his employees can make a battery pack instead of having the customer buy a new one, which costs more, he said.

The store also offers a wide variety of batteries for autos, cell phones, watches, camcorders, wheel chairs and laptop computers.

If the store doesn't have a battery, it can order it.

Frederick also recycles batteries free of charge when a customer drops them off. Dumping a battery in the garbage is bad for the environment, he said.

Frederick was born in the Caribbean, but grew up in London. He graduated from the University of Virgin Islands with a degree in biology and got a master's in the subject from Tuskegee University in Alabama.

After he was given a Searle severance package, he worked as a substitute teacher at Buffalo Grove, Prospect and Wheeling high schools.

Then he worked for about a year at Abbott Laboratories, approving science reports for technical journals until he decided he wanted to do something else.

That's when he found the Batteries Plus franchise, which he opened Nov. 7.

"This is a good fit for me," Frederick said. "Batteries is chemistry, so it's still science."

Airborne batteries

Batteries Plus is spreading the word about new rules regarding air travel.

• Spare batteries must be packed in carry-on luggage and not checked.

• Batteries carried onto passenger airplanes must be stored in their original packaging or a sealable plastic bag. Batteries must be stored separately in travel cases or with tape on top and bottom contacts to prevent accidents.

• The transportation of lithium-ion batteries above a certain lithium-ion content is prohibited. Lithium-ion batteries are commonly found in portable electronic devices.

Source: Batteries Plus