About The Factory

Lawrence Douglas Schleter was born in Tiffin, Ohio after the 2nd World War. Larry is a baby boomer who first entered the sewing machine business as an adolescent working for Tom Saunders at the Tiffin Sewing Center in his hometown. He was trained to repair Bernina sewing machines and soon became very knowledgeable of the inner working of these technical machines. Larry soon found that he was a natural! As Larry flourished with his work he soon became a father for the first time at 19. Larry loved being a father and the strong bond of family and now has 6 great children. In 1966 Larry traveled to Florida with his family for vacation and fell in love with the place. It wasn’t long before Larry was packing the family and moving to sunny and beautiful Fort Lauderdale.. Larry’s boss Tom decided to establish his sewing machine business in South Florida around the same time and implemented his retirement strategy by assisting Larry in making the transition from Sales Manager to business owner.

The origins of the Factory name for Larry serve as an homage to his father Joseph Martin Schleter and his 40 years of service working in the factory for Sterling Grinding Wheels in Tiffin, Ohio. Today the Factory represents our commitment to “Factory Quality” and and our technical abilities when we say “Rebuilt by the Factory”. The Factory has always been a family oriented business with the personalized one on one attention that our customers deserve.

Pictured above: Jeff Momot/ Service Manager

Jeff Momot is our Factory Trained Service Manager with knowledge and expertise in all makes and models of vacuum cleaners and sewing machines and . Jeff is also very knowledgable with industrial sewing machines and sergers! Jeff has been with the Factory for 14 years and we hope to have him with us for many years to come!

If you have your problems with your sewing machine or vacuum cleaner send it to

The Factory Sew-Vac at:

6680 W. Lantana Road, Lake Worth, Florida

Tel: (561) 433-4011

The Factory Sew/Vac has more than 30 years of local experience with a reputation for providing quality sewing machines, vacuums, and repairs to loyal customers throughout Florida. Larry Schleter, founder of The Factory, and staff focus on providing unsurpassed quality craftsmanship and exceptional customer satisfaction. Choosing your sewing machine dealer wisely is as crucial as your investment, now more than ever. The Factory Sew Vac exceeds your expectations with extensive product knowledge and ongoing factory-certified training for service, repairs, and maintenance.

We provide hands-on, interactive product demonstrations so our customers feel confident and assured how to effectively use their products. We encourage customers to partake in continuing in-store classes in sewing, quilting, and embroidery procedures.

We stock sewing accessories such as thread, stabilizer, needles, feet, scissors and cutting tools, embroidery hoops, software and more.

The Factory Sew/Vac is an authorized Sewing Machine dealer for: Baby Lock, Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff, Necchi, White, Simplicity, Consew, Tacsew, Yamata and Singer Industrial. We stock Sewing Machines, Sergers , Embroidery machines, digitizing software and classes for all machines.

We are an authorized Vacuum Cleaner dealer for Hoover, Eureka, Sanitaire, Riccar, Sanyo, Panasonic and Bissell. We are the authorized Hoover and Bissell Service Center. We carry vacuum bags and belts for nearly every make and model vacuum cleaner.

We stock a variety of sewing machine and serger cabinets and tables as well as cutting tables, cutting mats, thread racks, and sewing chairs.