$25 gizmo fits any sliding door or window
Gillian Shaw
Sun
Robert Allen was working on his two jobs as a journeyman carpenter and a deputy fire chief when he stumbled across a home security idea that has catapulted his company’s flagship product onto the shelves of Wal-Mart.
Driving away from work on a housing development, Allen could easily see which patio windows were unlocked. Since sliding windows and doors are a favoured entry point for thieves, he decided to come up with a new twist on the old trick of protecting homes with a stick jammed in a door’s sliding tracks
The result is the Window Stick, a $25 gizmo that can be made to fit any size sliding door or window even allowing them to be left open a few inches. It jams the door and scares off intruders who try to dislodge it by emitting a piercing alarm.
It has proven its worth.
A Chilliwack couple Joanne and Robert Field woke up to the alarm one night and found a thief trying to get into their bedroom through the sliding glass door.
The thief had already reached a hand in to turn off the security light that was supposed to warn away intruders and was preparing to push the door open enough to slip in when the noise scared him off.
The Fields like to leave the sliding door slightly open when they are sleeping and when they saw the Window Stick at the home show, they decided to try it out. It was barely three months later when the Stick was put to the test.
Police tried to track the would-be thief with a dog but he escaped. A neighbor’s SUV was broken into the same night.
Allen has given up his day job as a firefighter in Errington, just west of Parksville on Vancouver Island, sold his carpentry business and mortgaged his Vancouver Island home to pursue his venture.
A recent test market with Wal-Mart was so successful that the retail giant is selling the Window Stick across Canada. The first order went out the week before last and Allen has high hopes for sales.
“We did a five store test market on Vancouver Island and sales were a lot higher than projected,” he said.
With the vast majority of windows in North America of the slider type, Allen expects demand will only climb. The Window Stick is adjustable and doesn’t require any tools for installation. It operates on a mini-12-volt battery, the same type used in garage door openers and Allen recommends they be tested annually, just as you would test smoke alarms.
So far his three-person company — that includes his wife Jackie and a business partner Ray Therrien — have 10,000 Window Sticks in their inventory. Manufacturing now takes place in China.
“We tried for a year-and-a-half to manufacture in North America but we couldn’t get the cost down,” said Allen. “We tried locally, we tried the U.S., we tried Mexico.
“We just could not compete. It would have been at least double the cost; it would have been a $56 product in Canada.”
The Window Stick comes in two sizes, at the same price of $29.95 on the www.windowstick.com Web site which includes shipping, for both sizes. In Wal-Mart stores, the price is $24.78.
Like any business start up, it’s a bit of a gamble and while the future is looking rosy for the Window Stick, Allen isn’t taking it for granted.
“So far it has been great, the support and response has been just fantastic. Now we just have to get it out there so people will have the opportunity to protect their homes and their families.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2006