Sense Technologies - GuardianAlert and ScopeOut Backup Safety Systems

Betty Beard
The Arizona Republic
Oct. 12, 2005 12:00 AM

An Ahwatukee Foothills man who invented a special set of vehicle mirrors designed to reduce blind spots is finally about to see his product show up in stores.

All the Fry's Marketplace stores and some Ace Hardware stores are expected to begin selling the ScopeOut mirrors designed by Lowell Martinson by the end of the month. The product is being introduced in Arizona first before it goes to other states.

"Once it is in the stores, I think it is going to be a great feeling," he said. "It's just getting to that point."

The mirrors are designed to help motorists get a better look at what is behind them, such as walls, trees, fences, mailboxes and especially children who dart in behind a vehicle.

The mirrors for a car sit on the trunk and for a SUV, minivan or other large vehicle, on the inside near the rear side windows.

Martinson spent about four years developing his product before taking it to a manufacturer. He is now working as sales and marketing director for the manufacturer, Sense Technologies Inc., of Grand Island, Neb.

He has learned that to offer a product to a store, sometimes he can go to one buyer, such as the one representing the Fry's stores. But because the Ace Hardware stores are individually owned, he has to go to the owner of each store.

The product will be sold at the Foothills Ace Hardware store at Chandler Boulevard and Desert Foothills Parkway, as well as the Fry's Marketplace at Chandler Boulevard and 40th Street, Martinson said.

Tom Bechtel, an owner of the Ace store, said that he expects to get the mirrors in two weeks and that he has already begun getting inquiries from homeowners.

"We'll have the retail display right at the front of the store," he said.

The suggested retail price is $99.95 for the SUV model and $89.95 for the car model.