Escort Inc. provides laser and radar-related products, as well as GPS systems, for a number applications.

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After Cincinnati Microwave (CMI) Inc. declared bankruptcy, its 12-year executive, Greg Blair, teamed up with financial partner Matt Coleman and purchased the Escort Radar Detector Brand and its assets from it in April 1997.

Blair, a seasoned executive who had worked at Proctor and Gamble for 15 years before joining CMI, says his first move was to hand pick key personnel from CMI to help build what is now known as Escort Inc.  

The company is based in West Chester, Ohio, and primarily provides laser and radar-related products. It recently expanded its radar line to add GPS capabilities and new features for radar and laser detection. “We’re the industry leader and our vision is to use innovation and engineering excellence to maintain that leadership,” he says.

Solid Business Model
Blair immediately put an intense focus on minimizing the company’s overhead to drive profitability, he says. He purchased assets from CMI “for pennies on the dollar” to set up the infrastructure. Escort Inc. was profitable in its first month of operation, according to Blair.

Its core business principles, still in practice today, drove its early success. For example:
•    A strong focus on innovation and engineering expertise. “It all starts with the customer; and to provide the customer the industry’s best products you must be a leader in innovation and engineering expertise,” Blair says.  

•    A business approach designed to deliver long-term profitability to Escort and its partners.  “Profitable partners are successful partners,” Blair says. “We win together.”

•    A clear vision for the brand.  “We aren’t looking to sell low end $79 radar detectors,” Blair says. “Escort’s vision today is the same as it was in the beginning:  To provide the industry’s finest high-end radar/laser detectors period.  We will not sell a sub-par product.”  

Purchasing a Key Competitor
After three years of success, Escort purchased Beltronics, its top competitor, after it filed for bankruptcy. The partnership was “a match made in heaven,” Blair says. The manufacturing processes for both brands were consolidated into Canada at Beltronics’ facility.  Escort’s facility in West Chester, Ohio, now focused on national distribution, servicing products and quality control of final products.

On the product side, the best of both companies were combined to create the Passport 8500, Blair says. Bel brought great performance on radar detection sensitivity and Escort had the industry-leading consumer interface. “Putting the two together created a product that would lead Escort to great success in years to come,” he says.

There was also “great synergy” on the distribution side, Blair says. Escort had focused on a direct sale model and was expanding to some key retail outlets, while Beltronics had very broad distribution through many channels.  “Distribution was optimized across both brands and both the Bel and Escort are prospering as high end brands in the category,” Blair says.

PASSPORT 9500
In 2007, Escort enjoyed sales and profit growth for the 10th year in a row and was awarded Popular Mechanics Editors Choice Award in 2007 for its product, the Passport 9500i.  According to Blair, this product has revolutionized the detector industry for windshield mount units by integrating GPS functionality to lock out false signals, while offering industry leading radar and laser detection capability.

“The success of the 9500i has lead Escort to records for both sales and profits in 2007” Blair says.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Escort introduced the custom installed PASSPORT 9500, which Blair calls the “Mack Daddy” of radar/laser defense systems. The GPS powered custom installed radar and laser defense system offers unsurpassed detection capability, speed sensitive range adaptation, the ability to automatically learn and silence routine false locations, and provides a database of both speed cameras and red light cameras across the country.

‘Bread and Butter’
Escorts direct sales model allows employees just 50 feet away from Blair and Escort’s executive team to speak directly with the users of its products. “In terms of future ideas, we use our direct contact with customers in our call center to identify what our customers want,” Blair says. “It’s a huge asset and has played a critical role in developing our award winning products.”

The company strives to establish good relationships with its customers and is one of the top suppliers to Circuit City and Best Buy. “When they order, we ship accurately and on time,” Blair says. “We’re a firm believer in excellence. Retail outlets on the supply side count on us being there.”  

The company focuses on increasing sales for our retail partners, he adds. “We don’t believe in pushing [merchandise] out of our warehouses just to put it into a retail partner’s inventory,” he says. “We work on merchandising point of sale displays and we heavily support sales training for floor sales people.”

The “bread and butter” of its customer base are males ages 30 and up who have average incomes exceeding $100,000.  “These are well educated people who understand that more traffic tickets are written each year, and in many cases to fund projects for local municipalities.”

The economics of receiving a ticket and the associated insurance rate increases more than justifies the purchase of a high-end radar detector, Blair adds.
 
Expecting Tremendous Success        
In June 2007, Escort hired John Larson, an executive from General Motors, to serve as its president and COO and ultimately take over Blair’s role as CEO. “I had a great 21-year career at GM, but the chance to run a company like Escort was a great opportunity,” Larson said.  

According to Larson, his initial introduction to Blair and the senior leadership team swayed his decision to take the opportunity with Escort. “Greg and I share the same business goals and approach to running a business, that has made the transition smooth,” he says.  “I may never be able to acquire the tremendous knowledge and history that Greg has in this industry, but I am confident that Escort’s senior leadership team and I will take this company forward with tremendous success.”