CONTROLTEK has recently announced the release of an electronic article surveillance (EAS) tag made specifically for small leather goods, reportedly the first of its kind. The self-alarming, tag dubbed the FlatGuard™, is slim enough to fit inside a wallet and other merchandise too small for classic EAS tags, yet still provides strong visual deterrence and a 90 dB anti-tampering alarm.
“Small leather goods are notoriously difficult to protect,” said Tom Meehan, CONTROLTEK’s chief strategy officer and chief information security officer. “They are easily removed off the shelves and hidden in pockets and under clothes. At CONTROLTEK, we thought it was about time someone tried to solve this problem, so we did it. Our new FlatGuard is exactly what the name says – a very flat tag that easily fits inside wallets, purses and similar merchandise. Since the tag is so slim, it does not detract from the shopping experience. Inside, it has both an EAS ferrite and an anti-tamper alarm. The FlatGuard is easy to place on merchandise – much like sliding a credit card in the wallet. It detaches with a magnetic detacher, and we made that process also quick and simple in order to make the cashier’s life easy.”
“In keeping with our customer-need-driven innovation process, we showed the prototypes of the FlatGuard to some of our retail partners at NRF PROTECT and got very positive feedback,” said Steve Sell, CONTROLTEK’s vice president of global sales and marketing. “The most common comment was that this is finally something original when it comes to tags, since there is really no other tag on the market with a similar design. The anti-tamper switch is so simple yet ingenious. And there are no pins, so no holes are poked in the merchandise. Best of all, we are able to produce the FlatGuard with high quality materials but still at a price point that makes sense.”
More information about the FlatGuard, along with pictures and a downloadable data sheet, can be obtained at CONTROLTEK’s website.