Category: News

Pop-A-Lock was mentioned in Disney’s parenting blog Babble and Yahoo! Parenting blog.

The articles remind parents that the best way to handle this extremely stressful situation, after calling 9-1-1, is to call Pop-A-Lock, utilizing our free service for children locked in vehicles.

COO Rob Reynolds was interviewed for an article on protecting client data for businesses.

Pop-A-Lock offers sincere condolences to the families that lost a child in the fatal school shooting that occurred last week at an Oregon high school.

Although these tragic cases cannot fully be prevented from taking place, Pop-A-Lock – the most trusted team of security professionals in the nation—pledges to support school districts throughout the United States by offering free security audits to analyze  schools’ security systems to protect its students, teachers and administrators.

“We’re greatly saddened by the recent rash of school shootings throughout our country,” said Pop-A-Lock Director of Operations, Rob Reynolds. “This violence is senseless and can be significantly mitigated by readily-available security technologies in the marketplace today.”

In wake of previous school shootings, Pop-A-Lock recognized the need for security audits in schools to help prevent tragic events like this one. As a result, in 2013, Pop-A-Lock started offering free school security audits to schools throughout the country.

The program provides:

• A comprehensive online checklist of physical infrastructure security needs
• On-site assessments by a Pop-A-Lock security professional available free of charge on the company’s Website at: https://www.popalock.com
• Insight into the most basic security measures, such as key access control and sophisticated technology such as perimeter surveillance
• Company technicians available to perform a comprehensive facility security assessment on-site

“Pop-A-Lock is committed to working with schools across the country to keep our children, teachers, and administrators safe,” Reynolds added.

There is a huge range of interventions that can be deployed in any facility, including K-12’s, to improve security measures. These range from establishment of protocols, rehearsal drills, evacuation plans, lockdown procedures, identification systems, and beyond. Some schools are deploying RFID tracking devices and readers throughout the facility to track student movement in order to make their attendance reporting more robust and automated.

School administrators can contact a local Pop-A-Lock franchise at 1-800-POPALOCK, to schedule a walk-through with your maintenance team to go door-to-door and make notes of specifically what areas need attention. By taking the time to assess your facilities’ security, you will increase the life safety and security for the students and staff.

Watch our CEO Don Marks talking about our PalSavesKids™ program.

Pop-A-Lock of Mississauga, owned by John Inglis, was recently recognized by Safe City Mississauga Crime Prevention, as a sponsor for the neighborhood watch program.

The company is known for sharing tips for creating a safer home and business. It makes sense that Pop-A-Lock of Mississauga would sponsor such an important program. Along with being named sponsor, Pop-A-Lock provides co-branded brochures, window clings and decals with their service number to all neighborhood watch participants. If there is ever a need for locksmith services, the phone number will always be readily available for anyone that needs it. Pop-A-Lock also provides Lost Key Return Tags, a free program to everyone, if you lose your keys, Pop-A-Lock will return them to you at no cost. Go to popalock.ca for more details on this valuable program.

The sold out event was attended by the community, business partners and sponsors. The keynote speaker for the evening was Chief Jennifer Evans of Peel Police. Also in attendance were Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion and representatives of all levels of government.

We appreciate the great job being done in Mississauga and the efforts of John Inglis and his team. The safety and security of the people in our communities will remain Pop-A-Locks’ top priority.

Pop-A-Lock is pleased to announce an exclusive agreement with Storage Treasures / Storage Battles.

Most of us have seen on TV shows focused on abandoned storage units and the battle people face in acquiring the contents. While some units are disappointing, others can be worth a small fortune.

Storage Treasures / Storage Battle, North America’s largest and fastest growing online self-storage auction company and Pop-A-Lock have partnered to offer customers lock cutting, photographic and inventory services. Pop-A-Lock is North America’s most trusted group of locksmiths. This relationship will streamline services for the managers of Storage Treasures / Storage Battles and their customers.

James Grant, CEO of Storage Treasures / Storage Battles said, “This added service will bring convenience and a time-saving option to self-storage facility managers who no longer desire to cut their own locks, take pictures and inventory their storage units in preparation for sale. This will also reduce their liability, as an insured third party will be performing this duty while being observed and witnessed by the facility manager.”

Pop-A-Lock has locations throughout the United States and Canada, making the decision to partner an easy one. Don Marks, CEO says, “Pop-A-Lock is the preferred provider to numerous corporate strategic partners. Our large footprint, prompt response, latest technology, and top quality make us the first choice for security. We look forward to working with Storage Treasures / Storage Battles and their innovative, industry leading marketing and methodology.”

Storage Treasures / Storage Battles has more than 4,000 self-storage facilities that hold online auctions on their website. The company averages more than 4,000 online auctions a month with a database of 800,000 registered buyers. They expect business to continue to grow, possibly doubling in 2014.

Pop-A-Lock services will enhance the buyers experience through the services they will provide. Customers now will have an increased sense of security knowing that Pop-A-Lock is handling this task on their behalf.

For more information on the companies, go to popalock.com, storagetreasures.com and storagebattles.com.

Todd Coupal, owner of the Pop-A-Lock franchise in Vancouver, British Columbia celebrated his one year anniversary of providing professional locksmith services to the people in his community.  This milestone fulfilled Todd’s personal goal of owning a business and introducing an established brand in an untapped market.

In the January issue of Canadian Business, Todd and his locksmith franchise were profiled.  At the young age of 10 years old, Todd was bit by the entrepreneurial bug – house sitting, lawn care, and a paper route.  His strong work ethic was rewarded with a 10-speed bicycle!

Todd discusses his reasons for choosing Pop-A-Lock, “To reach my personal and financial goals, I felt like I would have to start my own company.”  After a period of due diligence, Todd discovered Pop-A-Lock, a 24/7 mobile full service locksmith company.  “Pop-A-Lock met and beat my financial criteria.  The business concept wasn’t trendy or ‘hot’, but it was essentially recession-proof.  After all, when people need a locksmith, they need a locksmith; there’s no alternative.”

Pop-A-Lock of Vancouver opened for business in October 2012 with one full-time locksmith, they now have 3.  Todd is also a licensed locksmith but spends the majority of his time building brand awareness and business development.  The main challenge is building brand awareness.  “We want to be top-of-mind, so we’re using flyers, vehicle wraps, traditional advertising, and various forms of social media.  We’re also active in the business community with local networking groups.”

Pop-A-Lock’s employees are professional and highly trained. Employees will always be in uniform and driving a marked vehicle. They have access to the latest technologies and techniques in security, with smart phone apps and a huge database with information about all kinds of locks.  Todd guarantees pricing and work to all of his customers.  Local competition is nowhere near this level.

For more information about Pop-A-Lock in Canada, go to popalock.ca and popalock.com in the United States.

Pop-A-Lock is proud to announce that two of its franchise locations, Pop-A-Lock of Riverside, CA and Pop-A-Lock of Houston, TX were awarded the prestigious AAA Five Diamond Award.

The AAA Five Diamond Award is awarded to contract stations who achieve a Tier III (Excellent) status for four quarters and/or who maintain a Tier III score consistently for the year.  Five Diamond recipients are the best of the best, only 7% of the network providers qualify for this award.

Pop-A-Lock of Riverside owners, Art Irvin and Teri Nardo were invited to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana for the MAVTV 500 Indy Car World Championships.  They were able to personally drive one of their locksmith vehicles in an escorted lap around Auto Club Speedway in front of thousands of racing fans!  An added bonus was meeting Helio Castroneves, driver of the AAA sponsored Indy Racecar.

Tony Graham, owner of Pop-A-Lock of Houston had the same opportunity.  On Sunday, November 3, Mr. Graham drove a Pop-A-Lock service van around Texas Motor Speedway at the AAA Texas 500. Earlier in October, an awards banquet was held in Dallas where Mr. Graham was honored and received a beautiful trophy and commemorative backpack.

Congratulations to our owners that received this important recognition for the outstanding job of providing services that go over and above to exceed AAA member expectations day in and day out.

LAFAYETTE, LA—October 23, 2013—Pop-A-Lock™, America’s largest security company, today announced it is offering free school security audits to schools throughout the country.  The program provides a comprehensive online checklist of physical infrastructure security needs, as well as on-site assessments by a Pop-A-Lock security professional.

“We’re greatly saddened by the recent rash of school shootings throughout our country,” said Pop-A-Lock Director of Operations, Rob Reynolds.  “This violence is senseless and can be significantly mitigated by readily-available security technologies in the marketplace today.”

Pop-A-Lock’s School Security Audit is available free of charge on the company’s Website at popalock.com.  The audit provides insight into the most basic security measures, such as key access control, to sophisticated technology like perimeter surveillance. Company technicians are also available to perform a comprehensive facility security assessment on-site.

“Pop-A-Lock is committed to working with schools across the country to keep our children, teachers, and Administrators safe,” Reynolds added.

To learn more about Pop-A-Lock’s school security audit, or any of the company’s other programs, call 1-877-233-6211, or visit www.popalock.com.

About Robert Reynolds

Robert Reynolds is the Director of Operations for Pop-A-Lock, America’s largest security company. In this capacity, Rob leads field management of franchises, including: product development, operations, technical support, and training.  Rob began his security career as a technician where he has earned various professional titles, such as Certified Registered Locksmith, Certified Professional Safe Technician, and Aloa ACE Instructor, eventually earning a place in the company’s leadership.  He retired from the U.S. Army as a First Lieutenant and served our country in the Army Reserves.