Spytech

"Everybody I knew who owned a business had a problem with theft," explains Ursula Lebana. The owner of the Spy Tech store was impressed by the 1980s phenomenon of the teddy bear nanny camera, which gave some measure of relief to parents in the office who wanted to see for themselves how things were at home.

Ursula thought about how the ever-shrinking camera could be used in small businesses. She saw a place for hidden cameras in family-owned companies and large corporations, where owners could install the devices themselves.

Ursula opened Spy Tech in 1991, making it one of the oldest stores to sell spy gear in all of North America. In addition to teddy bear cameras, the most popular items when she first opened were lipstick cameras, hairbrush audio recorders and phone jacks that could record calls made on a landline, which she still carries today.

After over two decades in business, the gadgets at Spy Tech are not only smaller and less expensive than the original models, they also reflect the enormous technological advances that have been made since then.