Making a Business of Hiding TVs

ToledoBlace.com reports that few local businesses can say they owe their start to TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

In fact, it’s probably a safe bet that just one firm in the Toledo area can trace its roots directly back to the famous talk show host/TV mogul/entrepreneur.

“It was Oprah who came up with the idea of hidden television,” said James Baker, owner-founder of Toledo-based Hidden Television.com.

“She was doing a show in 2006 and featuring examples of space-saving gadgets,” Mr. Baker said. At the time, Mr. Baker was in the business of selling high-quality two-way mirrors for security, scientific, and other uses.

“Literally, her manager called me out of the blue,” Mr. Baker said. “Her manager said, ‘Oprah wants to know if you can put a flat-screen TV behind two-way glass for her in order to hide it,’ ” he added.

Mr. Baker said that after immediately responding “Yes,” without actually having hidden a TV before…

Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Technology/2012/05/13/Local-firm-s-order-from-a-star-builds-business-concealing-TVs.html