Rent-to-own News - RTO "Flyer specialist" retires after 20-years

Call it retirement if you want.

But chances are, even after Bonnie "The Flyer Specialist" Nitzsche turns over the reins of her 20 year-old graphic design company, Let's Print, Ink., to her sons Monday, she's still going to have plenty to say about it.

"I'm not retiring," says Nitzsche, 67, with a laugh, "I'm just taking my hands off the wheel and letting them worry about it."

Son Tom Nitzsche adds, "I can tell she's going to be one of those passenger drivers."

Bonnie and Tom Nitzsche at a recent APRO Convention

But Tom and younger brother Chris Nitzsche, who will take over the day-to-day operation of the business next week, of course, welcome Mom's direction. After all it was her care and guidance that helped make the graphic design company a staple of the rent-to-own industry at home and abroad.

Aside from changing the name to The Niche Connection, the brothers plan to follow in her footsteps, expanding on her graphic design and professional "on-hold" message recording business she built out of her basement beginning in 1988.

In 1997 the Nitzsches opened a recording studio to record "on-hold messages" for rent-to-own and other business called America On Hold. Tom plans to change the name to Advantage On Hold using his background in music and recording to promote the advantages of on-hold messaging.

To say Nitzsche Advertising and Let's Print, Ink are entrenched in the rent-to-own industry is probably an understatement.

After a brief stint as a Mary Kay consultant, Bonnie was looking for a change and was able to apply her love of people and attention to detail to a burgeoning industry in search of a better public image.

Offering the previously unheard of process of four color design and printing, she began building her business which has served 100's of rent-to-own dealers around the world, adding a behind the scenes dynamic that has played an integral role in the success of the industry today.

She recalls her first flyer for dealer Gary Clay of America's Rent-To-Own back in 1988, when she helped introduce the rental-purchase concept to Kansas.

The flyer -- an image of a hulking bull with smoke streaming from its nostrils and the words "This ain't no bull!" printed underneath -- was one she will never forget.

"Nobody had ever heard of rent-to-own out there before," Bonnie says. "That was his way of introducing it, 'rent-to-own, this ain't no bull!'"

While subtlety may not be the industry's strongest suite, Bonnie is equally as forthright when describing her customer base -- an extensive collection of small rent-to-own dealers -- that has sustained her company throughout the years.

"One or more stores, that's all you need to work with us," Bonnie says, "That's our motto. The customers we print for like the ability to put in the picture and copy they want and show exactly what they have on their floor. We make sure they get a flyer that is competitive with Rent-A-Center or Aarons."

With the death of her husband in 1990, Bonnie poured herself into her business and pledged allegiance to the small rent-to-own dealer.

In fact, The Niche Connection will continue to cater to the needs of the independent dealer, according to Tom Nitzsche, who estimates around 80 percent of the company's customers are rent-to-own dealers with 10 or fewer stores. Tom has worked with his mother, learning the family business since 1989.

Former APRO President Gary McDougal.

The introduction of computers into the design process revolutionized the print industry and Bonnie's business, eliminating the time consuming process of hand drawing, color processing on film, plate making and printing. Before that, changes, even the most simple, were expensive and ill-advised.

Although, her first computer cost $15,000 in 1991, the technology quickly paid for itself. What used to take weeks could now be accomplished in days. Changes and adjustments could be managed with the click of a button.

"It was like watching television for the first time," Bonnie says.

But not all changes were as welcome.

Consolidation in the 1990's also took its toll. As larger companies swallowed up small dealers across the country, incorporating them into in-house corporate graphic design programs, the Nitzsches felt the impact as the industry landscape was transformed in a matter of years.

"Consolidation hasn't just hurt us, it's hurt everybody," says Tom Nitzsche. "Our major niche was working with the smaller dealers and they basically bought our customers out from under us. It hurt a lot."

Ultimately, strengthening the industry is the key, Bonnie says, through strong national and state associations, to fortifying the viability of the independent RTO dealer in the face of a changing marketplace and legislative threats.

TRIB Executive Director Dennis Shields

Bonnie has been an active member of the Ohio Rental Dealers Association from 1987-1997 serving on the board eight of those ten years. A member of APRO for 20 years and a preferred TRIB Group vendor for 19, Nitzsche has never taken her role in the larger rent-to-own industry lightly, especially in dark times.

When two bills on Capital Hill threatened to obliterate the industry in 1993, Nitzsche stepped up to the plate. When APRO asked if there was anything she could do to help, she designed, printed and mailed out informational posters to rent-to-own dealers all over the country explaining the rental purchase transaction.

"That really showed that Bonnie's heart was in the rent-to-own industry," says former APRO President Kevin Quinn. "Without the Bonnie Nitzsches of the world, we probably wouldn't have gotten our message out."

The next year, Quinn presented Nitzsche with APRO's 1994 Norm Smith Vendor of the Year award for her contributions to the industry, in what Nitzsche calls one of her proudest moments.

The other highlight of her career was when APRO President Gary McDougal singled her out in his parting remarks when he stepped down from his presidency in 2002.

"She's still the best dancer our industry ever had," McDougal says. "Her ethics are outstanding and she's a fighter especially in tough times. She's always been there for the industry and when she came to the table, she came to the table. Dealers always appreciated her hands-on approach and heart of gold."

Nitzsche's friend of 20 years, Lindsey Semon of FlexiCompras, who also recently retired due to health reasons, says Nitzsche's work in the industry exemplifies the spirit of rent-to-own -- one of relationships and mutual support.

"There are no secrets in this industry," Semon says. "We're going to compete with one another but we're going to help one another too. Bonnie has built those relationships and is part of a group trying to better itself and its service to its customers. I am proud to call her a personal friend."

Dennis Shields agrees.

Shields is the executive director of TRIB Group and has known Nitzsche as both a dealer and through his work with TRIB. Her relationship with the industry extends beyond that of mere business, he said.

"She's brought the interest of the RTO industry to her heart," Shields says. "She's become more than a business partner to these people, she's become their friend. She's the person behind the scenes and you can always count on her being there as a true friend to the industry."

Nitzsche is continuing an 11-year battle with myeloma cancer and will undergo a new round of radiation treatments next week. She says she is responding well to new medications.

She plans to stay active in her church and spend more time with her four grandchildren.

"I am confident God is healing me and that's why I've been here so long," Nitzsche says. "When I die, it's not because the cancer has taken me, it's because it was my time. That's the way I look at it."

For more information on The Niche Connection, contact Tom Nitzsche by phone at 513/777-0123 or by email.

mevans@rtohq.org