Rent-to-own News - Premier wraps midyear dealers retreat with open house

The Premier Companies wrapped a successful midyear dealers retreat in Atlanta, Georgia Thursday with an open house for entrepreneurs interested in joining the Premier family.

Over 90 dealers attended the retreat and took part in 15 offered workshops available to support dealers in their growth. Premier unveiled a number of new programs in human resources, marketing and training and hosted special seminars for managers at this event.

Dealers also took great interest in a talk by Wayland Russell, founder of Rainbow Rentals, who was the keynote speaker of the event Wednesday.

"This was truly a dealer driven conference," said John Darden, Premier dealer with one store in Charlottesville, Virginia. "The workshop I got the most out of was 'Marketing on a Tight Budget'. There are so many ways to take advantage of the Internet and technology today. Once you get the customers through the door, if you treat them with respect, you're going to have lifetime customers. That's how we do it at Premier."

Premier dealer John Darden.

Darden, who operates his store with his son Chris, said he was preparing to establish a presence on Facebook and Twitter as a result of the workshop.

Darden, who is also a member of Premier's marketing board and board of the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations, was also impressed with the interest in Premier at the company's first ever open house Thursday in what he calls an "awesome display of entrepreneurship".

Around 15 registered attendees turned out for the event to learn more about the Premier Companies.

"It was great to see all those new faces walking through the door," Darden said.

Trooper Earle, Premier founder and CEO, said the retreat was easily the company's best and the combination of new programs and dealer energy made it so.

"This was the best meeting we've ever had without a doubt," Earle said. "We were pumped and the excitement level was just incredible. Wayland Russell was just amazing and the level of interest in our open house was incredible especially in light of the fact we only announced it three weeks before the retreat."

Premier franchisees operate 78 locations in 24 states under the following brands: Premier Rental-Purchase, Premier Wheel Workz, Premier Home Furnishings Premier Auto by Rent and UGetcha Cash financial services.

In March Franchise Times named Premier Rental Purchase the fifth fastest growing young franchise in its annual Fast 55 survey of franchise companies.

Premier will hold an executive retreat in October and it's annual dealer convention in January 2010.

mevans@rtohq.org