 APRO: The Official Voice of the Rent to Own Industry
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 Rent-to-own News
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Rent-to-own News - Ohio's largest RTO indies go head-to-head in Q4 smackdown
For 51 weeks out of the year Countryside and Showplace Rent-To-Own owners Mike Tissot and Gary Ferriman play nice. They joke, they laugh, they chat.
But for one week in the fourth quarter, the gloves come off and friends turn rivals.
This week kicks off the fourth annual RTO Ohio grudge-match in which the two companies enter a no holds barred campaign for new customers -- potential rent -- as each company pushes for a bigger slice of the state's $285 million RTO pie.
But this year there's a twist as two additional indies are weighing in to claim bragging rights.
Next week, fellow Ohio RTO indie companies UHR and Blue Ribbon Rentals will square off. The winners of each contest will then face off in the Ohio Superbowl of rent to own during Thanksgiving week.
At stake: "A large 10 pound bell mounted to an oak base and territorial bragging rights," Tissot said. "Win or lose it's always a good rally for our troops in the most important quarter of the year. But, we don't intend to lose."
Countryside has approximately 26 stores, Showplace has 14, UHR has 10 and Blue Ribbon has 11.
In response to UHR's bid for the Buckeye State's RTO crown, er, bell, UHR Rents owner Ernie Lewallen said, "Tell me the rules. Tell me when the contest starts. Tell me where I can collect my winnings."
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2012 APRO Convention and Trade Show July 24-26, Memphis, TN
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RTOHQ: The Magazine
RTOHQ: The Magazine is the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations' award-winning rent-to-own industry magazine, and it's available here. | |||
 CLICK HERE FOR OUR DIGITAL RTOHQ: THE MAGAZINE
RTOHQ: The Magazine’s upgraded digital format APRO's new, mobile-ready magazine is now available in addition to our print edition. The digital format provides the same informative content as our printed magazine, but also offers tools to make the reading experience more enriching. Access the table of contents page with one click or tap. Get additional information from advertisers by clicking on the links in their ads. The interface is easy to navigate and requires no special app—read our magazine on your computer, digital table or smartphone. Click here to access the digital version of RTOHQ: The Magazine March-April 2012.
A New Rent-to-Own Experience by Neil Ferguson Here’s the lowdown on APRO’s 2012 Convention and Trade Show, July 24-26 in Memphis. The RTO industry’s big event will offer many valuable experiences, including insights on how to turn your stores into “experiences”–the good kind for consumers
Who Is Your Competition? by Bill Keese In order to expand your customer base, you can learn a lot by observing your competitors. But first, you need to figure out just who they are. If you think your only competition is the rent-to-own store down the street, you’re not considering the bigger picture. APRO’s executive director offers a big-picture perspective.
A Review of Online Customer Complaints by Ed Winn III While rent-to-own companies have not cornered the market on negative reviews posted on consumer complaint websites, it’s no surprise that there are cyberspace beefs against RTO. APRO’s general counsel reviews some of them in search of a pattern and he considers appropriate response to online complaints.
Rent-to-Own Families, Part VIII by Kristen Card Our series of family-run rent-to-own businesses continues with profiles of the Homeiers in Kansas and two Texas-based sets of kindred colleagues, the Spangles and the Weisblatts.
Future issues of APRO's magazine will be available in this same new format. Click here to access past issues that are not yet archived in the new interface.
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Association of Progressive Rental Organizations 1504 Robin Hood Trail Austin, Texas 78703 800/204-2776, ext. 103 Fax 512/794-0097 |