Rent-to-own News - UHR Rents celebrates silver anniversary, credits customer service

UHR Rents President Ernie Lewallen

United Household Rentals (UHR Rents) -- a 10 store Cincinnati, Ohio based RTO independent -- proudly marked a milestone Sunday, Feb. 20, by reaching the 25th anniversary of its incorporation. The company opened its first store the following May.

“It is a tremendous achievement in our eyes,” said UHR President and Founder Ernie Lewallen. "Like many companies who have celebrated anniversaries, our success has come from traveling a long road of ups and downs. To us the accomplishment of reaching this milestone celebrates the fact that we know how to keep our customers coming back."

With no history on which to build relationships with vendors, Lewallen said he and his wife, Debbie, could no longer hold back on chasing their dream. With $30,000 borrowed from family and a willingness to use the equity in their home to secure the necessary credit, the couple put their fears aside and went into business.

"One day she asked me what happened if it didn’t work," Lewallen said. " I looked her straight in the eyes and said 'we will have to move'.  Fortunately we hit the ground running on day one. I will never forget our first customer, Betty Miller.  I rented her a Whirlpool refrigerator and my former partner delivered it. She remained our customer for nearly twenty years until her death. Our opening lineup was two sizes of TV’s, a washer/dryer pair, refrigerator, some stereo equipment, and a few sets of furniture. Today we rent more than 100 SKU’s. The customers haven’t changed though. They still want what they did in 1986, that being good quality merchandise at fair rental rates and to simply be treated like kings in their own castles. We specialize in this. I really believe it has been the essence our success over the years."

After mastering the UHR model, Lewallen opened more stores. A franchise opportunity presented itself with the three Rent-n-Roll stores he and Debbie now own. Today, between the UHR and Rent-n-Roll stores, Lewallen employs more than 100 and hopes to open many more stores in the next 25 years, he said.

Lewallen said his call to action in the industry came after the Ohio Rental Dealers Association's (ORDA) first President, Pete Bush, enlisted help of local dealers to thwart an anti-RTO bill that would have shut down the industry in Ohio. In 1988 Lewallen became ORDA's second president.

Lewallen become involved with APRO in 1989 and TRIB Group in 1993. He has served as president of both those organizations as well.

"I feel there were three things I have done in these past 25 years that gave me the chance to succeed," Lewallen said. "I joined ORDA, APRO and TRIB."