 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 - NEW VIDEO: Vivian Saunders, APRO's 2011 Customer of the Year
APRO's 2011 Customer of the Year, Vivian Saunders, already knew she had won the award going into the industry's annual awards banquet Wednesday night in Little Rock.
But she got a big surprise anyway.
At the conclusion of the affair, seasoned on-the-spot fundraiser Jamie Slatton took up the microphone and egged on his colleagues -- more than 300 of whom filled the ballroom -- to step up APRO-style for Saunder's "Hive": an alternative school for at-risk African American boys in rural Bertie County, North Carolina.
The school, opened in 2009 was forced to close this spring as a result of $120 million in state education budget cuts. With Slatton at the helm, a call for contributions went up as hands shot in the air pledging individual $1,000 donations around the room. When the dust settled, APRO members collectively pledged close to $30,000 for Saunders and her vision to bring education and often times, a second chance, to young men in her community.
"I'm awestruck," said Saunders, a BestWay customer from Ahoskie, North Carolina as she fought back tears. "That APRO would think enough of its customers to take this type of action for the children, to give back to the people and communities where they do business is just…inspiring."
Her mission has even inspired Hollywood.
Independent film icon, producer and director Robert Townsend recently premiered the feature film, In the Hive, as the opening night film of the American Black Film Festival, which ran July 6 through July 9 in Miami Beach, Florida. The film stars Michael Clark Duncan, Loretta Divine and Vivica Fox and is based on the Saunder's story.
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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 |