 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 - TARA Annual meeting kicks off today with legal, marketing insights
The Texas Association of Rental Agencies' (TARA) 28th Annual meeting and Southwest Buying Show kicks off today, Oct. 9, at the Marriott Quorum by the Galleria, a few blocks from the Galleria shopping area in Dallas. The show is being held in conjunction with the TARA 28th Annual Convention over the same dates.
The meeting will be conducted by Daniel Sharff, TARA acting-president with Home Store Rent To Own. Sharff took over leadership of the association after past president William McCrae of Buzz's sold his stores and left the industry this fall.
Members will elect officers at the meeting.
Discussion of specific state economic data by TARA Executive Director Scott Pospisil including:
In addition to the above presentations, Jill McDonough will present the new RTO marketing plan. Which is the result of recent potential customer surveys conducted this in year in Texas, Ohio, New York and Florida. Members will receive a copy of the 75+ page marketing plan on flash drive to take home and use in their operations.
Ed Winn, APRO legal counsel and longtime RTO legal expert, will update members on state and national legal issues currently facing Texas dealers, including any legislation from the recent session of the Texas Legislature that will affect RTO operations.
This show allows RTO dealers from across Texas and the Southwest to meet face-to-face with the companies that offer the latest products and services to the industry. Likewise, it provides vendors serving the RTO industry an opportunity to expose their products and services to Texas dealers in a purchasing environment.
The purpose of TARA is to provide a forum for RTO dealers to exchange ideas and improve the Texas rent to own industry, educate dealers on important issues affecting the industry, increase public awareness of the benefits of rent to own, represent the industry in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and work with the national association to better the industry for dealers and consumers.
Texas is home to 861 rent-to-own stores employing 5,166. They pay $180,810,000 in annual wages, pay $27,664,000/year in payroll taxes and generate in $633,560,000 annual revenues.
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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 |