Rental Viewpoint | September 8, 2005

Rent-to-own families helping
families of rent-to-own
++Hundreds of hard-working, loyal RTO employees along the Gulf Coast were left without homes and/or jobs when Hurricane Katrina hit land last week. Many rental-purchase stores were damaged or destroyed from high winds and flooding. Almost all stores in the affected areas have seen their customer base vanish. The destruction is immense and our APRO families need your help.
++APRO has established the RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund to provide temporary assistance to the employees of APRO members who have suffered the loss of their income due to the hurricane and its aftermath. The fund will be administered by the board of directors of APRO’s Charitable Foundation and is chaired by Terry Beville of Buddy’s Home Furnishings in Florida.
++All donations are tax exempt. Ninety percent of donations will go directly to the employees of APRO members in affected states. Ten percent will be donated to the American Red Cross.
++Within the first day of operation, the following APRO member companies pledged to contribute to the RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund.

Countryside Rentals in Ohio will donate $2 per delivery through September. Countryside's Mike Tissot is personally matching all contributions made by his employees. His goal is to make a $10,000 contribution.
The Florida Rental Dealers Association’s board of directors voted on September 7 to donate $10,000 to the fund.
Rent-n-Roll’s Larry Sutton donated $10,000, representing a $2,000-per-store contribution for each of his four stores, plus $2,000 for a new store.
Rent One and Imagery Marketing Consultants have implemented a program of matching employees’ contributions with $2 for every $1 its employees make for the next six pay periods. Rent One's Larry Carrico reports that as of September 7, 20 percent of his employees had already pledged, bringing the employee total to more than $9,400. Carrico’s goal is to achieve 80 percent to 90 percent participation from employees. Imagery Marketing Consultants has set a goal of $5,000 for the APRO RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund.
Full-O-Pep is donating $100 per store plus $1 for every delivery the company makes from September through November. Additionally, Full-O-Pep is urging each of its employees to make a personal contribution that will be deducted through a payroll deduction over the next 13 weeks. The company is also soliciting contributions from customers in each of its stores. Full-O-Pep's David P. David believes these efforts will be in excess of $10,000.
TRIB Group has donated $2,500 to the fund.
Michelle Bunning of Kelley Commercial Trucks made a personal contribution of $1,000.

++Many other companies have reported that they are formulating their goals and will report to APRO as soon as possible.
++Three companies located in the affected areas have made requests for assistance from the APRO RTO Employee Disaster Relief Fund. This represents 35 employees who desperately need our assistance. Money will be sent to these employees as soon as contributions are received at the APRO office.
++Your help is urgently needed. Please make your checks payable to the RTO Disaster Relief Fund and mail it to the APRO office at 1504 Robin Hood Trail, Austin, Texas 78703. You can call APRO at 800/204-2776 and make your donation via credit card. Or, you can make your donation online by clicking here.

relief

RTO industry springs into action in the wake of Katrina's destruction
++Moved by the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, the rent-to-own industry has joined the effort to provide relief to the thousands of people left homeless and jobless. Listed below are just a few examples of how the RTO businesses are making a difference, in addition to donations made to the RTO Disaster Relief Fund detailed above. An in-depth report will run in the next issue of Progressive Rentals. Please contact APRO and let us know what you are doing to assist the relief effort.

Aaron Rents donated $200,000 from the Aaron’s Community Outreach Program to aid employees and their families in affected areas. Aaron’s franchises across the nation have pledged to put displaced employees to work. Other franchises are have established a payroll deduction program for employees to donate to the relief effort.
General Electric is providing cash, equipment and services to help address immediate needs and begin the recovery. GE employees have given more than $1.5 million to the American Red Cross, which the GE Foundation has matched. GE has provided another $6 million to the Red Cross and at least $10 million in equipment for recovery efforts.
Ashley Furniture Industries and Ashley Furniture HomeStores are donating $1.1 million to the American Red Cross to aid hurricane victims. The donation was presented to Donald Paxton, executive director of the American Red Cross Relief Disaster Fund on September 7 at Ashley’s facilities in Ecru, Mississippi.
Therapedic International has partnered with RentWay to ship three truckloads of bedding into RentWay storage facilities for distribution at a severely discounted price. In addition, Licensee Softex has pledged 1,000 pillows. Therapedic is now searching for a blanket supplier for a similar donation. The company is also collecting monetary donations from licensees, to which Therapedic will donate to the American Red Cross.
Sealy has made a commitment of $1 million in cash and product donations to the American Red Cross to support the disaster relief efforts. In addition, Sealy has formed a fundraising challenge with employees across its domestic operations and will continue to collect donations through September 16.
For several years, RentWay has had a fund to assist employees in times of need, says Tony Craig, RentWay communications supervisor. According to Craig, in the wake of the hurricane, contributions to bolster the fund are coming in from all areas of the company. RentWay also established a 24-hour hotline to assist dislocated employees. "Our first priority was to locate every employee, then make sure each has money and a place to stay," says Craig. He adds that every employee affected is assured they have a job and will continue to be paid.

Rent-A-Center announces
store consolidation plan
++Rent-A-Center this week announced plans to close up to 162 stores across the U.S. by the end of 2005.
++"We believe our aggressive store acquisition program over the last few years has resulted in over-penetration in some markets," says Mark E. Speese, the chairman and chief executive officer of Rent-A-Center.
++The stores that are marked for closure will transfer their customer rental-purchase agreements to existing Rent-A-Center stores and the company expects to retain the majority of these rental-purchase agreements. At the conclusion of the restructuring, the company expects a monthly operating income benefit in the range of $1.4 million to $1.8 million.
++"The rationalization of our store base does not change our outlook with regard to our new store development plan," says Speese. "We have opened 34 stores year-to-date and intend to open approximately a total of 60 to 70 new stores in 2005."

ColorTyme secures line of credit
for pay-day loan services
++ColorTyme has secured an additional line of credit to support pay-day loans, one of ColorTyme’s newest growth ventures for its franchisees.
++The company finalized a new $5 million line of credit for pay-day loans to add to the existing $65 million line of credit supporting the traditional rent-to-own portion of the business, making a total of $70 million in total credit line to support the company’s growth.
++Currently, 19 ColorTyme stores offer pay-day loans. ColorTyme anticipates adding pay-day loans in 40 additional locations by the end of 2006. Sam Lowe, ColorTyme vice president of operations, developed the pay-day loans program and is responsible for implementing it in the new stores.
++“In an industry that is becoming increasingly competitive, it’s important that ColorTyme provides not only excellent support for our franchisees through training, marketing and other programs, but also provides them with diverse service to offer their customers,” Lowe says. “Securing this additional credit specifically for pay-day loans gives ColorTyme franchisees the capital to fund pay-day loans programs, as well the additional tools needed to use it—software, training and security measures.”

Premier opens new store in Nashville
++After seeing a number of friends and colleagues begin a successful experience working with Premier Rental-Purchase, Chuck Botts decided it was time for him to go into business for himself.
++“I didn’t look anywhere else,” says Botts. “Premier laid out a plan to get started, put all the pieces together for me. Like the others, I knew how to rent and collect, but I didn’t know how to do other operations. [Premier] resolved everything we didn’t know.”
++A 10-year veteran of the RTO industry, Botts has built up a client base and an excellent staff that will join him in his new store in Nashville, Tennessee.
++“I believe you service your customers to death, treating them with dignity and respect,” says Botts.
++The national office of Premier Rental-Purchase is located in Williamsburg, Virginia. All Premier stores are independently owned and operated.

Sandberg welcomes new employees
++Sandberg Rental Express has added David Humphrey and Matt Harris to its rental team. Humphrey has been an independent representative for Sandberg for almost four years. Harris has been appointed sales coordinator and will be working at the Florida office. Harris will be on point to answer questions and comments regarding sales and service.

Missouri Rental Dealers Association "Heartland of America" regional trade show, September 12-14, Osage Beach, MO, 573/442-2963
High Touch User’s Conference, September 21-23, Wichita, KS, 316/831-8132
TRIB Group fall board meeting, September 27-28, 2005, Atlanta, GA, 770/451-4302
Florida Rental Dealers Association annual meeting; Norman “Slats” Golf Memorial and Vendor Appreciation Dinner and Trade Show, October 4 and 5, 813/623-5461, ext. 110
APRO fall board meeting, October 10-12, Austin, TX, 800/204-2776
Arkansas Rental Dealers Association fall conference, October 18 and 19, Petit Jean State Park, Morrilton, AR, 870/910-0059
High Point Furniture Market, October 20-26, High Point, NC, 336/888-3700
SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association), November 1-4, Las Vegas, NV, 909/396-0289
Click here to view the APROVision industry calendar of events

++Larry Goad is a little bit country and a little bit rent-to-own. The president of Zion’s Rental-Purchase talks about answering the call to run a family business and revive Tennessee’s state rental dealer association in this APROfile (PDF download), which appears in the July-August 2005 issue of Progressive Rentals.
goad

Clark retires as TARA director;
Hale named successor
TARA ++Vicky Hale has been named as the new executive director of the Texas Association of Rental Agencies, replacing Lynn Clark, who will retire at the end of September. Clark, who has headed TARA since 1994 says, “I’m ready to be a full-time grandmother.”
++Hale was chosen to succeed Clark from among 150 applicants. She previously was employed as an event planner by AMS Staff Leasing in Dallas. She holds a degree in hotel/restaurant management from the University of Houston.
++In an online letter to TARA members, Clark wrote: “The TARA board, TARA’s members and vendors have become more than just business associates. You have become friends! I wish each of you the best in your endeavors and look forward to hearing about TARA’s successes in the future. We’ve accomplished so much together. Thanks for all the memories!”

++The following rental companies joined APRO in September 2005.

William McCrae, Buzz's Rental Purchase, San Antonio, Texas
Scott Higgins, Corporate Concepts Inc., dba Aspen Sales and Rentals, Flagstaff, Arizona

++As part of our ongoing effort to recognize Rental Training Online students, here is a list of students who took courses in July 2005:
Cassie Chick, Destinee Homeier and Gloria Homeier-Schwien of A Full House; Brianne Rucker, Carrie Sheets, John Shipman and Jacob Stark of Alliance Rental Center; Matthew Coppess of Appliance and Furniture RentAll; Anthony Stevens and Eric Taylor of Baber's Inc.; Manuel Bautista, Hector Campos, Antonio Cardenas, Jose Cervantes, Jesus Chagolla, Maria Correa, Gerardo Diaz, Gabriel Fuentes, Manuel Garcia, Brian Harvey, Valerie Marez, Cynthia Martinez, Leonardo Martinez, Ivan Melgarejo, Sandra Meza, Jaime Morelos, Julio Munoz, Edwin Oregon, Robert Rangel, Michael Sanchez and Manuel Serna of Computec, LLC; Patrick Goffinet, Deshawn London and Lina Wade of Full-O-Pep/American Rentals; Linda Bejarano, Vincent Belfire, Richard Eder, Janet Gray, Austin LaViolette, Terry Nickels, Patricia Rimpley, Bryan Shafer, Dustin Smith and Crystal Torres of Hometown Brand Center; Terry Myers of Hometown Ventures; Donald Ferguson of House of Television Rentals; Adrian Aviles, Jamey Flippen, David Thompson, Thomas Trujillo and Scott Williams of KLQ/Quality Rentals; Richard Adams of National TV Sales & Rental; Holly Innman, Jonathan Mcvay, John Muller, Frank Muse and Jamie Wickham of Rent City; Robert Hedding of Rent USA; Carl Coleman Jr, Craig Dillman, David Kidd and David Riddick of SKC/Rent One and Vera Figueiredo and John White of Z-Best Rentals.

Visit the APRO Web site or call the APRO office at 800/204-2776.

September 8, 2005
Volume 4, Issue 18

PUBLISHED BY APRO
1504 ROBIN HOOD TRAIL
AUSTIN, TX 78703
800.204.2776
APROVISION.ORG

» Retailers hit by Katrina

» Furniture industry reaches out to hurricane survivors

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APRO: Always There