Rent-to-own News - Lewallen opens Las Vegas RNR

Ernie Lewallen, owner of UHR Rents and Western Wheel Ventures, opened his third wheel and tire venture earlier this month when he opened  his new RNR Custom Wheels and Performance Tires in Las Vegas.
 

Owner Ernie Lewallen and Southwest Operations Manager Kelly Pierce outside the new RNR Las Vegas store.

The store, which is the first in Lewallen's chain to bear the rebranded RNR name, provides 4,500 square feet of floor space and will capitalize on the lucrative Las Vegas wheel and tire market, according to the company's Southwest Operations Manager Kelly Pierce.

"Our ads are really only getting started this week and we're looking for some real big numbers once that starts to kick," Pierce says. "Las Vegas is a market that definitely supports wheel and tire. Every third or fourth car you come across out here has custom wheels."

The Las Vegas store has a staff of five including Mychel Page, Alex Rios, Andre Werneck, Tammy and Kelly Pierce.

The RNR brand -- a concept meant to tap into a higher income demographic than traditional rent-to-own -- was officially unveiled at the annual Rent-N-Roll Custom Wheels and Performance Tires franchisee meeting in Orlando, Florida this January.

In a prestigious listing of "who's who" in franchising, RNR Custom Wheels & Performance Tires (formerly Rent-N-Roll) last month gained ground in Entrepreneur magazine's 2008 Top Franchise 500.

This year RNR which began franchising in 2003, ranked number 252 versus 426 in 2007.

Click here to watch APRO's exclusive video from the January 2008 Rent-n-Roll franchisee conference in Orlando, Florida.

Click here for APRO photo gallery of the store opening.

mevans@rtohq.org