Rent-to-own News - New RTOHQ: The Magazine available now

By APRO Executive Director Bill Keese,

In this, our annual convention edition of RTOHQ: The Magazine, we present detailed information about the association’s upcoming Rent-to-Own Convention and Trade Show, July 11–14 in Little Rock, Arkansas.

I hope that you will pay close attention to our offerings this year.

I’m sure you will find this to be the best planned and most important convention for the rent-to-own industry ever.Our “family reunion” theme says it all—we have a very rich and successful history as an industry, but to continue this tradition, it is important that everyone in the rent-to-own family come together annually to build for the future.

In an effort to build for that future, we’re packing this year’s education program at the Convention with some top-flight business mavericks who will help you meet the challenges of tomorrow—renowned marketing experts, starting with Bill Taylor, our keynote speaker. 

Taylor is the co-founder of Fast Company magazine, has published numerous essays and CEO interviews for the Harvard Business Review and management columns for the New York Times.

His new book, Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform You Company, Shake Up Your Industry and Challenge Yourself will be the basis of his speech. The first 100 companies to register for the APRO 2011 Convention will receive a copy of this revolutionary book. Register now and receive your copy before the event. Taylor’s keynote address will set the tone for the rest of the convention. You can find out more about him on page 22.

Jill McDonough has provided marketing counsel for companies such as GE Lighting, Heinz, SC Johnson, ConAgra and even the NFL. Drawing on the results of eight rent-to-own potential-customer focus groups held in four cities this year, she will provide APRO Convention attendees with a specialized marketing plan aimed to help tap into the millions of potential customers who have been so elusive. In response to our San Antonio focus group event held on March 29 and the marketing plan that will be derived from this research, rental dealer William McCrae says, “For those who care [about your company’s future], you gotta be there in Little Rock.”

Another key marketing topic important to all of us is store design. Martin Roberts of Martin Roberts Design specializes in setting the scene that best motivates consumers to buy/rent in your store. He will be in Little Rock to share decades of experience in store design, space planning, visual merchandising and brand identity. Roberts’ client list is extraordinary, including Tumi, Barnes & Nobel, Linens ’n Things, Thomasville Furniture, McDonald’s, Marriott International, K-Mart, Walmart and dozens more.

If you tried to acquire this level and quality of business information any place other than at the APRO Convention in Little Rock, you would have to spend thousands of dollars. So register for rent-to-own’s big event now and invest in your company’s future! APRO’s Little Rock Family Reunion is the best return on your dollar you will ever make.

Table of contents from the magazine:

RTOHQ: The Magazine
March–April 2011

Big Show in Little Rock: Your Invitation to Attend APRO’s 2011 Rent-to-Own Convention and Trade Show
by Shelley Martinek and Neil Ferguson

Make your plans now to attend APRO’s rent-to-own family reunion—the industry’s don’t-miss event of the year—July 11–14 in Little Rock. This show has it all: opportunities to network, save money, visit a fabulous American city and take home valuable resources to help your business. Check out all the new features and benefits that await you this summer in La Petite Roche.

Rent-to-Own Family Matters, Part II
by Kristen Card

We continue our series of profiles on family-run rent-to-own businesses, spotlighting kin who work together to keep the industry thriving, generation after generation. In this issue, meet the Fryes, Tinneys, Floyd-Mitchells and Rhonda Weatherford, who, with the help of her sons, keeps the legacy of her father, Don Cecil, alive.

As the Rental World Turns, Part II: More Lessons Learned From Some 
Thought-Provoking Circumstances
by Ed Winn III

APRO’s general counsel offers another passel of legal cases that, in one way or another, involve a rent-to-own store, employee or customer—and sometimes involve all three. While somewhat darker in tone than our last issue’s docket, these cases are no less insightful about the interesting world in which you do business.

Cover photograph of Little Rock, Arkansas, by David H. Lewis/iStockphoto