Rent-to-Own

(L-R) Ron Muns, regional director, Rent-A-Center with Ed Battles, executive director, Springfield Turning Point Recovery Center after the Random Acts of Caring donation unveiling ceremony.

Rent-A-Center helped strengthen the sense of community for the Springfield Turning Point Recovery Center through the donation of merchandise valued at $5,000 to the Recovery Center’s Transitional Home program.
 
Rent-A-Center officials and employees from stores throughout the Springfield region delivered and assembled furniture, appliances and electronics as part of Rent-A-Center’s Random Acts of Caring program.  Staff and board members from Turning Point attended an unveiling ceremony of the newly furnished Transitional Home, which will be used to accommodate those in the program in various stages of recovery from alcohol and/or drug addiction.
 
“The Springfield Turning Point Center is extremely grateful to Rent-A-Center for their generosity on behalf of those in the community that we serve every day,” said Ed Battles, the director of the Springfield Turning Point Recover Center.  “This merchandise will enhance our ability to fulfill our mission of helping people restore their lives and be productive members of society and our community.”
 
The mission of the Springfield Turning Point Recovery Center is to enhance the spiritual, mental, physical, and social growth of those affected by any form of addiction. The Center seeks to facilitate recovery of individuals and their families in the Springfield area through various resources, including a volunteer staff drop-in center, substance-free social functions, transitional housing and other programs and services.
 
In 2009, the Turning Point Recovery Center hosted various meetings that provided assistance to more than 525 people from the local community.  The Center is part of the Vermont Recovery Network, a non-profit organization that supports recovery services throughout the state.
 
Rent-A-Center’s donation to Turning Point included a refrigerator, a stove, a dining room set, a living room set, new computers, a television set, and eight twin mattresses to make the recovery center a safe and comfortable place.
 
Rent-A-Center operates eight stores in Vermont, including three stores within 30 miles of the Springfield area.
 

DAC Products, a leading manufacturer of various retail merchandising fixtures, has announced plans to roll out several new items to their line-up this year at the 2010 TRIB Meeting of the Minds and Buy Fair. These new additions will include:

•    Freestanding Accessories Display – This four sided display was designed to merchandise any type of hanging accessory items such as video cables, data cables, or other accessories that you may want to display for up-selling the customer.

•    Gaming Center – DAC has provided the RTO industry with stand alone gaming kiosks in the past but this display allows you to bring all 3 major brands together so they can be displayed and used for demonstration purposes. Double locks have been added for security so there are no worries about someone walking off with your console or the game inside. The controllers are tethered for security also.

•    Showcase for Small Electronics – Versatility is the word for this grand, yet compact display. It can be attached to DAC’s audio visual display walls, gaming center or media center. This display was also designed with security in mind. It mounts to a carpeted electronics shelf and has double locks. DAC also offers merchandising inserts, which create tiered levels to accommodate IPods, cameras, GPS, or almost any small electronics that you may need to display. 

•    Value Line Sales Counters – These new sales counters are in a ready to assemble design and configurable.  They are available in five colors and present a very affordable price offering a great alternative to the store on a tight budget.  However they benefit from the same craftsmanship and many of the same materials used in DAC’s premium line of sales counters.

DAC has also transformed their proven freestanding gaming kiosk by adding contoured graphics to give it a very modern look. That’s 5 great reasons to stop by their booth #601 in the Paris Ballroom on August 30th and September 1st.

“We spend a lot of time researching and developing displays and products that help the RTO store owner move merchandise,” said Chris Hodges, Business Development Manager for DAC Products.  “Its products like our new gaming center and the showcase for small electronics that have evolved from us listening to our customers, re-searching the solution and re-acting to the need,” he continued.

DAC is continuing to invest in machinery and software also that will improve their product quality and the end user experience. One of the latest commitments is their investment in 3D modeling software. This software gives DAC the capability to show display or counter layouts in a 3D color drawing so the customer can clearly see what their purchasing and how it will fit in their store.

“Our goal at DAC has always been to provide innovative products, extreme customer satisfaction, and quality at a great price” said Todd Woods, Vice President of Sales & Marketing.  One of the popular and customer friendly benefits from this philosophy is their “Quick Ship” program.  DAC maintains an inventory of many of their more popular items, which can be shipped within forty eight hours after an order is placed.  This program is a huge advantage for RTOs needing to open new stores quickly.  All you need to do is give them call and they will take it from there.

DAC manufactures their designs in a state of the art facility in the Winston-Salem area of North Carolina and ships products throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  They offer a one stop shop to the RTO industry for complete store merchandising fixtures including Audio Visual Walls, Computer and Gaming Displays, Point of Sale Counters, Security Tools, Accessories, and Graphics.

More information can be found at their website at www.dacproducts.com or by calling 800/431-1982.
 

Savvy business owners are always looking for an edge in a competitive market. Experts agree that regardless of economic trends or company status, rewarding a job well done is always an effective strategy for increasing productivity.  Appreciation never goes out of style.  Bryce Awards, a division of Bryce Co. provides superior recognition jewelry to inspire the superior employee.

“Imagine presenting top performers with your original design for a one of a kind championship ring.  Experts say that to be the most effective, recognition should be highly public. There is nothing that separates a go-getter apart from the workforce like an enduring mark of excellence,” says Collins.

Every item from Bryce Awards is an enduring symbol of the accomplishments and commitment to excellence of each recipient.  Research shows that positive motivation increases productivity, and offering the highest quality award piece is an inspiration to dedicated employees. To make reward and recognition programs effective, incentives should reflect the company’s values and business strategy. Because Bryce Awards custom crafts jewelry, a company’s values are designed into each piece. 

Keeping employees engaged and focused is the best way to improve performance in all areas of business from customer service to product development.  What better way to keep people moving forward than creating a climate of achievement?  With Bryce Awards, maintaining an environment of success is easy.

“By partnering with us for medals, awards and programs your company can encourage employee excellence on a regular basis,” Collins says.  Bryce Awards has the perfect plan for ongoing recognition for monthly achievements at an affordable price.  Bryce offers unlimited variety and each piece is as individual as your imagination.  Bryce will help you design your recognition program to appropriately recognize all levels of achievement.

 “Bryce Awards and Promotional Products grew out of our manufacturing jewelry to designing recognition rings and lapel pins then to customers asking for engraved pens.  Our commitment is to offer our customers the very best products to grow their business,” says owner Bryan Collins.

Visit us at www.bryceawards.com to see our full line of products or call us at 800/880-9434 to discuss your specific project.

Doug Schatz, Vice President of Electronics Merchandising for NMG with Ernie Padalino, President & COO of Funai.

At PrimeTime! in National Harbor, Nationwide Marketing Group rolled out their exclusive program with Funai Corporation. The new program will offer Nationwide Members a good, better, best strategy on Funai’s popular line of Sylvania, Phillips and Magnavox consumer electronics products.

Mike Decker, Senior Vice President of Electronics Marketing, explained the importance of their new partnership with Funai, “for a short period there was a shortage in inventory from Tier 1 manufacturers that provided opening retail price points used to drive traffic into our Members’ stores. Without these lower priced product offerings, our Members were challenged getting customers into their doors.”

Doug Schatz, Vice President of Electronics Merchandising, explained the value of this new partnership to their Members, “This exclusive Nationwide program allows the independent dealer to enjoy the benefits of a factory direct relationship, while buying in quantities appropriate for their business. The ability to source three strong brands from one vendor makes this program even more compelling.”

Decker continued, “Nationwide needed to find a viable option to promote and attract new customer traffic. Our partnership with Fuani not only satisfied that need but has also given our Members much better and more competitive prices points then they had before.” 

According to Ernie Padalino, President & COO of Funai, independent dealers sometimes find it tough to meet freight requirements. However, because they are a manufacturer, Funai can ship directly to the dealer. So Nationwide dealers can now combine shipments of all three Fuani brands for lower, or usually no, shipping costs.

“Looking at the retail climate, we realized that we had a void that needed to be filled and found that Nationwide represented the best group of independent dealers to fill that void and help grow our brand’s sales and marketing efforts.” said Padalino. “The reception at PrimeTime! was excellent, we signed up a lot of new dealers and look forward to growing within the independent channel through our new partnership with Nationwide.”

For information about the many benefits of membership with Nationwide Marketing Group, including an invitation to the upcoming Primetime! buying show and conference in Las Vegas, visit www.nationwidemarketinggroup.org
 

Shane Birch and wife Karri

In October, 2009, easyhome launched the “Be A Contender” program to provide the industry’s top operators a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win a franchise financing package.

Candidates submitted complete business plans and a rigorous screening process narrowed the field to some of the best operators in the U.S.

• Rent-A-Center top 50 corporate store
• Aarons General Manager of top 5 all-star store 2006
• Aarons General Manager of the #4  corporate double diamond store in 2007 and 2008
• Aarons General Manager of the #1 corporate double diamond store in 2009
• Aarons Chairman Circle member Top Performer in 2006-2009
• Aarons Top profi ting Mid-America divisional store 2007-2009
   

Round 2 begins Fall 2010.

Last week at the PrimeTime! buying show and conference in National Harbor, Nationwide Marketing Group introduced their new partnership with CExchange that will allow dealers to offer electronics trade-in and recycling to their customers.

“It is illegal in most states to throw away electronics into waste,” said Scott Nordhaus, CEO of CExchange. “This program gives consumers a legal and easy way to get rid of unwanted products at no cost to the dealer since we pay for shipping and make sure that the products are recycled responsibly.”

Unlike other retail recycling programs that only allow consumers to bring in categories that a dealer already sells, this new program will allow dealers to take in up to 22 categories of electronics, including television, mobile phones, cameras, and computers.

According to Nordhaus, the benefits of the program are two-fold. Not only does it provide a needed service to the community but also provides value to the consumer and more foot traffic and increased margins for dealers. This is because the program appraises products based on their current condition and if applicable will give the customer a dollar value to those items.

“A typical customer will get up to $150 for 2 or 3 items that they bring in. In return, that customer will usually take the $150 credit and spend $300-$400 on new products at that store,” said Nordhaus.

“The ease and flexibility of this new recycling program is well suited to our diverse membership and places a high value on sustainability and convenience to the consumer,” said Doug Schatz, Vice President of Electronics Merchandising. “This is a great opportunity for our dealers to take a leadership role in bringing sustainability programs to their community. Additionally they will also enjoy the benefits of differentiation from their competition with this exclusive program.

As a four year ENERGY STAR award winner, Nationwide Marketing Group is no stranger to the importance of energy conservation in the retailing industry. For many years the buying group has been pushing an environmental message to their independent dealers, customers and the communities they serve.

To find out more on how to participate in the CExchange trade-in and recycling program email customerservice@cexchange.com or go to www.cexchange.com

For information about the many benefits of membership with Nationwide Marketing Group, including an invitation to the next Primetime! buying show and conference in Las Vegas, visit www.nationwidemarketinggroup.org

Baber’s President Shannon Strunk.

Last Friday, Pascagoula-based rent to own company Baber’s became the Tupelo Furniture Market’s 2010 National Buyer Appreciation Award Winner.

Before that, only two of the previous 42 winners hailed from Mississippi.

Baber’s Inc. became the third Magnolia State winner, getting the coveted award in front of hundreds of attendees at a Friday night ceremony at the market, according to the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal.

The Pascagoula-based rent-to-own retailer was founded in 1959. It now has 51 stores in five southeastern states.

Baber’s has sent buyers to Tupelo since the first market in 1988 and company officials say it has been an important part of their growth and success.

"The Tupelo Furniture Market has been a partner," Baber’s President Shannon Strunk told the Journal. "It’s part of why we’re here. We’ve developed a relationship with many of the companies here. We got a lot of our ideas in the beginning from people at the market."

Now in its third generation as a family business, Baber’s also has other retail operations, including nine Rent-n-Roll wheel and tire stores and two Furnish 1-2-3 furniture stores.

But the bread-and-butter of the company is its namesake stores, which have gotten much of their inventory through the years at the Tupelo Furniture Market.

"Tupelo has grown with us," said CEO Cynthia Baber-Strunk. "We are a Mississippi company and we’re just very honored to be here." Cynthia is a current member of the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations’ Board of Directors.

Sheldon Strunk is the chief buyer for the company and lauded Tupelo.

"We’ve been coming here for 22 years, and it’s a very easy market to work," he said.

While it’s known for its promotional furniture offerings, the market also offers more for buyers and retailers, Shannon Strunk said.

"Customers want to have the things they see everyone else have, and we can get those products in Tupelo," he said.

The Strunks are also committed to economic development closer to home and are spearheading development of a 413,000-square-foot mixed-use development, Strunk Centre, in Pascagoula that will provide 140 temporary and 400 permanent jobs in the retail, restaurant and commercial sectors.

The center concept began with a desire to contribute to the revitalization of Pascagoula in the wake of hurricane Katrina and will provide Pascagoula and Jackson County a much needed expansion of industrial office space, commercial office space, retail, and residential areas.

"Baber’s has been very good to us," said TFM owner and CEO V.M. Cleveland. "We’ve kind of grown together, and it was really a no-brainer to select them as the award winner."

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TRIB Group’s signature roundtable event, Meeting of the Minds, now with a second Group Buy Fair added, begins next week, Sunday, Aug. 29 through Wednesday, Sept. 1.

The event will be co-located with Brand’s Source’s National Convention at the Paris/Bally’s Resorts in Las Vegas.

Registration is Sunday, August 29, prior to the ‘Meeting of the Minds’ opening remarks which begin at 9 a.m. Monday.

First day ‘Meeting of the Minds’ topics include renting and collecting, promos, contests, pricing, product, legal, fee collection and packaging facilitated by Countryside’s Mike Tissot and Sam’s Furniture and Appliance’s Seth Weisblatt.

The first day of roundtable discussions will also include presentations on cutting costs, the health care effects on business and breakout sessions with over 20 topics to choose from.

Monday evening, TRIB Group will host its ever-popular HOTSHOW with the best discounts and deals on everything from furniture to appliances to electronics and specialty.

The ‘Meeting of the Minds’ will continue Tuesday morning with a third roundtable discussion on human resources, facilitated by Rent One’s Trent Agin. Tuesday will also be unity shirt day for members to wear the 2010 Meeting of the Minds shirt that will be distributed at registration.

The buy fair will open to all members for lunch and purchasing at 12:30pm on Tuesday. There will be great purchasing discounts from TRIB Group including fast cash money, passport options, summit savings vouchers and special buys from top vendors.

Last minute registration can be completed at www.brandsourceconvention.com. All vendor representatives attending the show must also register for name badges.

Currently, 69 member companies and three guest companies are slated to attend the event, with over 190 total attendees. These attendance numbers represent a 53% and a 78% increase over 2009 attendance numbers, respectively. A full, downloadable copy of the event agenda and schedule of topics can be found at www.tribgroup.com.

The Rental Industry Buying Group (TRIB Group), based in Atlanta, Georgia, was established in 1983 and is currently the largest member owned, member run buying cooperative in the nation specifically for the RTO industry.

TRIB Group’s membership is currently 153 member companies strong representing over 3,400 storefronts and is proud to be a strategic alliance partner with AVB/Brand Source.
 

After a seven-year absence, Woonsocket has a ColorTyme to serve the community thanks to Ray Bird. A rent-to-own franchisee for 20 years, Bird recently opened the doors to his new store – the third including his Providence and Pawtucket, R.I. stores.

“Woonsocket is a perfect place for ColorTyme, and we’re glad to have the opportunity to re-introduce the brand here,” Bird said. “Residents deserve a better choice in rent-to-own, and now they have it.”

The new store offers a vast selection of furniture, appliances, computers, electronics and more. ColorTyme offers customers flexible payment options to get name-brand products they need without a credit check. In addition, service, delivery and set-up are included at no extra charge.

Bird is confident customers will enjoy the hometown feel of a smaller rent-to-own store and benefit from the level of value and service it provides.

“Due to the competition, we feel customers can take advantage of an independently-owned store where they get the utmost respect and attention and a better selection of furniture,” he said. “We know that customers can rent from the others, that’s why at ColorTyme we have the products they want to own.”

The new ColorTyme is located at 825 Front St. The store will celebrate its grand opening on Sept. 1 with a free public event.

Rent One technicians participated in the company’s first ever "Delivery Technician Rodeo" last week, honing install skills and team building across Rent One’s seven regions and making the front page of the August 19 edition of The Paragould Daily Press in the process.

Delivery technicians competed in seven events including: range cord hook-up, removal and reinstall of fridge freezer door, installing anti-tip bracket on range, computer memory install, TV hook-up wit blu-ray DVD, dollying and lifting techniques and vehicle backing.

The winners in these categories received trophies and techs also competed in a team workout and written testing and training.

Rent One Manager Tim Daugherity said the competition was a great way to combine training and recognition.

"We spend a great deal of money training the delivery techs and we have some really skilled technicians here," Daugherity told the Paragould Daily Press.

Regional competition continues through September and one store will be chosen as the best over all store. That store will then go on to compete against other stores in Illinois and Kentucky. the overall winner will win cash and prizes.