Rent-to-Own

Rent-to-own veteran Jay Muir opened his first Premier Rental-Purchase store in Manchester, New Hampshire, in September. Encouraged to strike out on his own by a colleague who was opening his own store and armed with a business plan that was impressive to the bank, Muir acted on his dream to launch his own business and enjoy the flexibility that comes with owning your own store. Jay began his career in the industry delivering for Rent-A-Center. He moved up to service representative, assistant manager and, following a buy-out, to store manager. He managed his first store in Somersworth, New Hampshire, and after a successful year, moved to Concord, New Hampshire, where he ran the third most profitable store in the county. After becoming a district manager, he took over the most profitable market and ran it for four straight years.

According to Muir, he considered several options for franchising and found that Premier allowed him the most flexibility and the benefits of a network that provided such features as health insurance, a payroll department and the Premier buying group. With doors open and a commitment to customer service that has made him a success throughout his career, Muir looks for every opportunity to put his business philosophy to work, but this time it is being applied in his own store. Muir’s philosophy is: be nice to people, do what you say you’ll do and surround yourself with really good people who want to do their job and move forward.

In November 5, Rent One’s Trent Agin assumed the role of company president for the 44-store chain of rent-to-own stores. Formerly one of three company vice presidents, Agin will now head up all of the company’s operations, including monitoring daily financial activity, all business-related issues, customer gain and potential revenue growth as well as the development of all employees, according to Rent One owner and CEO Larry Carrico. “Trent has been with Rent One for 19 years. He has an innovative way of seeing things and provides counterbalance to issues facing the company,” says Carrico.

Agin, 39, started with Rent One in 1988 when he was hired as an account manager. “We’ve always been a growth-oriented company. I want to continue to focus on growth and to provide a great place to work for our employees as well as provide a great quality of life for our customers,” says Agin. “I am very excited for the opportunity to lead this fine group of employees and great company,” he says. Agin is also looking to grow Rent One to more locations in the Midwest. The chain currently has stores in Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. Carrico is confident in Agin’s ability to lead the company forward. “Trent has always been able to look out for the interests of the company and his coworkers in everything he does.”

Pennsylvania Association of Rental Dealers President Sandi Frye is such a strong proponent of the legislative process that PARD is offering to pay for half of the hotel stay for rent-to-own dealers in their state who register for the 2008 APRO Legislative Conference in February. It is PARD’s goal to have a Pennsylvania rent-to-own constituent from every district at the 2008 conference lobbying on behalf of the industry. "I congratulate Sandi and PARD for their creativity and commitment to the industry’s legislative goals," says APRO Executive Director Bill Keese. So far, PARD has nine rent-to-own dealers committed to attend the conference. "This is such a great idea that I wanted to share it with other state rental dealer organizations to see if they can match Sandi’s enthusiasm," says Keese. APRO is issuing a challenge to every state rental dealer association to match PARD’s offer. Frye attended her first APRO Legislative Conference this past April.

In a letter to other state association presidents, she wrote: "I have realized how much of a difference meetings with congressmen are when a constituent is present during the meeting. I understand how important it is for me as the president of PARD to get all our members to attend the conference in 2008… My goal for the 2008 Legislative Conference is to have one or more constituents in the meetings with congressmen and have a meeting with every congressman or aide." PARD is offering to pay for one of the two hotel room nights needed for the conference for each PARD member who registers. The dates for the conference are February 11-13. The hotel registration deadline at the L’Enfant Plaza Hotel (202/484-1000) at the APRO room rate of $219 a night is January 4. Conference registration is available through the APRO Web site or by contacting APRO’s Jeannie Hutchison via e-mail or by calling her at 800/204-2776, ext. 108.

Kevin Quinn of KLQ Enterprises in Tacoma, Washington, has taken his Rent-n-Roll franchise on the road—specifically to the Seattle International Auto Show. KLQ-RNR has a booth promoting his wheel and tire products at this annual event that draws people from Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. The show opened October 31 and runs through November 4 and is being held at the Qwest Field Event Center in Seattle. “Kevin Quinn’s people are not only promoting Rent-n-Roll in their market, but also promoting Joe Recla’s Rent-n-Roll operation in Boise, Idaho, and Joe Brandes and David Griffey’s RNR operation in Milwaukee, Oregon,” reports Quality Rentals’ Mike Little. The photo below was sent in by Little from the show floor.

Queensbury, New York, rent-to-own dealer and ColorTyme franchisee Tom Glogowski of Your Choice Rentals coordinated a local food drive in October that collected 280 pounds of food for a local mission. Having just opened his first rent-to-own store July 5 (with the help of Tom and Lisa Neyhart of ColorTyme), Glogowski did the standard direct mail and radio advertising to generate business, but he wanted to do something more for his community. So, Glogowski and his local radio station, B95.5, partnered up with Albany-Saratoga Speedway proprietor Bruce Richards to develop a campaign to raise food for their local Open Door Mission. The mission serves the needs of the Queensbury and Glens Falls communities. "Between the three of us—the store, the radio station and the speedway—we got the word out," says Glogowski.

Throughout the month of October, Glogowski’s customers donated food through the store, directly to the Mission or to the racetrack. In return for their donations, Glogowski’s customers received a free four-pack admission to the Speedway’s annual Halloween Havoc event on October 20. "The annual Halloween Havoc is basically a demolition derby and a very well-attended event," says Glogowski. "I wanted everyone to realize that people are in need year-round, not just during the holidays. Last year alone, the Mission provided 60,000 meals and anticipates that need growing to 80,000 meals in 2008," says Glogowski. The 280 pounds of food collected will provide 880 meals. "The food drive culminated with the Speedway event, but people are still bringing me food!" he says. Not one to turn down a donation, Glogowski happily accepts and makes the delivery to the Mission.

Members of the Oklahoma Rental Dealers Association will be holding their annual meeting on November 13 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. ORDA President Randy Braucher of Stanley’s Get It Today! in Claremore encourages all state rent-to-own dealers to attend. On the agenda is a legislative update by Steve Kelly, an update and Q&A with the Department of Consumer Credit, election of ORDA officers and vendor presentations in the afternoon. "Your participation is extremely crucial to the industry," says Braucher. "Your investment is the key to keeping our industry strong, united and protected from any negative legislation in the years to come." The meeting will be held at the Best Western Trade Winds Central in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nationwide Southwest has generously agreed to sponsor the meeting, breakfast and lunch. For more information, you can e-mail ORDA or call Randy Braucher at 918/283-1300.

Premier Rental-Purchase franchisee John Darden has replaced outgoing APRO board member Gary Romine of Show-Me Rent-To-Own. Romine resigned from the board on October 26 due to his growing commitments managing political campaigns in his home state of Missouri. Darden–who ran for a board seat during the election held during the 2007 APRO Convention and Buying Show in September–had the next highest number of votes and was voted in unanimously by the board.

“While we will miss Gary Romine’s participation on the APRO board, we fully support and encourage his political involvement,” says APRO Executive Director Bill Keese. “The APRO board is excited and grateful to have an outstanding Premier franchisee John Darden ready to fill Gary’s vacant seat. We look forward to John’s involvement at the November board meeting.” Darden was named the 2007 APRO Rental Dealer of the Year.

The staff at Central Rent To Own, based in Ontario, Oregon, are raising money for a local free health care clinic by scaring as many people they can this Halloween season. Owner Joe Recla, who serves on the board of the Ontario Four Rivers Health Care free clinic, and his store’s general manager, Dennis Hart, have come up with a creative way to raise money for the clinic. "The Experiment Station Haunted House" was the brainchild of Hart who is spearheading the haunted house project. Recla donated the two-story building site for the five-day event.

In an article in the Argus Observer, Hart said that "the theme—The Experiment Station—will tie in with the medical aspect of the clinic and feature mad doctors, scientific and mental experiments and surgeries, a laboratory and more." A local church has agreed to match funds raised by the haunted house. Also heavily involved in the project will be Central Rent To Own employee Debbie Steadman, who has raised the bar on the fund-raising aspect of the project by setting a $5,000 goal. The Four Rivers Health Care is currently open one night a week for people in need of medical care who do not have money or health insurance.

On January 1, 2008, the minimum wage for Missouri employers is set to increase to $6.65 an hour from $6.50. This is the second time the wage has increased in as many years. Many employers are still adjusting to the increase of January 2007, where the minimum wage increased from $5.15 to $6.50. The 2.3 percent increase is directly tied to a 2.2 percent growth in the national consumer price index over a 12-month period. Adjusting the minimum wage based on the CPI inflator was written into Missouri law in January 2007. The tie-in to the CPI inflator has both proponents and detractors. According to an October 22 article in the Springfield Business Journal, Vice President of Governmental Affairs for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry Michael Grote states that "many Missouri businesses won’t be able to afford a continually increasing minimum wage based on the CPI." However, Missouri Rental Dealers Association President John Cleek, Jr., believes that the increase "will help the rent-to-own industry as it will give customers more disposable income to rent more products."

Also, Cleek says that the increase won’t impact his business as employees of Cleek’s Lease or Own are paid more than minimum wage. "With gasoline prices the way they are and winter and heating bills coming up, the wage increase can only help," says Cleek. Another proponent of the Missouri law is Brad Stokes, president of the Springfield Labor Council of the Missouri AFL-CIO. In the same article, Stokes states that "by increasing minimum wage, everybody gets a boost from it," implying that the economy benefits from workers having more income. The minimum wage in Washington, for example, which is also tied to the state’s CPI, is now the highest in the nation—at $7.93 an hour. However, Washington’s unemployment rate has steadily improved each year since the law was passed in 2001, going from 6.3 percent in 2004 to 4.6 percent this August. Missouri currently has a 5.3 percent unemployment rate.

Twenty-two years ago, Darrell Tissot opened the first Rent-2-Own store in Hillsboro, Ohio. Countryside Rentals is now run by his son Mike, who joined the company in 1997. Despite having stores in most of the county seats in southern Ohio, up until last week Rent-2-Own had never had a location in Chillicothe, Ohio, the largest city in the company’s home county. It has now become the site of Rent-2-Own store No. 22. Earlier this year, Countryside purchased a former music store building in a heavily traveled commercial district in Chillicothe. The structure has undergone an interior and exterior renovation, now featuring a 6,000-square-foot showroom for household furniture, appliances, televisions and computers. A separate media viewing room was included in the design, specifically to feature flat panel TVs. As with other Rent-2-Own stores, Chillicothe will also offer an expanded variety of products, including power tools, tanning beds and children’s toys.

As the company grew over the years, adding locations in neighboring counties, Chillicothe was left as the missing piece in its ever-expanding jigsaw puzzle, due to the lack of the right real estate and market opportunities. Mike Tissot believes that recent changes in the number of furniture stores and rental dealers in Chillicothe have left consumers looking for more choices. And being able to acquire a location in the middle of all the new construction on North Bridge Street made the opportunity even more appealing. This approach follows Tissot’s formula of slow and steady growth, with an average of one store per year being added under his tenure. A talented middle management team and home office support staff have made consistent growth easier, according to Tissot. The Chillicothe Rent-2-Own store is managed by Jeff Borders, a resident of Ross County who has been with Countryside for more than two years, most recently as the manager of the Logan, Ohio store.