Association of Progressive Rental Organizations

In Memoriam: Chuck Sims

Chuck Sims

One of APRO’s pioneers and a rent-to-own legend, Chuck Sims, passed away on August 16. Ed Winn III, APRO’s general counsel who was there alongside Sims when APRO began in 1980, shares his thoughts on a great man.

Chuck Sims died last week and I will miss him terribly. He was one of the first rental dealers, along with Bud Holladay, whom I met way back in 1980. He was largely responsible for the creation of the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations because he wanted to upgrade the whole rent-to-own industry and the image it portrayed to the public. Chuck owned Remco, at the time the largest RTO company in the country. It was a far-flung enterprise with stores in major metropolitan areas from Atlanta to Seattle.

Chuck was always incredibly generous with his time. He was a major seminar presenter at the first APRO meetings. He originally told the rental dealers that he was not going to help them get into the rental business, but he quickly relented and told each assembled group whatever they wanted to know about how he ran the Remco business, the mistakes he made and the successes he achieved.

Here is a bit of the Remco business philosophy: “We believe that the value received by our customer is a direct result of the services we provide. We intend to improve the quality of these services consistently…We believe that we have capable, cooperative and highly motivated co-workers who, working together as a team, are the key to the attainment of our goals and the success of our business.”

In many ways, he was prescient about the possibilities of rent-to-own and knew it could become a vital part of the retail world if dealers could be schooled in the right way to run the business. As general counsel of the trade association, I have been trying to carry out Chuck’s vision ever since. And really, APRO as a whole has sought to honor his vision since the association was founded in 1980. 

When Chuck started, working as he did for Ernie Talley at Mr. T’s, it was a rough business, to put it kindly. Everything was week to week. There were only televisions for rent and the prevailing wisdom among rental dealers was that “nobody watches my TV for free.” By the time APRO came into being, Chuck had undergone an RTO transformation. First, he converted all of his stores to monthly accounts and grew huge—at the time, 2,000–2,500 BOR stores. He trained his employees at Remco to do everything possible to get customers to ownership. When he saw keep rates well below 50 percent, his conclusion was that the industry was disappointing that many customers, but he was convinced that the rent-to-own business model could be modified to enhance ownership and overall customer satisfaction.

Chuck looked at taking Remco public in the early 1980s, but decided instead to sell at the then-unheard-of multiple of 10 times monthly revenues. The sale to Jim Graham made Chuck a rich man. On one occasion, however, he confided that he was fretting about money and I asked him if he didn’t have enough not to worry; “There is no such thing as enough,” he replied.

After selling the business, he lived the comfortable life of a country gentleman with his wife, Sally, in Sugarland, Texas, a suburb of Houston. I visited him from time to time to soak up more of his insights and wisdom—about rent-to-own, to be sure, but also about life and how to live it. He had a robust life after RTO, raising bulls, emus, ostriches and tilapia, and I am sure that is an incomplete list of his entrepreneurial adventures after he left the industry.

Chuck was one of the few people one meets who was truly larger than life, and there remain any number of former Remco employees still in the business who regularly sing his praises and doubtless will miss him as I do. He was really and truly one of the good ones.

Ed Winn III is APRO’s general counsel.

Read a profile of Chuck Sims in RTOHQ: The Magazine, March–April 2010, which can be downloaded at goo.gl/PX9C3g.

The history of APRO, part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35DKbhBkZMc#t=11

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Mike Lewis

Mike Lewis is a Premier Rental Purchase franchisee with multiple stores and currently serves as Vice President of Operations. With 33 years of experience in the rent-to-own industry, he has spent the past 20 years working closely with franchisee owners and previously spent 12 years in Corporate RTO, gaining a strong foundation in the business.

For the past five years, Mike has been sharing his knowledge by teaching managers and franchisees at the company’s Training Center.

Outside of work, he enjoys time with his family, kids, and grandkids, and appreciates the simple things in life – especially riding his Harley Davidson with the sun on his face. If you know, you know!

Lauren Talicska

Arona Corporation dba Arona Home Essentials

Lauren Talicska is an experienced multi-channel marketing specialist and the Vice President of Marketing & Communications at Arona Home Essentials. She has found her home in the RTO community, supporting stores in branding, growth, and increasing traffic.

You may recognize Lauren as a former RTO vendor, including her time as a partner for Nationwide RentDirect, or her previous participation in the APRO Vendor Advisory Committee. Lauren calls Columbus, Ohio, home and spends her workday crafting and executing marketing promotions from inception to realization, all while supporting the branding and social media needs of all the Arona stores in 12 states (plus Puerto Rico!).

Charles Smitherman

APRO

Charles Smitherman, JD, PhD, CAE, became CEO of APRO in 2023, bringing years of legal and executive experience in the rent-to-own industry. 

Prior to joining the association, Charles served as COO, General Counsel, and Vice President of PTS Financial Services, where he played an active role in the rent-to-own industry by representing his company through PTS’s club program offering with APRO member dealers. Charles is an attorney with two decades of experience across a wide variety of areas, including RTO, consumer financial services, antitrust, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, franchise law, and privacy law. Following law school at the University of Georgia, Charles earned a Master of Legal Studies and PhD in Law from the University of Oxford in England.

Charles is credentialed as a Certified Association Executive (CAE) with the American Society of Association Executives, a Certified Franchise Executive (CFE) with the International Franchise Association, and a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM) through the International Association of Privacy Professionals. As APRO’s sixth CEO in its 45-year history, he brings a collaborative, member-focused approach to association leadership, emphasizing transparency, advocacy, and value creation. Outside of work, Charles is an active ultra runner and open water swimmer.

Mike Kays

Ashley Furniture Industries

As VP of Rental Sales for Ashley Furniture Industries, Mike thrives on building relationships with our RTO industry veterans, and helping businesses grow through new product, new marketing, and new supply chain options.

Mike works to leverage a wide breadth of relationships and influence, intimate knowledge of market trends, and unique knowledge of what RTO dealers need from a supplier to be successful.

The saying goes that a high tide raises all boats, and our goal is to leverage the world’s largest furniture manufacturer to drive the continued growth of the RTO industry and all the suppliers.

Mike Tissot

Countryside Rentals Inc., dba Rent-2-Own

Mike grew up in the rent-to-own industry under the guidance of his father, former APRO President and RTO legend Darrell Tissot. For nearly 25 years, Mike’s innovative leadership has helped expand the family business to more than 40 stores across Ohio and Kentucky while also shaping the industry as a whole.

He has served as President of the Ohio Rental Dealers Association, an APRO board member and Treasurer, and President and Treasurer of the TRIB Group. His contributions have earned him the APRO President’s Award of Excellence and the title of APRO Rental Dealer of the Year.

Outside of RTO, Mike enjoys time at the lake house or in Orange Beach, Alabama, with his girlfriend, Angela Strong McCool. A passionate Cincinnati Reds fan, he rarely misses a game, whether watching or listening alongside his parents. He also takes every opportunity to visit Arizona, where his daughter is currently attending Arizona State University.