Woodville Rental Co. – APRO’s longest-standing rental dealer member at 43 years – has been acquired by The Premier Companies.
Woodville Rental was founded in 1982 in Toledo, Ohio, by the late Zale Kohler. Zale owned and operated three retail appliance and electronics stores affiliated with Curtis Mathes when corporate sent him to Texas to learn about a new program the company was pioneering: rent-to-own.
“He tried it out in a little corner of one of his stores,” said his son Mark Kohler, Woodville’s most recent Owner & President. “Dad placed a three-inch newspaper ad for renting 19” televisions, and the phones rang off the hook with customers interested in a new way to own a TV.”
By 1984, Zale decided to take the company completely rent-to-own. Mark became involved in the family business the following year, helping grow Woodville Rental to four locations and expand its offerings into furniture, computers, and more. Mark and Zale together won the 2023 TRIB Group President’s Award – “a huge honor,” Mark noted. But his RTO career had an even higher peak.
“I’m proudest of the relationships we created,” said Mark. “Employees became like family, with an average tenure of about 12 years, but with many staff members staying with us for 20 to 30 years. We built customer relationships that were multi-generational; many current customers are the grandchildren of original customers. And many of our vendors and other rental dealers became dear friends over the years.”
As he approached 60, Mark felt the time was right to explore exit options. He began seeking a buyer for the business that would provide opportunities for employees to keep on succeeding and advancing in their careers, would maintain the Woodville Rental name and legacy, and would continue serving and taking care of customers as the company’s top priority.
Premier and its Founder, President, & CEO Trooper Earle checked all of Woodville’s buyer boxes, and the Premier and Woodville teams have been working together for the past two years to ensure a smooth transition.
“Our collaboration really worked out well,” Earle said. “While we own the business and the people work for us, Premier wants businesses with the people there who helped get them where they are. Mark genuinely cares about his people, some of whom had been with Woodville for decades – both things that attracted us to his company. I actually asked one longtime employee why he was still with Woodville 25 years later, and with tears in his eyes, he just said, ‘This is home.’ That’s the kind of people we want at Premier stores.”
While Earle said Premier is bringing much more systemic structure, new technologies, and employee training to the company (through Premier University), the business will retain the Woodville name for a while, at least, because – as Earle puts it – “it would be foolish to toss out 43 years of a well-earned remarkable reputation and Toledo customer goodwill.”
However, Earle also said the future of Woodville Rental is not with The Premier Companies as a corporate store.
“Our goal is to either transition the stores to the current managers or to someone else and let them fulfill the dream of ownership as a Premier franchisee,” said Earle. “Whenever a franchisee within our organization wants to exit the business, our goal is to help them exit and keep the store open through either another franchisee, a current employee, or someone new seeking to franchise.”
As for Mark Kohler, he says his future will be full of activities he loves almost as much as rent-to-own: spending more time with his wife and family, and doing more traveling, gardening, cooking, cycling, and exploring the great outdoors.
Congratulations, Mark – you’ll be missed!
