APRO Director of Marketing & Communications Amberlee Maya and Nationwide Marketing Group videographer Kevin Bryant recently traveled to upstate New York to record the first set of video testimonials by rent-to-own (RTO) employees and customers about their experiences. The video shoot is part of a larger APRO initiative designed to support industry advocacy and public relations.
Maya and Bryant spent two days in Buffalo, New York, and Jamestown, New York, interviewing a total of 16 New Yorkers who either work or shop at Your Hometown Rent To Own Inc. dba Hometown Rent To Own, Arona Corporation dba Arona Home Essentials, or Orange Rock Inc. dba Premier Rental-Purchase.
“This project has been a longtime vision of mine, so seeing it come together in New York was incredibly meaningful,” Maya said. “Hearing directly from New York consumers about the impact rent-to-own has had on their lives brings the RTO story to a completely different level – these are real people, real relationships, and real outcomes, and their voices deserve to be heard.”
APRO members John Laing, Director of Nationwide RentDirect, Jeff Smith, President of the New York Rental Dealers Association, Naomi Smith, Office Manager of Hometown Rent To Own, and Bill Scripa, Owner of Premier Rental-Purchase all contributed greatly to bringing the testimonial project to life and coordinating the New York video shoot logistics.
Maya said that even within this small sampling of RTO stories, a profound pattern of deep connection emerged, with customers and employees alike frequently describing the long-term relationships they share with each other as feeling “like family.”
“We spoke with one young couple who told us rent-to-own helped them learn how to budget and prioritize early on in their marriage,” Maya recalled. “They no longer rely on RTO, but still choose to shop with their local store because of the flexibility and the relationships they’ve built.”
Other key themes that came up in the testimonials included employee pride in the work of rent-to-own, the real-life impact RTO has on customers’ stability, comfort, and ability to move forward, and customer gratitude toward both employees and the industry overall.
“People shared very real moments from their lives,” said Maya. “From a customer whose local store stood by her after the sudden loss of her husband – and continues to support her today – to others who said rent-to-own was the only way they could get the basic things they needed for their homes.”
“This project reflects a deliberate shift in how our industry tells its story, said APRO CEO Charles Smitherman. “Advocacy and public understanding are strongest when they are rooted in real experiences, not abstractions or talking points. By capturing the voices of customers and employees directly, these testimonials show the human impact of rent-to-own in a way no position paper ever could. This is exactly the kind of work that builds credibility, trust, and long-term understanding.”
The New York footage will be used as part of a larger testimonial video series, accessible to APRO members to be shared so audiences can hear directly from the people impacted by RTO.
