12 Steps for Successfully Renting Jewelry
With Christmas approaching, begin planning now for a profitable holiday season...more

Ferrari Opens Premier Rentals In PA
According to Brian, "Customers are looking for something different. They don’t want a cookie cutter store." So AVG is meeting their demands for upscale inventory, a spacious showroom, and a strong focus on customer care...more

EZCORP To Open 120 New Stores In 2005
"...our ending payday loan balance was double [2003]'s ending balance."- Joe Rotunda, President and Chief Executive Officer, EZCORP...more

Consumers Excited But Confused About Digital TV Options
"First, price points are a key inhibitor of this market; and second, consumers are incredibly overwhelmed and confused about their digital TV options"-Danielle Levitas, VP Consumer and Broadband Markets, IDC...more

Book; Tapping Your Inner Entrepreneur, Making the Move from Employee to Business Owner
On the heals of the successful release of its first book oriented toward women entrepreneurs, National Association of Women Business Owners announced the release of "Tapping Your Inner Entrepreneur...more

The Year In Review; Top Four Stories Of 2004
2004 has been a year of dramatic change for most of the 40,000 people who make up the rent to own industry worldwide. Acquisition announcements were a weekly occurrence throughout the year, the two largest RTO companies in the U.S. resigned from the national trade association, Wisconsin legislators came to their senses only to lose them again in the middle of the night, and a new rent to own company was launched in the former Soviet Union by a British entrepreneur- with the help of a Texan and a former Russian Navy submarine commander...more

Cash America Closes $120 Million SuperPawn Acquisition
The transaction provides Cash America its initial entry into all of these markets and a first step to the western United States for pawn lending activities...more

America’s Research Group; Shopping Levels Increasing But Still Expected To Be Lackluster 3.2% Over 2003
Store shopping levels exploded this weekend with over half of America, 54.9%, hitting the stores. Shopping levels Friday were not good, with Saturday flat to up slightly, but Sunday shoppers left Church and spent, and spent...more

Study Says Worldwide PC Market To Double By 2010
Competition for market share will pit industry leaders like Dell and HP against local emerging market manufacturers and fundamentally change the rules of the game...more

Rent Way Files 10K
Rent Way recently filed it's 10K annual report with the SEC. The annual report provides a comprehensive overview of the company for the past year...more

Rent-Way Selects BellSouth for Long Distance
The BellSouth account team recently designed customized calling cards, emblazoned with Rent- Way's corporate messaging, for Rent-Way's upcoming annual managers conference...more

Notebooks More Popular Than TVs
Analyst firm Gartner expects both U.S. and worldwide fourth quarter consumer notebook shipments to be up almost 22 percent each over 2003...more

Government Reaffirms Chinese Wooden Bedroom Furniture Import Duties; Retailers Say Vote Amounts to Needless Tax on American Consumers
"The end result is that American consumers are forced to pay a new tax on bedroom furniture. This isn't how our trade laws should work"- Michael Veitenheimer,VP and General Counsel, The Bombay Company...more

CIT Ranks As Leading Lender to Women and Minority Entrepreneurs
Out of 2,750 lenders, CIT provided more financing to women, veterans, African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans than any other institution, and ranked second in loans to Hispanics...more

RCA to Introduce Blue-ray HD DVD Players
"We believe that the timing is right for the introduction in 2005 of high-definition DVD players that Thomson will market under the RCA brand in the U.S. and the THOMSON brand in Europe in support of the content roll-out"- Mike O'Hara, Executive Vice President, Thomson Consumer Connectivity...more

Premier Rental Purchase Opens Lancaster Texas Location
The new store opened with a loyal multi-generational base of customers who would follow owner and RTO icon Roland Bennett just about anywhere in Texas...more

La-Z-Boy Names Collier Chief Marketing Officer
Collier spent several years in product management and business development with Whirlpool and GE Canada in the US, Canada, and Europe...more

LCD Monitors Overtake CRT Monitors in Q3'04
Of the mainstream LCD monitor sizes, 19" SXGA grew the most in Q3'04 at 22% and is projected to have the largest growth in Q4'04 up 27%, as the street prices reach new lows...more

Record Factory To Dealer Sales Of Digital TV; 1 Million Units Shipped In October
"We expected DTV sales to be strong in the final months of the year, but to see the numbers in print is an exhilarating affirmation of DTV’s success"- Sean Wargo, Director of Industry Analysis, CEA...more

Dude, Where's My BOR?
I seem to have lost my BOR. They were here the last time I looked. Like eight-track tapes and Barbara Streisand's talent, they simply vanished...more

Report: Retail Financial Services, The Evolving Needs of U S Consumers
For the past decade a profound evolution has been taking place in the way Americans meet their individual financial service needs This change has taken place gradually and it has occurred off the radar screen for most but it represents a fundamental shift in how a rapidly growing number of Americans choose and access the services they require to manage their day to day money matters and their overall financial needs...more

ColorTyme Dealers To Gather In Dallas
"The Winter Operations Meeting provides an opportunity for ColorTyme franchisees to exchange ideas and be recognized for outstanding performance," said Bob Bloom, President and Chief Executive Officer of ColorTyme...more

Creating Press For Your Business; WithIt (Women in the Home Industries Today) Schedules Seminar
"We offer this as an opportunity to share competitive intelligence within our industry and to network with and support our members and guests"-Karen Tucker, High Point Enterprise...more

Furniture Brands International 'Softness Continues'; Company To Take "Downtime" At US Plants
"We believe overall economic concerns are contributing to a weakness in consumer confidence that is negatively affecting the consumers' willingness to invest in big-ticket, discretionary purchases like furniture."-Mickey Holliman, Chairman and CEO, Furniture Brands International...more

Lack Of Hot New Product Weighing Heavily On Holiday Shopping
"My earlier forecast of 3.2% still looks good after two lackluster weekends of Christmas gift buying. This lack of any hot products or toys still weighs heavily on shoppers who do not need to spend more this Christmas."-Britt Beemer, America's Research Group...more

Gary Hughes Opens 31st ColorTyme
After 14 years as a ColorTyme franchisee, Gary Hughes is continuing to expand his group of stores with the opening of his 31st store and sixth ColorTyme in Idaho...more

Furniture & Appliances Now (FAN) Acquires Pay-Less Rentals Of Conway Arkansas; Store Count To 18
"The Faulkner County trade area is progressive, has strong community leadership, and is poised for explosive growth. It’s a perfect fit geographically, and for our customer base."- Geron Vail, President, Furniture & Appliances Now...more

Rentcash To Add Western Union Services
"Adding the capabilities of Western Union...to The Cash Store's payday advance services brings us closer to our goal of being the complete neighborhood financial services provider"- Gordon Reykdal, President and CEO of Rentcash...more

Employer Tips; Send A Safe And Sober Message About Workplace Parties This Holiday Season
During the holiday season, employees and employers often get together to unwind and celebrate. These parties typically mean lots of music, food and drinks. If the drinks include alcohol, however, workplace celebrations can have very unfortunate consequences...more

Self-Employment Up Sharply for Women, Blacks, and Latinos
"This study provides definitive evidence for the growth trend we've seen in entrepreneurship over the years"- Robert Hughes, president of the National Association for the Self-Employed...more

CEO Survey; Flexibility and Adapting to Change Vital to Competing
66 percent of the CEOs surveyed say that the availability of talented managers is a top priority...more

Rent Way Reports Same Store Sales Up 5.2%
"In fiscal 2004 we achieved our objectives of returning our company to profitability and driving significant top line growth."- William Morgenstern, Rent-Way's Chairman and CEO...more

New Survey: Even People with Modest Incomes Can Live 'Richly,' But Companies Cannot Survive by Offering them Average Cost and Value
5 popular rent to own categories are in the Top 10 in which consumers will "Trade Up"; Personal computers: 52.1%,  Furniture: 49.4%,  Bedding: 47.6%,  Kitchen appliances: 46.7%,  Home entertainment products: 46.6%...more

Go Prepaid Depot.com Partners With The Rent to Own Industry
Industry experts expect more than 40 million prepaid wireless transactions this year alone. Many of the rental purchase industry's existing customers are purchasing these products from your competitors...more

Buddy's Home Furnishings Treats 200 Employees and Spouses To Bahamas Cruise
Buddy's Home Furnishings, the largest independent rent to own company in the United States, held it's 4th annual Cruise to the Bahamas recently...more
 

Rentcash Secures $6.4 Million Private Placement
The net proceeds from the offering will be used for new store expansion and working capital purposes...more

FAN Rent to Own Grows To 17 Stores; Generating Customer Excitement With Unique Q4 Promo
We took an integrated "layered" marketing approach to aggressively promote and assist with sell-through for the promotion"-Ron Evans, Marketing Director, Furniture and Appliances Now...more

The First Step In Recruiting New Employees Is Retaining  Existing Staff
Many rental purchase companies, large and small, go about the hiring practice backwards. All focus and energy is placed on filling holes rather than retention...more

Lynnray Financial Corp. Warns RTO Dealers; Negative Business Impact Of Being Improperly Capitalized
"Many dealers fall into the trap of going on an inventory fast during tough times as a response to cash flow restraints"-Bill Lassiter, of Lynnray Financial Corp...more

Online Training For Sales Associates
The CEKnowHow site contains the kind of information, supplementary sales support materials and glossary terminology that will help all rent to own professionals be more successful. The program is free and requires a short registration...more

Advance America Sets IPO Price $13-15 Per Share
According to reports, the company will sell 21.5 million shares and trade on the NYSE under the symbol AEA...more

Survey Of Thanksgiving Weekend Shoppers; "We're Not Impressed"
When asked if they saw enough discounts to spend more than they planned to spend, 45.3% of shoppers said no, the biggest negative response ever...more

Average Selling Price of Electronics Continues Sharp Decline
DVD recorders, at $331 are down 51 percent, almost $350, from their price in January 2003 and have fallen further and faster than any item in the Price Watch priced under $1,000...more

Canadian Economic Confidence High; 81% Describe Economy As Good
One-quarter (27%) of Canadians say they plan to spend more on big-ticket items such as a car, household appliances, or vacations the next year than they did last year, while the same proportion (29%) says they expect to spend less...more

Sony Settles Patent Suit For $40 Million
In return for a payment of $40.0 million, Sony will be permitted to use Ampex patents in any of its products for the period through April 2006...more

Help-Wanted Advertising Index Increases One Point
"Despite the outsized job gain in October, the measure of labor demand going forward remains relatively flat"-Ken Goldstein, Conference Board Economist...more

Association Says Cable Industry Must Keep Promise Of Digital Cable Ready And CableCARD
CEA argued in the filing that the only way to assure a competitive supply of digital cable set-top boxes and digital cable ready TV sets is to ensure that the devices supplied by cable operators rely on the same CableCARDs...more

Session Ends Without Passage Of Rental Purchase Agreement Act; Last Minute Efforts Nearly Win The Day
The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act (S884) came closer than ever to passage last Thursday when it was attached, however briefly, to the Appropriations Bill in conference committee...more

Security Firm Offers Rent To Own Operators Safety Tips For Night Deposits
Robberies during a night deposit are an all too common occurrence. While working or on duty, U.S. residents experienced 1.7 million violent victimizations annually from 1993 to 1999...more

Tweeter Predicts Top Holiday Gifts
According to Tweeter, this year's hottest consumer electronics gift ideas will be...more

Conference Board Contradicts Other Surveys; Predicts Slight Increase In Holiday Spending Over 2003
"Consumers appear to have more holiday cheer heading into Thanksgiving this year than last year. This upbeat attitude should translate into a more favorable holiday season for retailers"-Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center...more

Rent Way Signs Exclusive Deal With Levitz; Testing Lease Purchase Option In Levitz Locations
"Our plan is to "set up shop" inside [Levitz] stores where we believe we can leverage the expense structure of both operations"-William Morgenstern, CEO, Rent-Way...more

Factory Sales Of MP3 Players, Satellite Radios And Digital Cameras Suggest Retailers Preparing For Strong Holiday Season
"Digital cameras dollar sales have surpassed $2.7 billion through September and are expected to reach $4.5 billion by the end of the year, which would be a growth of 15 percent from the total dollar sales in 2003"...more

4.4 Million Digital TVs Sold First Nine Months Of '04
Consumer Electronics Association Market Research projects that 6.97 million DTV units will be sold in 2004, 10.77 million in 2005, 16.77 million in 2006, 23.25 million in 2007 and 27.05 in 2008...more

Ohio Rental Dealers Schedule 2005 Meeting
ORDA members will discuss the success of the first ever Mid West RTO Expo and plan for future events...more

ColorTyme Entering Payday Loan Arena
ColorTyme, a subsidiary of Rent-A-Center and one of the nations largest Rent to Own franchisors, is developing a Payday Loan Program to offer it's franchisees...more