Home

Ben Pior Opens Premier Rental Purchase in Garland, Texas
"The whole system works very, very well. It made opening this store easier than when I opened stores before." - Ben Pior, Premier Rents Franchisee...more

Politics
Incoming House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank to Address the National Press Club; 'Waging War on Wages'
Frank has offered the business community what he calls a "grand bargain" that in order to get trade and other items on the business agenda, they need to increase wages, support universal health insurance...more

Rent to Own Legislation 101; A Real World Guide To Communicating With Legislators
Korst's testimony before the New York General Assembly in October of this year is, in our opinion, the defining example of pro-industry speech...more

Sony, Panasonic, Samsung Lead Race to Dominate the Connected Home
"In spite of the tendency of the general media to focus on emerging players from the PC and mobile sectors, our analysis suggests that traditional consumer electronics companies are currently best placed to dominate the emerging digital connected consumer market." - Peter King, Strategy Analytics...more

Kurt Warner, Aaron’s Surprise Single Father With Furniture Donation
"This donation is noteworthy because while we have been involved with more than 60 home presentations to single-parent families, this marks the first time a single father has been selected." - Ken Butler, President, Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership...more

DVD Ownership Surpasses VCR For First Time
"This shows the culmination of a long battle for share of consumers." - Paul Lindstrom, Nielsen Media Research...more

FNCS Welcomes Aaron Kassner to Management Team; Doubles Rent to Own, Payday Loan Recovery Division
In addition, FNCS has doubled the size of our exclusive skip-tracing department largely in response to our many new sub-prime clients in the Rent to Own, Payday Loan and Check Cashing division...more

Sealy Realigns North American Leadership Structure
"As North America becomes more of an integrated market, this new structure will allow Sealy to better leverage its product development capabilities, sales and distribution strengths and lean manufacturing initiatives." - David J. McIlquham, Chairman and CEO, Sealy...more

Politics; 50 Percent of Democrats Want Hillary Nominated; 32 Percent Say Obama
For 220 years, Americans have elected only white male Christians with no hint of ethnicity to the White House, and no one knows yet whether we are ready to break the chain now...more

Widescreen LCD Monitors Driving Shipment Increases
In North America, the shift to widescreen models is becoming extremely evident. While the market only grew 2% sequentially, 266% of its sequential growth was attributed to increased shipments of widescreen models...more

Now Come The Lawyers; Class Action Filed In Nintendo Wii Wrist Strap Case
"The lawsuit claims that Nintendo's failure to include a remote that is free from defects is in breach of Nintendo's own product warrant...more

Late Season Surge In Retail Spending
"Later shipping deadlines this season and the fact that many consumers received a paycheck on December 15 could keep online sales in full swing early next week." - Gian Fulgoni, Chairman, comScore Networks...more

Small Business Lending Report; See which banks in your state make small business loans
Lenders are ranked on their overall small business lending, not by lending under SBA programs. The number of small business loans outstanding under $100,000 increased 25 percent between June 2004 and June 2005...more

SNAP! ; Check Into Cash CEO Jones Snaps On Anti-Payday Loan Study - Comparisons Show Bank Profit Margins 4 Times Higher Than Payday Loan
"The Center for Responsible Lending misrepresents numbers in an effort to obtain more donations from anti-business foundations and advance their legislative agenda of socializing credit. CRL is currently spending about $30 million to defeat a relatively large but unorganized industry of micro-credit lenders, by quoting the cost of a 365-day rate on a 14-day loan." - Allan Jones, Chairman and CEO, Check Into Cash, Inc...more

Dell Meets Goal Of Global Free Electronics Recycling
Dell opposes any legislation that would include fees or creation of a new government infrastructure for collecting and recycling electronics...more

JVC Launches Slim HD-ILA Rear Projection HDTVs
Two screen sizes will be offered, 58 and 65 inches, with cabinet depths of 10.7 and 11.6 inches, respectively...more

Online Shoppers Require Special Handling
65 percent of consumers said special offers or deals not available in stores would boost their online spending. Half of holiday shoppers would be willing to spend more if the merchandise offered was available exclusively online...more

Nation's Top Byrider Franchises Recognized
The President’s Award, the company’s highest honor, is awarded based on earnings, customer satisfaction, and the quality of their portfolios; e.g., delinquency and charge-off rates...more

Britt Beemer Lowers Forecast of Christmas Retail Sales to 2.7% Rise Over Last Year; Lack of “Must Have” Item to Blame
"The lack of a ‘must-have’ item for Christmas and the lackluster way retailers have approached the Christmas season this year compels me to lower my Christmas retail forecast for only the fourth time in 20 years." - C. Britt Beemer, CEO and founder, America's Research Group...more

Stanley Furniture Announces Layoffs
"The industry wide slowdown that has led to lower sales requires us to balance production and staffing levels throughout our four facilities." - Jeffrey R. Scheffer, CEO, Stanley Furniture...more

MEGA Group USA Welcomes Express Imports Furniture as Vendor
"We looked into a number of direct container programs for our dealers to lower their cost for product acquisition. With Express Imports we are able buy containers and fill in from their warehouse as needed." - Chris Nickas, Director, MEGA Rental Group...more

Frank Barton Scholarship Goes To Trinity Academy Wichita Senior
The late Rent-A-Center Chairman Emeritus W. Frank Barton established the scholarship as a memorial to his son who died in 1988 at age 20...more

Report; Underbanked Latinos in the U.S. Require 'Micro-Targeting' of Financial Services
"Much potential value lies in customizing products and services to meet the specific needs of diverse segments within this group." - James Van Dyke, President , Javelin Strategy & Research...more

Rent King Donates Nearly 3 Tons Of Food To Tampa Charity
Employees who contribute anywhere from $1.00 to $10.00 per paycheck are members of the King's Court, and their donations are used throughout the year to support local charities...more

LG Philips Subpoenaed In Anticompetitive Conduct Investigation
"LG.Philips LCD takes this matter very seriously and will cooperate fully with regulatory authorities." - Statement issued by LG Philips...more

High Point Market Authority Begins Attendee Research
"Our overall goal was to develop a research solution that will provide feedback to assist in developing future plans and identify changes the attendees/retailers would like to see." - Brian D. Casey, President, High Point Market Authority...more

Faith at Work is No Longer Taboo; What is A 'Faith-Friendly' Company?
Certain geo-political and demographic factors will eventually force the 'faith in the workplace' issue for U.S. companies. Immigration is creating a more religiously diverse workforce that will only grow in importance and number in coming years...more

Center for Responsible Lending Deliberately Misleading Media, Policymakers
"The Center for Responsible Lending has taken data points from various sources, applied their own convoluted math and passed it off as information confirmed by state regulators and third parties. They also take the liberty of 'estimating' data that simply does not exist." - Darrin Andersen, President, CFSA...more

Want To Drive Shoppers Away? Decorate Stores Less and Don’t Say “Merry Christmas”
"When you are looking at a Christmas season where comp store sales growth will be 3% or less and that 8% of consumers are not shopping your store due to a poor decorations, retail executives need to take notice." - C. Britt Beemer, CEO, America's Research Group...more

Las Vegas Market Takes Swat At Parking Issue; Breaks Ground On 15 Story Parking Garage
The garage is expected to be completed in June of 2008 with the first phase accommodating 3,600 vehicles...more

Customer Wait Time Survey Ranks Baltimore as Slowest City in America; DC, Detroit, New York Follow
Phoenix received the distinction of being the fastest city in America. It scored an average wait time of 3 minutes, 5 seconds, beating out Portland (3.30) and Minneapolis (3.41)...more

California, New York, Texas; Top Three States For Women Owned Business
Women-owned firms continued growing in number at nearly twice the rate of all firms, 42% compared to 23% for all firms...more

Take The 2006 Rent to Own Industry Poll Online; Owners, Employees, Vendors
Most questions are multiple choice and participants can complete the poll in 20 minutes or less. Everyone employed in the rent to own industry is encouraged to participate...more

U.S. Business Increase Advertising Spending 4% Year to Date; TV Up, Newspaper Ads Continue Slide
Local Newspapers saw expenditures for their print editions fall by 3.7 percent to $17.50 billion. Radio media also lagged, down a combined 1.1 percent to an aggregate of $8.09 billion...more

Despite Katrina, Rita, 2005 Was Solid Year For Small Business
In 2005, the economy was shocked by devastating hurricanes in August and September. Fortunately, for areas outside the Gulf Coast Region, the challenges proved to be short-term phenomena." - Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist, Office of Advocacy, SBA...more

Whirlpool Sells Hoover For $107 Million
"The decision to divest the floor-care business allows us to focus on our core appliance business." - Jeff M. Fettig, CEO, Whirlpool...more

Next Generation Game Systems To Debut At 2007 CES
This year’s International CES will house more than 175 conference and SuperSessions, enabling attendees to hear from top industry professionals on key technologies and trends...more

RTO Blood Hound On A Disk; PC Rental Agent
"Any PC that has a PCRental Agent installed is tracked by our servers every 2 hours. Since its release, the PCRental Agent is now in more than 60 stores with an average of 30 computers per store." - Samuel M. Burns, Developer, PC Rental Agent...more

2006 Q4 Shoppers Study Revealing; Cyber Monday a Hoax, Biggest Retail Push Will Be After December 15th
"Cyber Monday is a hoax. The Cyber Monday theory was that consumers would rush to make purchases on-line on the Monday after Black Friday either to get better prices or to order from their computer at work. Neither is true." - Britt Beemer, Founder and CEO, America's Research Group...more

Aaron’s, Warrick Dunn Surprise Three Tampa Families With Fully-Furnished Homes
"The most telling fact is that every family Warrick has helped, from the start of his Homes for the Holidays campaign, is still in their home to this day." - Ken Butler, President, Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership...more

Kelly Sayre Converts Alliance Rental To Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership
Denton, Texas based Alliance Rental Center will convert six of it's nine locations to Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership franchises effective this week. Alliance is owned by long time rent to own industry veteran Kelly Sayre...more

D&H Distributing Spots Digital Lifestyle Trends
"Sales of these ‘digital experience’ rooms represent a potentially lucrative new customer set, in addition to creating upgrade opportunities among their existing home theater customers." - John Alifano, Manager, Consumer Electronics Division, D&H Distributing...more

Lawmakers Vote to Maintain Payday Lending in Virginia
"Today, the committee reaffirmed a consumer's right [to choose] by defeating an attempt to effectively end payday advances in the Commonwealth." - Ken Comp, Chief Executive Officer, Advance America...more

J.D. Byrider Opens Nine New Locations; Seven More Planned
"We have tackled this business differently than some of the other solely subprime finance companies. We’re integrated from top to bottom." - Steve Wedding, President and CFO, J.D. Byrider...more

Broyhill Closes North Carolina Case Goods Plant
Cheap imports have all but ended domestic case goods production. Imported upholstered furniture is now on the rise...more

Push Toward Digital Television Transition
Digital TVs are expected to outsell analog sets by 66 percent in 2006. The price of digital televisions continues to fall with the average retail price expected to be $819 in 2007, a $224 drop from 2006...more

Premier Companies To Hold Annual Convention In Miami, Florida January 15-18
"While some RTO companies are slowing their growth and others are consolidate stores, Premier is growing rapidly." - Trooper Earle, President and CEO of Premier Companies...more

12-04-06
ATM Developed To Automate Payday Loans
The ATM processes loan application information and obtains credit ratings as needed...more

Bosch Moves Past Majors To Earn Highest Appliance Ranking in J.D. Power and Associates Major Home Appliance Customer Satisfaction Study
Among other key factors cited by Bosch dryer owners were low noise level during operation, aesthetic design, color and finishes, and the length and scope of the warranty...more

Radio Rentals Raises $56 Million In IPO
Radio Rentals chairman Bernard Carrasco said in November that the IPO will allow the company to expand its business within the Australian household goods market...more

Alternative Credit Bureau Receives Patent for Rent to Own Bill Payment Reporting And Scoring
"Reporting rental and other recurring bill payments to PRBC is a community development service for banks under the Community Reinvestment Act." - Michael Nathans, Chairman and Founder, PRBC...more

FiSCA Weighs In On Center For Responsible Lending Payday Loan Report; Study Misrepresents Data Regarding Rollovers, Fails To Address Hi-Cost Alternatives
"These groups that claim to represent consumers need a reality check. They need to recognize the reality that alternative financial service providers are offering a valuable service at a reasonable price which consumers understand and appreciate." - FISCA association response to Center For Responsible Lending Payday Loan Report...more

Video Gaming Association Lawsuit Successful; Michigan To Pay Over $180,000 In Legal Fees
"States that pass laws regulating video game sales might as well just tell voters they have a new way to throw away their tax dollars on wasteful and pointless political exercises that do nothing to improve the quality of life in the state." - Douglas Lowenstein, President, Entertainment Software Association...more

RTO Online Conducts Test Of Online Customer Service In the Rent to Own Industry; Rent Way Demonstrates Best E-Customer Care
Results of our test are not encouraging. Of the 41 rental purchase companies we attempted to contact via online forms or contact email addresses listed on company websites, 79% never responded...more

Advertising on Hispanic Web Sites Triples
While the majority of Hispanic advertising dollars still go to television, the Internet is enabling advertisers to more distinctively target specific groups within the U.S. Hispanic population...more

RTO Online Releases Website Traffic Numbers For November, 2006
RTO Online, Inc., the leading source of news and information for the rent to own industry, today reported website traffic numbers for the month ending November 30, 2006. ..more

Schnadig Plans 5,500 Sq Ft Showroom At Las Vegas Winter Furniture Market
"We decided to open a showroom in Las Vegas because we feel Las Vegas gets a tremendous number of visitors who do not attend other markets." - Don Belgrad, CEO, Schnadig...more

Impact of Battery Recalls on Notebook PC Sales
The wave of battery recalls this fall has not yet caused enough frustration to turn customers off from the notebook market, but enough concern has been generated to potentially change customer buying preferences...more

Association Trashes Center For Responsible Lending Payday Loan Report; Report Misrepresents Industry
"Consumers are very capable of making decisions without self-appointed guardians, like Center for Responsible Lending, who profess to represent consumers' interest." - Darrin Andersen, President, CFSA...more

Center For Responsible Lending Payday Loan Report "Special Interest Spin" Says Country's Largest Provider
"Contrary to CRL's spin, responsible uses of the payday product provides consumers firm footing to overcome unexpected financial circumstances." - Ken Compton, CEO of Advance America."...more

ColorTyme Pioneers Gary and Jutta Hughes Provide Scholarships for 300+ Children
"In the RTO business, we see lots of children who do without and these are the kids I wanted to help: the children of some of the customers I see everyday." - Gary Hughes, ColorTyme Franchisee...more

California Proposes Changes to Harassment Prevention Training Requirements
These final proposed regulations interpret Government Code section 12950.1, which requires organizations with 50 or more employees in California to provide interactive sexual harassment prevention training to their supervisors every two years, taught by an expert...more

Man Gets 30 Years For Rent-A-Center Shooting; Guilty on two counts attempted murder
"It would have gotten resolved. We treated you with so much respect. We never gave you a hard time about anything. I just don't understand why this happened." - Eric Rowe, Rent-A-Center Employee, speaking to his attacker at the sentencing hearing...more

10 Trends For Retail Christmas 2006
Over half of consumers (21.0% very much and 32.0% some) are bothered when stores avoid using “Merry Christmas” in their stores and in their signage...more

Nations Rent to Own Sponsors Toy Drive for California Community
The event includes free child fingerprinting, refreshments and balloons. Children will have the opportunity to get their picture taken with Santa and visitors are encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy valued at $5 or more for donation to deserving children in the community...more

Consumer Confidence Declines Second Straight Month
"A tighter labor market and a more guarded short-term outlook have combined to curb consumers' confidence in November." - Lynn Franco, Director, Consumer Research Center, The Conference Board...more

11-28-06
TV Sales Revenue Skyrockets As LCD, Plasma Increase Share
Average TV prices were up 25% year over year to $548 as flat panel TVs continue to take share. With units and prices rising year over year, TV revenues were up 28%, rising 4% quarter over quarter to $24.9 billion...more

Money Mart Welcomes Nova Scotia Payday Loans Law
Canada passed federal legislation in October that exempts provinces from the current restrictive section 347 of the Federal Criminal Code if they legislate a clear consumer protection regime for payday lending...more

Jewelry Sales Increase 83%; Digital Cameras, Plasma, LCD Lead Black Friday Sales
Jewelry & Watches increased by 83%, Video Games increased by 64%...more

Software Locks Down Past Due Rental Computers
"I wasn’t sure if PCRental Agent would even work. Then two of my accounts went late and when I locked down the computers, the customers were in my store within the hour." - Rod McIntire, Store Manager, ColorTyme...more

Black Friday Sales Increase 6% Over 2005; Some Online Retailers Experience Outages
"Because Black Friday isn't the greatest bellwether for the season's performance, retailers need to remain cautious, but undoubtedly this type of a season opening is a nice shot in the arm for the industry." - Bill Martin, Co-founder, ShopperTrak...more

Canadian Association Applauds Payday Loan Legislation
"It will be important to ensure that the government sets a clear cap on the cost of borrowing that will balance strong consumer protection while ensuring a viable industry that can afford to provide this important service." - Stan Keyes, President, CPLA...more

Ignore Your Employees At Your Own Risk; Survey Finds Employees Will Walk Out If They Don’t Receive What’s on Their Wish List
"Similar to the question, ‘If a tree falls in the woods but no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?’ retailers need to ask themselves, ‘If consumers are ready to spend this holiday season but employees aren’t there to serve them, will we have a successful year?" - Stuart Itkin, CMO, Kronos...more

Credit Scoring By Banks Can Increase Access To Credit For Small Business
"The report documents how the use of credit scoring can lead to risk-based pricing of loans which ‘democratizes’ lending, meaning that riskier loans can now be made to start-ups or small business owners with little credit history." - Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist, Office of Advocacy, SBA...more

RTO Vet Cort Hill Opens First ColorTyme; Maryland Store First Of Many
After 18 years in the RTO industry, including positions with Aaron Rents, Cort Furniture Rental, Rent-a-Center and ColorTyme, Hill knows what RTO customers want and need...more

Xbox 360 Banks On Availability, Movie and TV Show Downloads To Maintain Consumer Loyalty
"We're exactly where we wanted to be this holiday with Xbox 360 retail stock availability." - Jeff Bell, VP, Global Marketing, Interactive Entertainment Business, Microsoft...more

Aaron’s And Warrick Dunn Foundation Award Four Single Mothers Fully-Furnished Homes
“We have worked with Warrick every year since 2002 and we can’t begin to describe the inspiring stories of courage and perseverance we have heard from these mothers." - Ken Butler, President, Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership...more