Shoppers' View Takes The Mystery Out Of Rent to Own Mystery Shoppers
Husband and wife team Steve Leach and Catherine Farr owners of Eagle Rentals Inc., dba ColorTyme, formed Shoppers' View in 1993. As retail owners, Steve and Catherine are firm believers in the service Shoppers' View provides...more

Consumer Confidence Crashes In February
“Consumers began the year on a high note, but their optimism has quickly given way to caution...more
Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center

'Women in the Home Industries Today' (WithIt) Announces Spring Educational Conference
WithIt, founded in 1997, encourages and develops leadership, mentoring, education and career opportunities for women in the home furnishings industry...more

Bassett Furniture Partners with NFL Great John Elway
"I selected Bassett because I was looking for a partner that has a heritage of excellence...more
John Elway

Mark Windsor owner of National TV Sales & Rental takes a break on Bob Bradlin 02-24-04 Rent to Own Dealers and Vendors Enjoy Tupelo Rent to Own dealers from around the country attended the the Tupelo Market  February 19-22 in Tupelo, Mississippi. Among the familiar faces were vendors that serve the industry. We have photos from the market! Click on any photo to enlarge...more

Rent-A-Center Contributes to Code Amber In Memory of Carlie Brucia
Jason Winters, Store Manager, says, "We here at Rent-A-Center are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Carlie Brucia...more

California Furniture Manufacturers Association Endorses Workers' Comp Reform
Chief among the proposed changes, the initiative would require the employee to prove an injury occurred at work by a preponderance of the evidence...more

Mitsubishi to Incorporate TV Guide On Screen in Digital TVs and Recorders
"As digital entertainment products become more advanced, we are pleased to work with Mitsubishi to maximize their customers' television viewing experience...more
Doug Macrae, president, TV Guide Consumer Electronics

Maytag And Samsung Announce Strategic Alliance
"Since these laundry models will all be new for Maytag, this agreement will help us increase the variety of laundry products Maytag offers...more
Ralph F. Hake, chairman and CEO of Maytag

Fiesta Rent to Own Founder Mamie Salazar Harper To Be Sworn In As Commissioner By Texas Governor Perry; Receives Top Honors From SBA
"One of the privileges of this job is being able to recognize those small businesses who exemplify the American Dream...more
SBA Administrator Hector V. Barreto

Texas Association of Rental Agencies (TARA) Projects Record Attendance For March Tradeshow
The Texas Association of Rental Agencies (TARA) will hold it's 21st annual convention and tradeshow March 6th through 9th, 2004 in San Antonio.  The theme for this years show is "Building the future together...more

U.S. Department of Labor Honors Dell as Diversity Leader; Labor Sec. Chao Presents Dell With EVE Award
People of color and women represent more than half of Dell's U.S. employees and nearly one third of U.S. managers...more

Rent Way Employee Shot In Robbery Attempt
update: The clerk told police that he decided to fight back...more

Whirlpool Corporation Promotes Binkley to Senior Vice President For Global Human Resources
Binkley joined the company in 1984 as a regional human resources manager for Whirlpool's sales group and quickly was promoted to increasingly senior ranks...more

Pennsylvania Promises Increased Opportunity for Women and Minority Business Owners; Report Reveals "Concrete Ceiling" For Black Women
"We are committed to achieving 10 percent participation by women and minority-owned businesses in state contracting and are confident that strategic sourcing will help us achieve that target...more

New Product Focus: Maytag Personal Vending Machines
For Rent to Own dealers looking for the next big thing, the "coolness factor" of the new SkyBox personal vending machine by Maytag is off the scale...more

Rent Way BOD Member John Higbee Joins World Health Alternatives Board
Mr. Higbee, 61, has been a director of Rent Way since November 2001 and is the chairman of its audit committee (up for re-election in March)...more

DVD Recorder Sales Surge; Players Subsiding
In 2003 alone, DVD recorder unit shipments increased more than 200%, more than 50 million DVD recorders are expected to ship worldwide in 2007...more

UK Rent to Own Boxclever Sale Nears
Several sources are reporting that private investment group Fortress Investment Group, a New York based firm, is currently leading the bidding to buy UK Rent to Own 'Boxclever'...more

easyhome Announces First Ever Webcast Conference Call
easyhome, formerly RTO Enterprises,  first ever webcast will begin March 1st, 2004 at 10:00 EST. A link to the live webcast will be available from My RTO Portfolio...more

TRAX Offers Rent to Own Dealers "Opportunity Tracking"
Dave Mink, president of TRAX calls it "opportunity tracking." TRAX has developed a customized package for the Rent to Own sector called BOR-TRAX. "Owners and executives are always surprised at the number of shoppers that don't rent"...more

Furniture Retailers Association Applauds Hooker Furniture's "Withdraw From Ill Conceived And Counterproductive Trade Petition"
"While we are pleased with Hooker Furniture's decision, we will not rest until we defeat this unjustified petition before more damage is done...more
Mike Veitenheimer (FRA) Spokesperson and VP for The Bombay Company

Thieves Crashes Car Into 3 Houston Rent a Centers
In one incident, a car was captured on surveillance video crashing through the front of the building...more

Crosley Group Adds Westinghouse Digital LCD TVs To Lineup
The Crosley Group, with headquarters in Winston-Salem, N.C., was established in 1977 and distributes electronics, appliances and furniture...more

ATI Delivers HDTV Reception On The PC
The National Association of Broadcasters reports there are currently 1,155 DTV stations on air in 203 markets, serving 99.42 per cent of United States' TV households...more

Hooker Furniture Withdraws Support For Anti-Dumping Petition; Sites Industry Divisiveness As Cause
"When we made the initial decision to support the petition, we had no idea how divisive this issue would become in our industry. If we had fully anticipated that, we would have been neutral from the start...more

Canada's Rentcash Reports New Store Drag; 95% Revenue Increase; Net Loss
"The increase in revenues indicates that consumer acceptance continues to grow. Our more mature stores contribute operating income to fund the strong pace of new store openings...more
Gordon J. Reykdal President and CEO

Philips Developing Ultra-Thin Flexible Displays
The ability to unroll a full-size, high-resolution display would make accessing digital content anytime, anywhere, easier, more practical, and more fun...more

Low Income Students Learn Valuable Skills From Dell TechKnow Program
287 middle school students from 12 districts across the United States earned a free Dell desktop computer they refurbished themselves by completing the fall semester of the Dell TechKnow program...more

Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi; Consumer Confidence Sores In South
Solid increases in help-wanted job advertising in key cities in this region; Birmingham, Knoxville, Louisville, Memphis and Nashville...more

Buying Group; Home Rental Source Buy-Fair Begins March 17th
Home Rental Source (HRS) the rental purchase arm of Associated Volume Buyers headed by rent to own industry veteran Mark Taylor (who's who), will hold it's Spring Buy-Fair March 17 - 20...more

Whirlpool Files Second Suit Against LG For Patent Infringement
The latest suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, maintains that a line of LG clothes washers sold in the U.S. infringes two patents secured by Whirlpool in 1988 and 2001...more

Academy of Digital Television Pioneers Announces Award Nominees
Nominees in the following award categories: Best DTV Broadcast Network; Best Local DTV Broadcaster; Best DTV Sporting Event; Best Original DTV Material; Best DTV Leadership for Government, Industry and Retailer; Best DTV Journalism...more

Rent to Own Industry Supporter Doug Bereuter Resigning House Seat For Private Sector
Long time Nebraska representative and two-time cosponsor of The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act Doug Bereuter (R-NE) will resign his seat September 1st...more

Randy Spak Named President Of Lane Furniture
"Randy Spak is an outstanding manager with a tremendous level of experience in the furniture industry, including important experience in the retail side of the business...more
Mickey Holliman, Chairman and CEO of Furniture Brands International

Dell Introduces Gaming Notebook
The notebook will come with one of three exclusive personalization QuickSnap color kit options that customers can use to cover the entire back of the product...more

Women In The Home Industries Today (WithIt) Conference Focuses On Leadership
"This kind of event is extremely important for our industry at this juncture, because we’ve gotten bogged down in conflict...more
Kim D. Shaver, director of marketing, Hooker Furniture

Missouri Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond Cosponsors The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
The addition of Bond brings the Senate cosponsor count to 22; 10 Democrat and 12 Republican. Five of Missouri's 11 legislators now Co-Sponsor S884...more

The History of Black History Month
By Presidential proclamation, February is African American History Month. RTO Online is proud to present a series of articles celebrating the rich history and culture of African Americans...more

Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act Co-Sponsor Rep. Tiberi Introduces "No Down Payment Act"
Legislation that would eliminate down payment requirements for first-time homebuyers seeking federally insured home mortgages...more

Philippine Furniture Exporters Feeling China's Pinch
US furniture manufacturers aren't the only ones losing capacity to China's cheap labor. In a move designed to strengthen shrinking furniture exports, Filipino furniture manufacturers plan to work together to create a "Philippine brand"...more

Are You Rent-Worthy?
In the virtual world, a web site has about 30 seconds to "sell a visitor" on the value of sticking around. In the real world of Rent to Own you have even less time to convince a potential customer of your value...more

La-Z-Boy Reports Upholstery Sales Flat; Casegoods Down 14%
"...with the uncertainty surrounding the antidumping petition on Chinese bedroom furniture, we are unlikely to take further plant rationalization action until the result of the antidumping action is known...more

Rent A Center Reports 7% Revenue Increase In Q4; Same Store Sales Flat
"We continue to demonstrate our ability to grow the business in a multitude of ways, in particular, I am referring to the recent announcement of our reaching a definitive agreement to acquire Rainbow Rentals...more

Tom Foy Named President and Chief Operating Officer Of Furniture Brands International; Holliman To Continue As Chairman and CEO
"Tom's appointment as President and Chief Operating Officer of Furniture Brands is part of an orderly process of succession at the senior level of this company...more

Factory Closings Adversely Impact HON Q4 Results
During the fourth quarter, the Company also substantially completed the closure and consolidation of two office furniture facilities...more

Jim Reding Joins World Market Center
In his new role for World Market Center, Reding will work as a liaison with tenant exhibitors during construction of Phase One – a 1.3 million square-foot permanent showroom facility opening in 2005...more

Aaron Rents Listed As "Top Franchisor" In New Online Georgia Encyclopedia
The State of Georgia has officially launched "The New Georgia Encyclopedia." An online reference that documents the state's history, culture and resources...more

EPA and DOE Name Maytag Energy Star 2004 Award Winner
Maytag, a partner in the program since 1997, is receiving the Product Campaign Award for its efforts to raise awareness about the ENERGY STAR program...more

Rent A Center Completes Wireless Network Upgrade
"With our new network, our stores are directly communicating inventory and sales data to our own central database...more
Roscoe Wasco, chief information officer for Rent-A-Center

Thieves In Durham NC Have Good Taste; Whirlpool Washers And Davoucci Jackets
On Wednesday burglars entered a home and made off with a $1,600 Whirlpool washer dryer combination...more

PC Software Sales Down 4% in 03'; Sharpest Decline In 4 Years
Sales of personal finance, security and tax software helped negate dwindling sales in the gaming, operating system and educational software markets for personal computers in 2003...more

81 Store UK Specialty Retailer Maplin Electronics To Destroy Entire Stock Of DVD Copy Devices
Maplin has withdrawn the range of three devices that may be used to circumvent copy protection technologies...more

Survey: 51% Prefer Sony Components
“With unit sales flattening [it] is far from certain that a PC leader such as HP or Dell can cross over to consumer electronics and compete with the likes of Sony...more

Best Buy Offering "HDTV Bundles"; Simplifies Shopping Experience
"...customer-friendly bundles that will enable more people to experience and enjoy the true benefits of HD"...more

Aaron Rents to Realize $5.5 Million Gain on Rent-A-Center Purchase of Rainbow Rentals
Aaron Rents currently holds 474,500 shares of Rainbow Rentals stock, or 8% of all shares outstanding...more

EPA Names Whirlpool ENERGY STAR 2004 Partner of the Year
Among the reasons cited in naming Whirlpool Partner of the Year were the company's efforts in revising dishwasher test procedures and the work of a former Whirlpool director, the late Mike Thompson...more

Dell Launches Small-Business Award Program; Company Partners With NFIB to Recognize Superior Customer Value and Experience
The program, established in conjunction with the National Federation of Independent Business, will honor small businesses that instill the spirit of innovation and apply information technology to improve the customer experience...more

conference call
Rent Way Turns Corner As Ops Team Focuses On Basics
Best quote
"These are mature stores. The growth is as pure as it gets. No acquisitions, no new stores, just good old fashioned hard work and focused execution by our ops team...more
CEO Bill Morgenstern commenting on Rent Way's quarterly performance

Flash
Source: Rainbow Acquisition May Reach 13 Times Revenue
A source close to the negotiation told RTO Online that once the value of stock options is factored in, the final cost of the Rainbow Rentals acquisition by Rent a Center could approach 13 times monthly revenue per location...more

Rent A Center to Acquire Rainbow Rentals For $94.9 Million Plus
Rainbow CEO Wayland Russell, President Michael Viveiros, and Chief Financial Officer Michael Pecchia, will leave the company after the transition. It is unclear what, if any role other Rainbow executives may have...more

Rent-Way Reports Same Store Sales Up 6.6%; Operating Income Doubles
"Our strategy of focusing on top line growth to drive operating profits higher is beginning to take hold...more
William Morgenstern, Chairman and CEO

Checklist For Successful Valentines Day Jewelry Rentals
Valentine’s Day is the second busiest jewelry rental holiday. A few simple steps can drastically increase your jewelry rental agreements...more

RTOinternet Launches Online Demo Of Rent to Own Supplier Site
RTOinternet today launched a live demo of what will be the "Next Evolution" in Rent to Own sector websites...more

report
IWF; Traditional Feminists Are 'Dependency Divas,' Peddling a Victim Mentality And Dependency on Government
Report: "....Many feminist groups are instead asking the government once again to treat women as second-class citizens this time, by adopting myriad regulations and social programs that allegedly protect women"...more

Whirlpool Posts Record 4th Quarter; Shipments Up 8.1%
Based on current economic conditions, the company expects U.S. appliance industry unit shipments in 2004 to increase 2 percent...more

La-Z-Boy Presentation at CSFB Furniture Symposium to be Webcast
Kurt Darrow, president and CEO, and Mark Stegeman, VP and treasurer, will speak at Credit Suisse First Boston's "2004 Furniture Symposium"...more  

Steve McKee Named President and Chief Operating Officer Of Henredon Furniture Industries
McKee, age 51, began his career with Macy's Department Stores and held a number of executive posts at Shillito's and Joske's. In 1987 he joined Gabbert's and was named President in 1995...more

RTO Online Adds Website Design And Consulting; Site Surpasses 1.3 Million Hits In January
Beginning this month , RTO Online will offer full service website construction and consulting for vendors, manufacturers and service providers that focus on the rent to own industry...more

Flash
Gateway to Acquire eMachines; Deal Gives Gateway 25% of US PC Market
"This new relationship makes perfect sense for us as we continue growing our business and our customer base in the U.S. and abroad. Gateway is one of the most respected brands in the market and Ted Waitt (Gateway's founder) is a visionary...more
Wayne Inouye, eMachines' chief executive officer

Aaron's President Heads Group To Install Surveillance Cameras
The Atlanta Journal Constitution is reporting that a group of business leaders headed by Robin Loudermilk, president of Aaron Rents, (RNT) has raised $90,000 to install surveillance cameras in what is described as "the late night party district"...more

Exclusive AUDIO: Gary Romine Running For Missouri House Of Representatives
Gary Romine (R), (who's who) owner of Show Me Rent to Own and past President of APRO (Association for Progressive Rental Organizations) today announced his candidacy for the Missouri House of Representatives 106th district. Follow this link for audio of his announcement speech...more

Rent Way Schedules Annual Stockholders Meeting
Both William Morgenstern and John Higbee are up for re-election to the board of directors. William E. Morgenstern, a founder of the Company, has served as its Chief Executive Officer and as a director since its formation in 1981...more

Maytag Reports 12.8% Increase In Q4
Maytag Corporation today reported fourth quarter consolidated sales of $1.272 billion, up 12.8 percent from $1.127 billion in the same period of 2002...more

Help Wanted Index Decreases Slightly in December
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising increased in seven of the nine U.S. regions...more

Furniture Brands International Reports Q4 Up 3.6%; Full Year 2003 Sales Declined 1.2%
"2003 was the third consecutive difficult year for the residential furniture industry, but we were pleased to see a positive change in order trends during the latter part of the year...more
Mickey Holliman, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer

Stanley Furniture Reports Record Q4; Doubles Dividend
"Doubling the amount of the cash dividend further demonstrates the Board's confidence in the Company's strategy, growth opportunities and financial strength...more
Albert L. Prillaman, chairman

Aaron Rents Exceeds $1 Billion In Revenue; Will Increase Store Count 16% in 2004
"The growth in our Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership division has been impressive and we expect it to continue...more
R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr., Chairman and CEO

17 Year Old Texan Wins Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Nat Turner is a high school senior. He has founded 50 websites and conducts business with companies in 22 states and six countries. Nat also does pro bono work for several non-profit organizations...more

Lost Time Accidents Down 40%; Best Practices Seen As Key
“There are similar core principles in play at companies striving toward zero accidents and injuries, but there is no common template...more

Ideal Software Updates Integrated Accounting Module
Dealers have the ability to transfer valuable accounting data to your choice of: QuickBooks®, PeachTree®, BusinessWorks®, MASS90®...more

Rent to own Mavens Heads up
New Depreciation Rules Can Save Big Bucks At Tax Time
The 2003 Tax Act increases the special depreciation allowance from 30% to 50% for certain qualifying property. To qualify for the 50% special depreciation allowance, property must be acquired after May 5, 2003 and placed in service before January 1, 2005...more

HON Receives Design Award For Computer Desk Line
"The primary goal of our designers is to create professional office furniture that meets the needs of our customers...more

Aaron Rents Schedules Q4 Year End Conference Call
Aaron Rents (RNT) Q4 Earnings Conference call will be held Wednesday, February 25th, 2004...more

Console Gaming System Sales Expected To Be Stagnant In 2004
"[in 2004]...the continued price gouging of both hardware and software categories, the industry’s sales will be hard pressed to surpass 2003 through the remainder of the current hardware platform’s life cycles...more