JVC Introduces New DVD Recorder Line
"...consumers are looking for more versatility in how they watch television and movies"-Dave Owen, General Manager, Consumer Video, JVC Company of America...more

Aaron Rents To Webcast Q4 Conference Call
Aaron Rents Q4, 2004 Earnings Conference call will be held Thursday February 24th, 2004, 10:30 am Eastern...more

eMachines Offers Online Retail Sales And Service Training
SED International, a premium electronics supplier to the rental purchase trade, recently announced the addition of eMachines to it's lineup. In an effort to support retailers, eMachines offers online sales and support training courses through CyberScholar...more

Iowa Legislators Consider Cap On Refund Anticipation Loan Charges
Iowa Sate Senator Joe Bolkom, (D-Iowa City) has introduced the "Iowa Refund Anticipation Loan Act"...more

RentWay Plans Career Day
RentWay will hold a "Career Day" Thursday, Feb. 24th 2005...more

SED International and Acer America Launch a Value Notebook to the RTO Market
Acer America, one of the world's top five branded PC vendors and SED have opened the doors for the Rent to Own Market...more

New Album Features Track "Rent to Own"; Jeffrey Halford & the Healers
The song is written from a woman's point of view as she decides whether to buy or rent her man...more

Advance America Reports 16% Revenue Increase In 04'
In Georgia, Advance America's operations have been suspended since May 2004, pending a ruling from the 11th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals...more

Final Transition From Analog To HDTV; What Will It Take?
The Consumer Electronics Association's 10th annual HDTV Summit will feature top industry and government leaders as they debate and offer predictions about the impending analog television cut-off...more

Aaron Rents CEO Named To Business Hall Of Fame; Induction Scheduled For May
In May, 2005, R. Charles Loudermilk Sr., CEO of Aaron Rents Inc. will be inducted into the J. Mack Robinson College of Business Hall of Fame at Georgia State College...more

Dell Broadens Flat Panel Display; 24-Inch Wide-Screen Monitor To Ship In March
Beginning march 1, 2005, Dell will begin shipment of the UltraSharp(TM) 2405FPW, a 24" wide-screen monitor...more

Wholesale Distributors Report Growth Despite Falling Prices for Many IT Product Categories
"...wholesale distributors selling tech products have demonstrated an ability to fluidly respond to changing market demand" - Stephen Baker, The NPD Group...more

Premier Opens Another Store - This Time Dayton, Ohio
"Anything the competition can do, we can do better." Scott Kinnear isn’t one to boast. He’s stating fact as he launches the third week in business for SR Kinnear, Inc., Dayton, Ohio’s newest RTO store...more

Rentcash Same Store Sales Soar To +153%
Rentcash was recently ranked the second fastest growing company in Alberta, Canada by Alberta Venture Magazine. "This recognition shows how hard our associates work to move the company to higher and higher levels." Gordon J. Reykdal, Rentcash Inc. Chairman and CEO...more

Ideal Software's TIRM User Conference Set For April 12-14, 2005
The conference is designed to provide unique opportunities to learn, teach, network, and contribute to the future development of the The Ideal Rental Manager software...more

State Rent To Own Associations Plan New 5 State Regional Tradeshow (Photo Gallery)
Leaders from surrounding state associations attended the Missouri Rental Dealers Association Meeting Wednesday to coordinate a 5 state regional tradeshow to be held this fall...more

Texas Rental Dealers Make Headway On Legislative Front (Photo Gallery)
 TARA is seeking a level playing field and has taken the position that personal property rented to customers should receive The same exemption from property taxes that the car leasing business enjoys...more

Illinois State Payday Loan Association Accuses National Trade Association Of "Legislating Out" Independent Dealers
"This legislation, put forward by the Consumer Financial Services Association (CFSA), will kill the local lender and ultimately cost consumers more" - Bob Wolfberg, president of Illinois Small Loan Association...more

Opposing Forces; Two Groups At Legislative Odds
Rent A Center, Rent Way and a significant number of independent Rent to Own dealers, representing a total of about 4,500 rental purchase locations in the United States, will form a coalition to continue support of the Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act (Disclosure Bill)...more

Sharp To Take Over Fujitsu LCD Operations
The agreement calls for Fujitsu to transfer to Sharp the LCD research and development, manufacturing and sales operations of its consolidated subsidiary, Fujitsu Display Technologies Corporation...more

Stanley Furniture Reports Record Q4 Sales; Chairman  Prillaman to Retire In April
Company officials expect Jeffrey R. Scheffer will be elected Chairman of the Board in addition to his current role as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Prillaman plans to continue as a director and to stay involved with the Company by serving as lead director and liaison with the board on oversight matters and key strategic initiatives...more

Rent-A-Center Reports Revenue Up But Same Store Sales Down For Second Straight Quarter
"...we are focused on improving our results with the recently implemented marketing and advertising initiatives, which should drive more customer traffic, and the implementation of new initiatives to improve our store operations." - Mark E. Speese, the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer...more

Hitachi And Panasonic To Collaborate On Plasma Displays
The agreement between Hitachi and Panasonic is aimed at further development of color PDP technologies and growth of the Plasma TV market...more  

JVC Sales Down 7% In Q3; Matsushita Expects Turnaround
"...while the company currently expects severe conditions, including sharp price declines due to fierce competition and other negative factors, Matsushita today announced an upward revision of its operating profit forecast."...more

Dr. Kerry Johnson To Keynote Missouri Rental Dealers Meeting
Noted author and motivational speaker Kerry L. Johnson, MBA, PhD. will keynote the Missouri Rental Dealers Association meeting Wednesday, February 9th...more

Dollar Financial Reports Record Quarter; Same Store Sales Increased 17.8%
"The quarterly results are a clear indication that we continue to provide our under-banked customers with an unprecedented level of choice, value, and convenience" - Jeff Weiss, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer...more

eMachines Now Available To Rent To Own Trade Through SED International
"Until now, eMachines were the only major manufacturer that did not have a true RTO presence. SED is the only distributor with an eMachine agreement for the RTO channel" - Michael Bertolani, RTO Channel Development at SED International...more

Mac Frugal’s To Offer Rent to Own Cars In Ontario
"Customer feedback has indicated that there is a definite void in the market when it comes to purchasing an automobile on a rent to own basis" - Gary Clemmensen, owner of Mac Frugal’s Furniture...more

Whirlpool Reports Record 2004 Sales; Announces Price Increases Effective Immediately
"...we estimate that our material cost base will increase an additional 7-to-8 percent during 2005..."- Jeff M. Fettig, Whirlpool's chairman, president and chief executive officer...more

RTO Opportunity is Knocking, Is anybody home?
"Remember the 3 foot rule. "Anybody that comes within 3 feet of you must get a business card"  - Jay B. Roberts - Operations Editor for RTO Magazine, Vice President of Operations for National TV Sales & Rental...more

Aaron Rents Names Michael W. Jarnagin Vice President, Manufacturing
"Our furniture manufacturing facilities have always been a key to the success of the Company and have been running at record production levels the last several years," said R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aaron Rents....more

History of Black History Month
African Americans have a rich history. But why is 'Black History Month' celebrated in February?..more

Hampden Group Launches Two Websites To Compete in the Auto Title Loan and Payday Loan Industry
Hampden Group, Inc. announced today that the company has launched both CityCash.com and Cashcar.com...more

Is Your Workplace Culture Male or Female?; Answer May Affect Worker Loyalty, Health and Productivity
When asked about job stress in the work environment, men and women differed significantly. For men, their treatment by those in authority predicted their level of distress, while for women, the general environment played a greater role in their stress levels...more

Refurbishment Is Key To Long Term Profitability
Based on two decades of observation, there are two things that all underperforming rent to own stores have in common...more

Conquest Financial Services Launches Program To Help RTO Owners Include Payday Loan Services
Conquest Financial, a Columbus, Ohio based consulting firm with experience in both Rent to Own and Payday Loans, offers a program to help rental companies get started in the exciting business of making Pay Day Loans & Cashing Checks...more

Agency Releases Results of 2004 Holiday Shopping Behavior Study
"In the five year history of the study, selection has consistently increased as a motivating factor in where consumers spend" - Dan Surdell, President, Meridian...more

Maytag Reports Net Loss In Q4; Lowers Guidance For 05'
Maytag Corporation today reported fourth quarter consolidated sales of $1.16 billion, down 8.4 percent from sales of $1.27 billion in the same period last year...more

Rent-Way Beats The Street; Same Store Sales Up 3.4%
"We had an excellent quarter reflecting our team's hard work and successful execution of our plan to continue improving operating margins in our core stores while moving forward with our new store opening program"- William Morgenstern, Rent-Way's Chairman and CEO...more

Furniture Brands International Reports Weak Q4
Throughout the first half of the year we saw positive order trends at our upper-end companies (Thomasville, Henredon, Drexel Heritage and Maitland-Smith) and negative trends at our middle-price companies (Broyhill and Lane)"...more

Consumer Confidence Edges Up in January
"...consumers' short-term outlook remains favorable and suggests the economy will continue to expand throughout the first half of this year"- Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center...more

Home Now Rental Ownership Begins Recruiting RTO Pros
Home NOW Rental Ownership, a division of retail furniture giant Badcock, gave RTO Online a peek at the company's new logo and announced plans to begin recruiting staff for concept stores...more

Bognar to Lead Maytag's Sales Organization
Bognar, currently vice president and general manager, Canada, for Maytag International, will replace Christopher D. Wignall, who will assume a new role working on special projects focused on Maytag's growth initiatives...more

Idaho Payday Lender Agrees To Change Practices; Agreement Reached With Idaho Department Of Finance
"This agreement resolves concerns that have arisen during an investigation of Check ‘n Go’s payday lending activities in Idaho"-Gavin Gee, Director of the Idaho Department of Finance...more

Pitfalls Of Financing Rental Inventory With Credit Cards?
Many dealers soon find themselves in the position of making credit card payments on inventory contracts that have paid out...more

Manager Mark Shaw Wins Double Diamond Award For Highest Revenue in ColorTyme System (70 Photos)
"This took a lot of hard work from my staff and I want to tell them thank you." said Shaw. He added that his secret is hiring the right people and have them help you achieve high goals."...more