Missouri Rental Dealers Meet In Columbia; Proposed Statute Among Key Discussions
Association members had what was described as a "lively discussion" concerning a proposed Missouri statute relating to stealing leased property...more
 

RentDirect Nationwide Announces New Vendor Alliance; M&B Jewelry joins RentDirect
"M & B looks forward to working with RentDirect members to offer customers a full line of jewelry options" - Robby Tyson, Vice President of sales and marketing for M & B Jewelry...more

Economist Disputes Center for Responsible Lending 'Race Matters' Report; Faulty Research Methods
"The Center for Responsible Lending's report on race and the payday loan industry contains severe weaknesses and presents conclusions that are overstated at best, and misleading at worst" - Thomas E. Lehman, Ph.D., associate professor of economics, Indiana Wesleyan University...more

convention coverage
John Claar Named Rent One Manager Of The Year
"In 2004 alone, John and his crew earned 7 Store of the month awards, 3 store of the quarter awards, and were named Store of the Year. Some people would have been satisfied with 11 awards in a single year, but not John, he wanted more" - Larry Carrico, Owner, Rent One...more

RTO Excellence; A Woman’s Prerogative
How Gloria Homeier-Schwien left the agriculture industry for RTO and found her cash cow
It was supposed to be a two-week job. A young Gloria Homeier needed temporary part-time work and found it - working for the federal government measuring grain bins and counting cows of the local farmers...more

convention coverage
Change Makes Us Different; Audio Interview With Rent One's Trent Agin
"Change...We embrace change. We constantly try new ideas and technologies." - Trent Agin, Vice President Business Systems for Rent One, in response to the question "What makes Rent One Different?"...more

California Company Admits Making Payday Loans Without License; State Moves Forward With Civil Lawsuit
The California Department of Corporations has settled administrative actions against a resident of Los Angeles for making more than 3,000 payday loans without a state license...more

convention coverage
Rent One Empowerment Through Education Conference Begins
"It's still rent and collect. Technology and training help us perform those basics at higher levels of efficiency." - Larry Carrico, Rent One...more

Rent-A-Center 2005 Same Stores Sales Down 2.3%; Speese "Cautiously Optimistic" About 2006
"I am cautiously optimistic about 2006. Though the potential impact of continued rising fuel and energy costs remains a concern, we also believe we have reached a trough in the impact on our operations from the evolution of low end consumer electronics" - Mark E. Speese, Chairman and CEO...more

Despite Holiday Push, Handheld Market Sees Year-Over-Year Decline
"New devices continue to come out from the market leaders, aimed at different user types and offered at different price points. With the addition of GPS solutions, multimedia capability" - Ramon Llamas, research analyst, IDC...more

M&B Jewelry Launches Interactive Website
In addition to providing photos, product specs and costs for M&B Jewelry’s extensive product line, the website includes a number of useful dealer features...more

Rent One Ready For Annual Managers Conference
The most anticipated event will be the award ceremony Wednesday when the company will announce the Manager of the Year, Store of the Year, Employee of the Year, and Vendor of the Year. According to company officials the criteria for Manager of the Year consists of 6 key factors...more

Rent-Way Reports Net Loss For Quarter; Same Store Sales Down 2.4%
"As a result of those difficult conditions, we began the fiscal year with fewer agreements on rent, which resulted in our first quarter of negative same store revenues in more than two years." - William Short, President, Rent-Way...more

The History of Black History Month
Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it corresponded to the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln...more

Miami HEAT Unveils New RAC Room; First Of Three Miami Area Boys And Girls Clubs Remodeled By Rent-A-Center
The HEAT RAC Room at the Kendall Boys & Girls Club will be used daily by more than 200 children, before and after school, giving them a fun and safe place to gather...more

Southwest Rental Dealers Prepare For TARA Convention And Buying Show
TARA is the largest and most active state rental purchase trade association and this years convention is expected to draw rent to own dealers from 5 states...more

ColorTyme's Third Annual Charity Golf Tournament Scheduled; Players and Sponsors Wanted; Proceeds To Benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research
All proceeds from the event, scheduled for May 19, 2006 at The Traces Golf Club in Florence, South Carolina, will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Participation is open to any and all rent to own companies and vendors...more

Former RentWay COO Heads Premier Rents Cash Services Division
"Throughout my career with RentWay, I looked at synergies between RTO and cash services and the similarities of customers needs. I remained adamant there were advantages in combining both business concepts."...Tom Wurm, President of Premier Cash Services...more

Convention coverage
Premier Rentals Convention A Hit In Playa Del Carmen
Sixty Two Premier Rental Franchisees and suppliers gathered at the Barcelo Resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico for the groups annual convention. Playa Del Carmen is on the Mayan Riviera...more

WithIt Appoints Kathy Wall President
"This board will be challenged to enhance WithIt’s reputation for providing support to professional women in home furnishings careers by demonstrating tangible benefits for members" - Kathy Wall, president, Women in Home Industries Today...more

Aaron Rents Names Braves GM John Schuerholz to Board of Directors
"His record as one of the most successful general managers in baseball history is a testament to his business acumen and managerial ability" - Charles Loudermilk, Sr., Chairman and CEO, Aaron Rents...more

Arkansas Rental Dealers Convention Set For April 25-26; Out Of the Box Thinking Shows Appreciation For Vendors
The biggest expense for most vendors is getting merchandise to the tradeshow floor; plus selling at a discount afterward to avoid additional shipping and handling expense...more

Survey; 30% Of Payday Loan Customers Over 45 Years Old
"We've seen increases of this sort for the past few quarters, so it's fair to say that the older adults will utilize these services - along with other financial services - at an increasing rate as time goes on" - Kimberly Requin, Personal Cash Advance...more

Broyhill Sales Decline, Raw Material Costs Blamed For Furniture Brands International Earnings Drop
"Lower volume at Broyhill combined with raw material price increases across all our Brands contributed to the year over year earnings decline" - W. G. (Mickey) Holliman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer...more

ACE Cash Express Revenue Up 12%; Profit Down
"We continue to believe that there are increased consumer and financial performance benefits related to offering our customers a full suite of financial products in an expanding network of stores" - Jay B. Shipowitz, President and Chief Executive Officer...more

Convention coverage
Repeat! ;Mark Shaw Wins ColorTyme's Highest Award For Second Year photo gallery (66)
Mark Shaw is on a roll. For the second year in a row, Shaw, store manager of the Waipahu, Hawaii ColorTyme, earned the company's Double Diamond award...more

Convention coverage
Rick Fairless Address ColorTyme Team At Welcome Reception photo gallery (87)
Rick Fairless, founder of Strokers Dallas, a custom chopper shop featured on the reality show Texas Hardtails. Fairless' philosophy; "Always remember that people buy from people, not companies. Ask yourself; What am I doing different than the guy down the street?"...more

Convention coverage
Meet Tim Hogan; Audio Interview With ColorTyme VP Ops Tim Hogan
"I like to see people successful. I like to see teams successful. I like to see organizations successful. I want to be in a position to make that happen" - Tim Hogan, Vice President Operations, ColorTyme...more